E: So Folly has been making some intense music for Triple Crown Records, a label that has produced some very influential bands that don't quite reflect the type of music you guys make. How does it feel to be a somewhat unique chapter of a renowned record company?
Arben: We all feel that Folly righteously fits right in, because quite similarly both the band and the label incorporate a plethora of styles. From Brand New to E-Town Concrete. Crazy. It was a perfect opportunity for us, and Triple Crown really believed in us from the start. They took a chance with us when other labels wouldn't dare. Some labels were into it until they would overhear the skeptic. "Oh, they play ska? Don't you know that ska is dead? This band must suck!" From the start, we've been underdogs. As much as Triple Crown has solidified an excellent roster and put out such amazing records, we mirror each other as being 'the little guys.' We couldn't be happier, honestly.
E: With a new record out February 21st, have you guys felt the need to really push to promote yourselves and create buzz for the album?
Arben: We actually have laid quite low for the last year preparing/recording/releasing the new album, and there has been little 'push' for Resist Convenience as of yet. The last thing we want to do is rely on some advertisement in some increasingly clingy music magazine to get the word out about us. As much as Myspace has been a godsend of a marketing tool, we would never completely rely on that as a vessel to exploit the album. If kids like us enough, they promote us... kind of the whole �tell a friend and they'll tell their friends� and so on... Word of mouth is truly the most powerful tool, as it was before glorified magazines, message boards, and blogs. I think that the only promotion we can handle on our end is to just get out on the road and meet as many friends as possible. Luckily, we have an amazingly dedicated fan base that has grown considerably throughout the years. They have always helped us advertise. They have always pushed for us to continue. We'll be touring our little hineys off for the next year trying to promote this album, and said fans will be there singing along, so it will be a blast regardless of how well this CD does.
E: Would you call yourselves a band that's easily liked by a large community of listeners? Or is your music a taste acquired by an adventurous few?
Arben: Definitely an adventurous few as opposed to a large community. It is a huge acquired taste. Everyone likes pizza, but not everyone likes odd toppings on their virgin plain slice... I think the kids that will order weird shit on their pizza will like Folly. It is all correlative--we are truly the anchovy.
E: When it comes to hardcore bands like Folly, those who aren't big fans of the genre usually lump every screaming band into the same category, whereas hardcore fans will most likely insist on there being idiosyncrasies and differences distinguishing bands. What would convince a skeptical listener that you're not the same as every other hardcore band?
Arben: The most disappointing thing is that hardcore is often simply a genre of music to kids. As we were growing up going to shows, hardcore was more the expression. It was the community, the voice, the raw emotion... not just a category of music. It was never how much cooler you could be or look or sound... Don't get me wrong, I mean, surely we would all know we were going to a hardcore show, as opposed to going to see a ska show. You fucking knew you were at a Candiria show and not at an Inspector 7 show when there were kids being smashed in the face. But as much as the different genres clashed, their overall purpose was pure and simple. Folly is at a cross-section of these feelings; our music is directly related to our experiences growing up listening to everything we could. The only way we may be able to convince anyone is to show them that like all the great hardcore bands past, we believe in what we do. This is all for a reason, not to be cool or successful, not to doll ourselves up and use this band and this music as a way to salvage a fabricated truth. We are a hardcore band, we are a ska band, we are any band you want to label us. But all in all, we are musicians that would die for the music we create.
E: Because your style of music involves so much explosive energy, do you think that going on tour for you is a more exhausting and difficult process than it is for a softer band?
Arben: It truly takes its toll on our bodies and health, but the live show and the energy are so inherent in our music that it has become completely synonymous with what we do when we play. There is never a question about it. And when I think about it, it's the only physically demanding thing I do anymore other than skateboarding and running to the bathroom to take a dump, so I feel as if I am getting a good workout every night we play! I remember reading an article about the Dillinger Escape Plan, how they were all playing so hard every night for so many years that they all had these crazy medical conditions... like knee and back troubles and the like. They would sometimes not even be able to do anything after their show upon exhaustion and soreness... nothing but immediately lie down in their bus and sleep the night off to rid the pain at the time. I give those guys credit, and I feel as if we have it so easy comparably speaking... Did you ever see DEP play? It�s like going to the gym, playing basketball, and having sex all at once. Exhausting, sweaty... loud.
E: You guys are commonly noted as a band that mixes ska elements with your hardcore style. Does this come out as strongly on the new record as it did in the past?
Arben: A lot of people like to think we mix ska into our hardcore style, but I like to think we mix hardcore into our ska style. The new record is merely an extension of the albums prior; we were all just a little more understanding of what we were doing on this new one than in the past. It has taken us seven years to try to understand it, and I guarantee the quest will live on... to find ourselves. If we ever capture exactly what we are, how can we progress? What we did not do on this album is change anything about us, we just wrote different songs and executed them a little better this time around.
E: Have you, as members of a band, put a lot of strategy into what you do in order to get where you are? Or have you left a lot of it to change and simply gone about making music?
Arben: The music we create together is so effortless. Aside from the obvious time we take on our own to learn new material, or in my case write lyrics (I spent an innumerable amount of nights alone with a 6-pack, my headphones, and my pad and pen), the Folly sound and the Folly mission are quite simple. We are the best of friends; we are in fact brothers... We would do anything for one another, and we generally have a blast day in and day out seeing each other. Without this friendship, there is no band. There is no touring, no writing music... there is nothing. We'd all have jobs, we'd all live an easy life and make money and start families... Boring. I have heard from a lot of bands we meet along the way that once they are done with tour, they will not even speak to each other for weeks... We just got home this morning from an excellent month-long tour. I spent every waking second with these guys, and now that we are home I can't wait to call them up and see what they are up to. Like, I am sitting here alone typing, and this silence is fucking with me. I am scared to be by myself, like a little kid home alone. We depend on one another for guidance and laughs, so much so in fact that being alone just sucks. I can't get enough of these guys, and I think that facet of the band lends itself to making sure we get where we want to go.
E: In what ways do you think working with Sal Villanueva influenced the music on your record in a way different from how working with another producer would have?
Arben: Meeting Sal was such an amazing thing, and we knew right away from cutting a 3-song demo with him three years ago that we just flat-out loved him. He rules. What I didn't know is that a producer is not actually someone who reworks your material, changes your songs around, tries to give you your own style. On the contrary, "Sally-poo" is a fucking muse, and a great one at that. He helps you understand what you are doing without changing a thing. He grabs what he needs from you so effortlessly, makes you feel so at home. Never once have I ever felt as if he looked down on us, he more so has always treated us like a big brother would. In the studio, he is so lighthearted and silly... but he knows when to get down to business, and he knows a fucking lot... He has this uncanny wealth of knowledge to go along with his gift of gab. This past session at Big Blue, he told me that music is a very special language, a way we can relate to every extension of the world. He showed me that using a reference to a song is like using a distinct unwritten dictionary. He has a database in his brain where he just absorbs everything he hears to furthermore refer back to it. He is the best producer in my eyes, and one of my favorite people to boot.
E: Thanks a whole lot. Any final words?
Arben: Thank you! We spent this past month with The Blackout Pact, Anterrabae, and we met up with One Dead Three Wounded and the Esoteric. I urge you to check out these bands, because they are not only awesome bands, but awesome people. We'll be on the road, hopefully in a town near you, so come hang out with us. Music is fun, life is fun. Live it up. |
