Alec (guitarist): Thank you for having us! Yeah man it's been crazy. When we took our break in 2013 we always had the vision of coming back. Micah (bassist): We just didn't think it would be 10 years, haha! Alec: Right! We got together around mid 2021 to kinda just jam, I had started playing the main riff for [A Cure for the Ache] and Brian was like "What is that?". That ended up being the first song we wrote for "Five"[V] and it kinda just took off from there. Micah: Yeah. It was like a bomb had went off in the studio. Everyone had something to contribute and it was just gold. Alec: That's what happens when you take 8 years off *laughs*. Randy: What's it been like to grow as a band? I believe your first releases were about 12 years ago. How has song writing changed for you guys, if at all and tell us about the process making "V" and "iPledge". We also heard the band has been mentoring some other bands as well, such as another newly signed one to POM Records, League of Nations. I think that says a lot about how mature and experienced City X is now. Do you guys see yourself doing more of that? Micah: That's an Alec thing right there. Alec: Haha, yeah. I love helping people, especially with something we're so passionate about. League killed it with their EP and I can't wait to hear more from them... I mean yeah, we've definitely been around the block. With each album we're always trying to outdo ourselves. I think that's something every band tries to do. With us, however, we try not to stray too far from our roots. Every album has a theme, but sonically I think they're all pretty similar, they just evolve. I think iPledge is the biggest step forward we've taken so far and we can't wait to capitalize on that. We've been taking the last couple months to experiment with new sounds and better ways of recording. So far I think it's going great and it really allows us to stand out. Randy: You guys probably shocked a lot of people when the band's name showed up again all over the media and on the label. Is there any message to all the fans out there? And also, what's next for the band? What can fans continue to look forward to? Any tours? Micah: *Gestures* Buy the album! Buy the album! Alec: Haha! Yeah man, I'm pleased to announce we'll be joining Faceless Culture on their upcoming European tour! I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say yet in terms of special guests, but it's gonna be awesome. Micah: They show boobs on French TV so we can't wait for that. Alec: Can we get a fact check on that? *Laughs* As far as the future goes, we just re-released "The Show" so touring is going to keep us busy for the next few months. New music? We've got something small in the oven right now that we'll get cracking on once we get back from tour. We'd love to get working on a 6th album, maybe even have it out this year. Micah: Yeah, man. We love getting in the studio, especially now with Alec's home setup, so we can work on our own time. Alec: Definitely. We wanna thank everyone that's been supporting us over the years! We love each and every one of you and can't wait to share more memories in the future. *Lifts beer* Here's to the next generation of POM Records! *Drinks* Totally not contracted to say that by the way *laughs*. Micah: Mr. Schultz is in the corner with a gun *laughs*. Thank you to City X members Alec & Micah for joining us tonight. It definitely wasn't a forced contractual obligation type of thing....no...never *sweating..*. Be sure to keep up with City X not just on here, at POM Records, but their Youtube channel too:
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Sebastian Lukens (lead guitarist / frontman): “We already mentioned our hopes for this new album but now we have an idea and we’re in the process of recording it, we want it to be even better than SSDT (Super Secret Demo Tape). SSDT was like a starting point for us and we just wanted to write fun songs that you could listen to.” Gus Farmer (guitarist): “We want it to be story focused and it’ll be a little different but different is okay and I think our fans will like it.” Sebastian Lukens: “Yeah, I think so too. A lot of us struggle with mental health stuff-” Cade Caldwell (bassist): “Me and Gus are really the only mentally sane ones here” the band laughs Sebastian Lukens: “But yeah.. um a lot of us struggle with mental health stuff and we want to tell a story with this album that people can relate to, so this album will be dark and gritty but we really want it to hit emotionally for people.” When asked about the story of the album, Sebastian said he wants to keep it under wraps and keep it a surprise for listeners. We asked them some questions about touring and doing shows. Sebastian Lukens: “We’re pretty tired from doing shows” Dominik Roylance (drummer): “Yeah, been doing shows constantly trying to get some recognition and we’ve finally hit our big break and I'm done taking ice baths for awhile" laughing Cade Caldwell: “We definitely want to tour in the future.” Sebastian Lukens: “Yeah of course! We also don’t know how the emotion of this new album would translate for our fans who love mosh pits and having fun so I guess we’ll have to see.” Dominik Roylance: “Mhm but I feel like we’ve earned a break from doing shows for a little bit.” the band agrees Cade Caldwell: “I’ll probably dye my hair again for the tour or I'll dye it for every show." Thank you to Plain Front for having a chat with the label. We're excited to see and hear what they release and how fans of the label will respond. ![]() Randy (POM Records): League of Nations recently joined POM Records and released their 8 track EP, how's it feel? League of Nations: It always feels good to release music. There's no denying that. This release is special to us, as it got us signed to POM Records, and we truly couldn't be happier about it. Randy: Worlds Collide sales are rolling in and it seems like people are really digging it. Did you think it would be so popular? League of Nations: We thought it would sell decently well, though we weren't expecting it to become the most sold album of 2023 so far. It has been selling like wildfire and no one expected it at all. I remember I told Nigel about the stats and he freaked out like "Holy shit! We blew up!" We're glad everyone likes Worlds Collide, and it gives us confidence for the future. Randy: What was the song writing process like, which song was the favorite or hardest? League of Nations: Umm... the writing process was actually fairly quick. I was able to contact my old bandmates and ask them for a couple songs we wrote, those songs being Worlds Collide and Fire in the Sky, and they gave the songs to us. My personal favorite song on the album is Third Degree, and the hardest song to make had to have been Mission Statement. Overall, we enjoyed the process. Believe it or not, City X was monumental in getting our album together, and we thank them for helping us get our start. Randy: Will the band be touring? League of Nations: We don't have a tour planned yet, though that may change soon. Randy: Any music videos coming out? League of Nations: Hopefully if we know how fricking make them. We were planning on music videos for Knife Through the Spine and Third Degree, we just haven't found anyone to help get those done yet. Randy: What's next for the band? League of Nations: No one can predict the future, so we don't really know what's next. We're enjoying living in the here and now, but based off the popularity of Worlds Collide, we're excited to see what's to come.
Randy (POM Records): Damn, awesome to hear a new release from Faceless Culture! How did the production go on the album? Faceless Culture: Went pretty smooth. Took our time, got a lot of feedback. The production crew was great! Randy: What was the inspiration behind the album title, Prisoner of Eternity? Faceless Culture: The inspiration behind the title was regretful life choices. Sometimes people make mistakes that really affect their everyday life, and they have to live with them for the rest of their life. Prisoner of Eternity. Randy: Tell me about the singles Silent War and Judgement Day! Faceless Culture: Silent War was our favorite track to make on this album and one of the first we made. We feel like this track will be one of our bests for a long time. Judgement Day we wanted to make a track that was simple but catchy and catches the attention of the national audience, something of a fan favorite. Randy: What's next for the band now that the album is released? hen is Faceless Culture touring? Faceless Culture: We definitely want to get back on the road for sure. We’ve been working some stuff up to promote the new album! Randy: How did you decide on the covers on the album? Faceless Culture: Metallica is one of our many inspirations we strive to be. They’re one of the greatest bands and been going on for 40 years. Motorbreath was actually the first track we made and it was originally set to just be released on its own. We got great feedback on it when we released it on YouTube and wanted to try something new. I’ve always loved the tune of These Boots and wanted to make it into a heavy metal cover. The whiplash cover was inspired to us by our friends at Embalmed. They originally made that cover, we took it and added a little more to it to really try and perfect it. They allowed us to put it on our album and we’re really grateful for that. Randy: Faceless Culture has been around since 2011. What keeps the band going? What's it like to release in 2022!? Faceless Culture: It’s been an amazing journey. We’re celebrating our 10 year anniversary and we’ve really tried to celebrate and reflect on the memories of all of our albums, cause every single one had an impact on our rise. That and the fans keep us going. POMers being inspired by our music inspires us even more. We hope our music can influence the next generation. THANK YOU FACELESS CULTURE FOR THIS AWESOME INTERVIEW! BE SURE TO DOWNLOAD **PRISONER OF ETERNITY** TODAY! Randy (POM Records): What exactly is your logic in releasing the band's next album, The Blue Lodge, so soon after your previous effort? Leslie Kincaid (bassist): The Red Lodge was, in a lot of ways, a very flawed album. Simply put: we rushed it out and then later found that it was... um... I don't know, man - it was just missing something. It was missing that sort of energy that made The White Lodge work. I mean, don't get me wrong - it's a great record, but it's really one-sided. It was a bit boring and the only energy it had was this tense, sort of nervous energy. It was an interesting record, but it was also a very unlistenable record, if you know what I mean. It had no accessibility. The Blue Lodge is an effort to fill in what was missing and create a worthy follow-up to The White Lodge. The Blue Lodge is like the other side of the coin. It was something that needed to be created. Randy: So you didn't feel entirely comfortable with The Red Lodge? Leslie: There were a lot of unrefined ideas. Good ideas, definitely, but way unrefined. The Blue Lodge tones back the complexity a bit. It's a much more spacious album, which isn't to say that it's slow-paced - it's probably our "punkiest" record yet. it just... inhabits its time significantly better. It's our shortest record, but it's strong from one side to the other. Randy: You worked with three artists on this album - Agent Ohoolahan, Chester, and The Random Factor. How was it working with them? Leslie: It was a breeze. I mean, with Agent's song ("What Happened?") being the single, obviously we feel quite strongly about it. Chester and The Random Factor are also absolutely fantastic artists. "109," is quite possibly my favorite track; it's definitely the one with the most ambition and "meat." Randy: You dropped the Progressive part of, "Progressive Hard Rock." What's your reasoning behind that move? Marketing? Leslie: It's just unnecessary. The word, "Progressive," has certain connotations to it that we feel like we've never quite fit under. And even if we did, we aren't going in that direction anymore. Randy: Why is this Lodge blue? Leslie: Beyond Blue being on the opposite end of the spectrum to red; it's also because this album has a feeling of "airiness" to it. Red is an erratic colour. Blue is a more relaxed, more focused colour. It also probably has something to do with my favorite colour being Blue. Randy: Correct me if I'm wrong, but the track, "Nunc Anima Mea," is an older track from before even The White Lodge, correct? Leslie: Correct. It's one of the best things we've done, honestly. Obviously it's been reworked slightly, but it was a surprisingly good fit regardless. It's a pattern really, on every release we tend to have one or two refitted songs from our past. Reworking old songs is a great way to find direction. Randy: To wrap up, what are the band's immediate plans for the future? Leslie: Probably another Lodge, among other things. We've finished three albums this year, imperfect though they may be. We aren't planning on stopping any time soon. Probably take a bit of a break, though. Don't want to die and such. There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. This Band is Full of Spiders will be dropping their third album later this year on POM Records. Be on the look out! Zenester: So I heard you're going to be making a documentary. What's your documentary going to cover?
FC: It's going to cover the whole story of the band from when it started up until today, stuff from the band that people don't know about, how it all started. Basically just letting all FC info out. Zenester: What are some things to look out for? FC: So far, look out for somethings that are going to be teased in the credits, album stuff, a lot. But we are going to leave a surprise for FC fans at the end. Zenester: For a refresher, can you explain the history of Faceless Culture? FC: You'll have to find out about that when the movie comes out around Summer 2014. Zenester: Haha, alright. Now, what was the band's greatest accomplishment? FC: It had to be between 80+ downloads from Untamed on POM Records or making this film. Zenester: And would you say that Untamed would be the album that FC is the most proud of? FC: Somewhat yes, but later on an album is going to top that. Zenester: What is your new album going to be like? FC: It's going to bring both FC and Redemption back in one, 8 new FC tracks, 8 re-made Redemption tracks, and 3 bonus tracks. Zenester: So many surprises! When will it be released or is that yet to be announced? FC: It is yet to be announced but we'll go ahead and tell y'all, THIS MONTH. Zenester: Can't wait! Next question. How has your touring been? FC: The Road to Redemption tour? We haven't got to it yet, we need more bands. Zenester: How many more bands? FC: As many as we can get, we're going across the world! Zenester: I hope that gets accomplished? Now, you have a strong reputation ever since you got signed. When you were first signed to POM records, how did you feel or what was it like to be on a record label? FC: We felt stoked! POM Records was the first record we ever got our music out there. Also, our first FC album was posted on there. And to see the downloads stacking up, we felt we made an impact so early in our career. It puts your name out there, it build up fans, confidence, and dedication. Zenester: What's your favorite thing about being in a band? FC: We get to bring more metal to metal fans, and get fans. We also love to interact with them, share stuff and get ideas from them. Zenester: That's great! As for Faceless Culture, what are your plans for the future? FC: A lot, more on that later on. Zenester: Like, any new music videos? FC: Yes, planning on one right now. Zenester: What song is it going to be for? FC: We're keeping it a secret but it's coming out soon! Zenester: Neat! I'm gonna conclude the interview and here's the last question, is there anything else we should know? FC: 3, just think about it. Zenester: 3 years? 3 albums? 3 seems vague to me but it sure seems to be worth the wait! Thanks for the interview! FC: You're welcome! Check out more from Faceless Culture here: http://pomrecords.weebly.com/faceless-culture.html Randy (POM Records): Where the hell have you guys been? Derek (drummer): Let's just say an extra long holiday! We had no idea what to do next after Fight Back, especially considering it took a lot out of us. All our best work, not something just to get sales, something to really make an impact on our fans. Randy: So what is Evolution? How has the band progressed? Derek: Evolution is basically just showing how we've progressed in the music world. The tracks some of our fans won't recognize are songs we wrote before signing onto this record label. We felt that our community would want to see who we were before our big releases. Hello Good Times of Old was written at least 5 months before our first release here, as was Peasant. That Bitter Taste a few will recognize, personally my favorite song because I get some awesome stuff to back, as it's our latest addition. The band certainly has progressed, even Haza will say that! You can see that in the music, I don't need to tell newcomers to our band that. Randy: The album contains three new tracks and three previous ones. How did you decide on which three previous to put in? Derek: This wasn't massively my decision, Haza had the last word. But I think he made a good choice. He chose three of our best, voted by the fans, and had a look over three older songs. He chose three songs that not many people had heard, that our fans hadn't seen yet. They show how much we've come along! It's funny because back then, we thought the songs we wrote then were the best we'd ever write. But a few months down the line, we're writing big hitters that bring in more and more fans every week. Randy: When putting together the three new tracks (Hello Good Times of Old, Peasant & The Bitter Taste), what was going through your minds? What did you guys want to show your fans regarding your Evolution? Derek: What we wanted, was to show how much can change when you put your mind to it. Back then, when we were a mere small-town band, we thought we'd never get up there, never be like Spanky Revolution, never be like 1st Assault. Those guys are our heroes man, serious. And to be mentioned in the same breath as them, that's an honor. We just wanted to reveal our journey here. Randy: The albums Fight Back and Light's Absence were released in the Fall of 2012. How do guys feel about their chart status? Are you guys happy with your previous albums and how they've done? Derek: Fight Back is certainly one of our highlights so far. At the current moment, 23 downloads is amazing for us. The lower downloads on our previous releases just show how far we've come. Sure, we'd like more. Faceless Culture are sure getting there, but we just don't want to go down that route, the mainstream heavy metal route. Their music is good, very good in fact, but we don't want to become that kind of band. Lee said one time that "When everyone's heads go down, we want to be that band people fall to". Positivity is what we strive for. Randy: So now that Evolution is on the label. What are your plans? Any tours or promotional events? or are you guys going to play it smooth, stay unseen and some time later release some more awesome tracks? Derek: We don't really know at this time. I think Haza had some idea of inviting some bands from here to a one night only event, but apart from that we will stay in the shadows. The Night Before may leap out occasionally so look out for that! Personally, we probably won't release anything big anytime soon here, but hey, we're gonna try, get out there, for the fans, for us, for music. Here's to Evolution. Note: Haza is the bands manager
POM Records: On the album, what will be the most common genre the music will be? And will it be themed? Faceless Culture: Heavy friggin' metal! And yes, it will be themed. Untamed 2 is wrapping up the POM 2 storyline of the band FC. And then when POM Pro comes out, FC is gonna be back :P POM Records: Ya'll good? Faceless Culture: You bet we are :P POM Records: Where did you get the idea for a name? Faceless Culture: We got the idea when Untamed topped 50+ downloads, and we've planned to make a second installment to one of our albums :P, and we thought Untamed deserved it. POM Records: Anymore releases on the way? Faceless Culture: Untamed 2, and others! But we're going to keep that a secret for now. POM Records: When's your next tour? Faceless Culture: Well, we're on Evening Sun's I.C.H.Y.L.Y.M tour. And we might have a Untamed 2 tour, more details on that in the future. POM Records: Loved your appearance in POM Warped Tour... Are you going to team up with other bands in the future? Faceless Culture: Well, first of all, thanks for saying so :D. And YES, yes we are! POM Records: Which song took the longest to compose? Which was the most difficult? Faceless Culture: Well, we're not sure about that yet :P. And the most difficult, not yet decided, lol. Whelp, thank you for sending in your questions! Some random and some about UNTAMED 2 . Untamed 2 is coming in 2013. Now let the band get back in the studio to get recording. Got some music videos coming soon! Have a nice day and ready up for Untamed 2! -FC |
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