FRAUDS - Interview - DIALS Festival 2015
/Two noisey fellas with alien dancing, Garth Marenghi and screams of pain … we can’t fault them!
We caught the Croydon duo’s set at DIALS Festival and had a chat with Chris and Mike.
LOUD NOISES!: Nice to meet you guys, how are you finding it here today so far?
FRAUDS, Mike: It's amazing down here … it's class. There's a really good scene, it's such a great vibe. It's nice to come somewhere different because we're from Croydon but there's like nothing at all in Croydon. When we were younger there was maybe like 4 music venues there and there was a scene but now there really is nothing. There’s one venue that could be awesome but the guy who runs it couldn’t give a shit. The kind of place that touring bands come.
LOUD NOISES!: How and when did you form, have you been going long?
FRAUDS, Mike: We were in a band together before and that was a long time ago, it was about 8 years ago, and then we decided we'd changed, we were young we were into different things, we changed, Chris & I changed together and the other guys in the band didn’t change in the same way. We love them all still there’s nothing bad or wrong with what we were doing we just changed in different ways. They are literally our best friends! We were called Namaste so it was some very hippy stuff, it was good and we were heavily into Tool. Then we broke up and then about 3 years ago we started doing this together.
LOUD NOISES!: What are your musical influences?
FRAUDS Chris: When we were in the last band I listened to a band called Future of the Left, they're probably my main influence I listened to the vocalist and I was like I could do that … I’d never sung before in my life. It’s the whole punk ethic thing of like oh I could do that, anyone could do it so that was it really “Hey Mike I … I think I could do this!” And we decided just to like shout & scream and try and be funny.
LOUD NOISES!: And the whole getting the audience engaged and offering free therapy in the form of shouting out their pain thing, we liked that.
FRAUDS Mike: Did you give us a scream then?
LOUD NOISES!: We sure did!
LOUD NOISES!: Is the band pretty collaborative, do you guys write together and share the same influences?
FRAUDS Chris: We have very much the same influences and then the writing its dead 50/50 and Mike can write a song, a whole song on a guitar and then I'll come in be like “hey, I’ve got a song” then I’ll be like “ba baaba baa ba … can you write a song to that?” Do you guys ever watch Garth Marenghi’s Dark Place,
LOUD NOISES!: We sure do, great show!
FRAUDS Mike: So, in the titles it’s got all the things that Garth Marenghi did … like story by Garth Marenghi, lead actor Garth Marenghi, directed by Garth Marenghi
LOUD NOISES!: And Dean Learner!
FRAUDS Mike: Of course, yeah, theme music based on things originally hummed by Garth Marenghi. Half our songs are those! Chris has a something hummed by song, he plays drums and does his “ba baaba baa ba…” then the riffs come really easily because of that - I don’t know why – it’s a weird thing!
LOUD NOISES!: So Mike, you started the set by laying down some loops before Chris walked on to join you. We really liked the whole looping thing as well, it’s nice to see someone actually making it work, you know you watch videos of people doing it, then you guys come out and we’re like YES! You're doing it and it sounded really cool.
FRAUDS Mike: On our 2nd E.P. we had a song which was all looping, we cut the loop then I sing and we come in all together and its one of my favourite songs. We’ve never ever been able to do it live. It changes so much by the time we get in there.
LOUD NOISES!: We did enjoy your dancing across the stage Mike too …
FRAUDS Mike: Yeah, if I’m dancing anywhere I like to feel like I’m an alien who has never heard earth music before, and then move how you think that should work.
LOUD NOISES!: Have you got any new releases coming up?
FRAUDS Mike: Well yeah we have one coming up very soon which is going to be a 12” between 3 Birmingham bands that we're really good friends with, one is called Them Wolves which are one of the noisiest loudest bands I have ever heard. Every time I seem them I really do have tinnitus after I come out, it’s an absolute wall because they have a great drummer and then a great bass player, just the two of them are probably the noisiest thing I’ve ever heard! Then they’ve got an awesome freaky guitarist playing on top of it. Its mainly led by bass, and the guitar is almost supporting the bass and the guitar is so cool and its adding all these extra things. It’s like being in church where you’re surrounded by some kind of like heavenly force, and you know sometimes maybe too much like “I can’t take this right now! I need to get out of here!” Its them and also a band called Faux Chisels, they’re another great Birmingham band. Paul who is the main dude who writes all the stuff and he’s a big person in Birmingham scene, Birmingham has a banging underground DIY Hardcore scene and he's head honcho I suppose they're a bit like The Fall.
LOUD NOISES!: Cheers guys, lovely to meet you I’m sure we’ll catch you soon!
Check out our pics from their performance at The Loft as part of Dial Festival this weekend:
