Famous Last Words have been rocking the stage for almost a decade. And as they have grown and evolved over the years, the Petoskey, MI metalcore outfit have been inspiring, entertaining and shedding light on issues that some artists may stray away from. On their third album, The Incubus, they explore the story of Christine, a character that was not only inspired by a musical (which you'll learn about in a bit) but also looks at the dark world of abuse.
We've never been afraid to tackle difficult topics in the past," lead singer Jeremy "JT" Tollas tells Myspace, "but this album's research was very difficult because the subject matter is so heavy. It really put things into perspective for me."
He continues, "That's why I think it's important to talk about. Just because we as a society don't like something doesn't mean we can just ignore it and it will all go away. The first step is getting the conversation started. Writing this album was a huge learning experience for me."
Aside of the ideas behind The Incubus, we learned more about Famous Last Words that we think you should know. Learn more about them below.
They Didn't Always Do Concept Albums
"When Famous Last Words first started, we were actually under a different name and we didn't do concept albums," Tollas said. "I feel like our biggest growing period was when we decided to start doing concept albums. Two-Faced Charade was our first concept album. After we decided to go the conceptual route, it introduced a whole new obstacle for all of the future albums. Coming up with a new story for each record is always tricky, but I like a good challenge. We have also grown musically even more with our latest release, The Incubus. We explored a more mature, raw sound and I couldn't be happier with the direction the band is going."
It's Putting Together Concept Albums That's the Most Fun
When asked why Famous Last Words has been building a reputation for putting out concept albums, Tollas explains, "The thing with concept albums is that it's still just a collection of songs with different messages just like any other album, but the way it's pieced together and presented is just more interesting and fun when it's a concept album. What makes a story great, are the lessons and messages that it teaches. Plus who doesn't like to connect the dots to a story?"
Mistakes Helped Them Grow as a Band
"I wouldn't change what I knew going into this at all," Tollas says. "It's the mistakes I've made and fucking up along the way that have gotten me where I am now. I learned so much over the years gaining experience from different, incredible (and sometimes very difficult) adventures."
'The Phantom of the Opera' Inspired Some of 'The Incubus'
As we mentioned above Tollas and the band were inspired by a particular musical, and that is The Phantom of the Opera.
"Christine's name came from the main character of The Phantom of the Opera," he says. "The story though, literally hit me like a train out of nowhere in the middle of the night. From the very first song to the last one, all at once. I got out my phone and wrote the story and outline down immediately. The next day I started my research, which is something I do for each one of our concept albums to gather all of the information I can get in order to properly portray the different characters and their situations."
Tollas Has a Running List of Album Ideas on His Phone
"I actually have a huge list of different concept ideas in my notes on my phone," Tollas explains. "Most of them never see the light of day, but every now and then I'll think of something that just clicks. Sometimes I'll even take pieces from an idea and combine then with pieces from another idea. And sometimes, very rarely I might add, the entire concept just hits me like The Incubus did."
"The Dark You Fear in the Night" Is a Turning Point on the LP
"This song is actually a conversation that Christine and her husband are having," Tollas explains. "In the story, she has just returned from the hospital after getting results from a test saying that the doctors found drugs in her system. Christine is freaking out and her husband is trying to tell her everything is going to be okay. Christine doesn't take the news nearly as lightly as her husband does, which Is when her suspicion of her husband initially begins."
'A Two-Faced Charade' Was Not Just an Album But Also a Short Film
"Acting was something I always wanted to do since I was a kid," Tollas reveals. "I had theatre all the way up to 9th grade, but never really got the opportunity to act. When we first decided to do the concept album, I immediately had the idea of making it into a film. When we shot the music video for "The Show Must Go On" I told our video director, Charlie Anderson, that if the video hits 1 million views, then we have to make the album into a short film. It was more of a joke at first, but then it hit a million and I got a text from him basically saying, 'okay... let's do this.'"
He also adds, "I had an amazing time acting in that and the movie altogether was so much fun to put together with Charlie and his team. I would love to do it again for our other albums if the opportunity ever presents itself."
They Just Want To Be Able to Play And Make a Living
"Success is a very hard thing to define" Tollas admits. "Specifically because it's all relative depending on your own interpretation of success. To me, success with the band would be being able to do what I love while simultaneously being able to support my family solely through the band."
Ideas For the Next Record Are Floating Around
"I have a couple of ideas as of right now, but nothing too concrete," Tollas admits. "I've had times where I've spent months developing and researching a concept and then totally trashed it when a better idea came along, so I guess we will see."
But They've Still Got More to Do For 'The Incubus'
"We have a few projects in mind to further push The Incubus including videos and possibly some fan art contests," he says, "but other than that I want to be on the road as much as possible."
Learn more fun facts about your favorite up-and-coming artists by visiting our 10 Things page.
from Myspace - Editorial http://ift.tt/2lfU4SF
No comments:
Post a Comment