Due to a PR mix up, MetalMouth.Net didn’t get to sit down with Falloch at Damnation Festival. BUT I wanted to speak to these guys so I dropped them a line and got them to answer my questions post festival. I had a chat with bass man Ben Brown and got up close and personal with the Scottish post rocker.
So, you played to a packed out Eyesore Stage, how was it for you guys?
It was super. The sound was whatever but we had fun and it’s nice playing to a full room. It was my first time at Damnation so it was cool seeing what it was like.
You guys recently put out This Island, Our Funeral. Talk to us about it, how was it gone down with your fans? Did writing and recording this record differ from anything you’d done previously?
We don’t want to repeat ourselves with albums so yeah it was pretty different. We used a studio for the drums and production of the album which massively shaped the sound of it. Scott still wrote the majority of the material but we worked on the songs in the rehearsal space to make sure they’d really work out in a live setting. As far as what the fans think I guess it’s like any album – some hate it some love it. It hasn’t had as much promo as the first record so less people have heard it. The American release was pushed back til January next year so we’ll see what happens after that.
You have a relatively short set at a festival, how do you go about picking a set list for the show?
We have songs across both albums that work better in a situation where the crowd may not know us so we play those. Whatever combination of tracks will fit into the time we’ve got. The more intricate songs we leave for shows that are our own.
Touring plans? What is coming up for Falloch in the next few months?
We have a headline Glasgow show in a couple of weeks (Nov 22nd) and then Blastfest in Bergen in Feb. That’s it at the moment. It’d be great to get over to the continent again so we’ll look into planning that. Some things going on behind the scenes so we’ll keep working away at these and prepare for a busy 2015.
Moving away from Falloch slightly, what was the first album you remember buying with your own cash?
Primus – Pork Soda. After that all I wanted to do was play bass in a band so it was a pretty defining moment.
The album your brought might be different to the style of music you play, how did you progress from listening to that to writing and recording post metal, where did the inspiration come from?
No one in the band sits down and thinks ‘now its time to write and record post metal’, we just make a racket and put it down then move on to whatever comes next. Inspiration for playing comes from everything around – music, work, taking a shit, walking the dog…The past couple of years I’ve been wanting to play and make loud music so Falloch (and more recently Barshasketh) have been my outlet for that.
If you could put Falloch on tour with any band(s) past or present who would they be? Tell us your ultimate tour package.
I’d 100% tour with Lantlos again, we had such a laugh together and grew very close. Frank Zappa just to see the man in action every night and Prince because he is the best thing I have, and will ever, see.
MetalMouth.Net are all about emerging bands, have you come across anyone recently worthy of a mention?
Not sure about emerging but bands I like and want to do well – me and my boys in Barshasketh, The Cosmic Dead, Midday Veil
Finally I like to finish with a light-hearted scenario question. So, Falloch are locked on a tour bus with an angry otter, a VHS tape of The Terminator 2 and a bottle of Whiskey. What happens next?
Horrors that I am not able to put into words. At least half of Falloch wouldn’t come off that bus again.
Thanks lads, I hope to see you again real soon!
Falloch‘s latest release ‘Our Island, Our Funeral’ is out now via Candlelight Records.