Born forth from Brighton’s ever-fertile alternative scene, fakeyourdeath are a musical entity committed to the inherent beauty of caustic abrasion. Formed of Candi Underwood (Vocals) and Sam Barnes (Drums), the duo present present music designed and purposefully engineered to be outrageous, overwhelming and uniquely fresh. Whilst motifs of industrial, and electronic and – to a certain extent – post-hardcore are genetically implemented into their organic and mutating sound, to attempt to even try to neatly slot this band into a singular neat bracket would be ultimately be task that would threaten one’s need for order and sense.
Instead, should one imagine a band harnessing the industrial self-destruction of Death Grips and Nine Inch Nails marred with the overwhelming bedlam of Frontierer and delivered with the confrontational chemical rush of Tokky Horror then you theoretically shouldn’t be too far off the mark. It’s a madcap and frothing rush of rage and energy, one purposefully designed to grab one and throttle them, and one that pays credence to the statement that some of the most authentic and thought provoking art is intentionally unpleasant. However, it’s the live environment where the most true version of fakeyourdeath manifests.
As those who have seen the band previously, either at events such as ArcTanGent and StrangeForms or alongside acts such as The St. Pierre Snake Invasion, Empire State Bastard, ZAND or the aforementioned Tokky Horror, fakeyourdeath are a band that get in your face – quite literally in fact. Despite the band only being a live entity for less than two years, the duo have already garnered themselves with a reputation as being one of those acts where maximalism reigns; an act who unleashes salvos of jolting noise and ensure every punter is part of a show as opposed to just watching one. Those who have been in such live environments – either willingly or not – will know the power this band harness and what awaits within their upcoming debut EP null/void. And with that EP released next week, we got in touch with fakeyourdeath for a chat.
For those new to fakeyourdeath, how would you briefly describe the band? Musically and topically, what are your main inspirations?
“It’s difficult for us to put this band in a sub-genre category, but it’s an amalgamation of our favourite elements of heavy & electronic music. Industrial but also punk, let’s say electronicore? Musically we are influenced by the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Crystal Castles, Health, Death Grips, Ho99o9. Topically we draw from a mixture of personal experiences & our frustration with society’s shortcomings – it is pretty pessimistic.”
You’re about to release your new EP null/void. How are you feeling about the release?
“It’s a snapshot of a specific time period where we were just writing & experimenting with no real plans for the band further than just that so there’s a sense of achievement to finally be putting it out there after sitting on these songs for a few years now.”
The EP is quite frankly overwhelming, especially in the way you amalgamate noise, electronics, post-hardcore and everything in between to make something so confrontational. How did you establish your sound, was it something that came naturally or did you always want to create something that was intentionally intense and jarring?
“We knew the sort of thing we wanted to make from the start but the process wasn’t the most natural. Lots of trial & error, searching for electronic sounds, trying to figure out how to make heavy music without any guitars. It’s a process we are still going through. The jarring & intense nature of it was very intentional from day one though, it’s fun to make people feel uncomfortable.”
Despite being so intense, your EP and sound as a whole sounds quite cathartic. Do you feel like you’re getting a release when writing and playing, and do you feel like your channeling something?
“Yeah, there’s a release from the mundanity of everyday life when we get up on stage, the bullshit & hard work that comes with running a band falls away momentarily.”
You’ve only been playing live for less than two years but you’ve already stirred up quite the buzz. How would you describe your live presence and what’s the common reaction to your shows?
“Our live show is deliberately intense & quite theatrical. There’s only two of us so we are doing what we can within our means to make it an immersive experience rather than a straight up live performance. The reaction is mixed, some people get it, some people don’t know what is going on, and that’s fine. There’s a lot of male/female duo bubblegum-pop-metal acts at the moment & I think some people expect that from us & presume that’s what we are going for, but if anything we are a reaction to that.”
You’ve played with both more electronic acts such as ZAND and Tokky Horror as well as with more metal focused acts such as Frontierer and Empire State Bastard. Was there a different reaction between those shows?
“Yeah a big difference. In the metal scene people are more into it, more receptive, friendlier (bands & fans included) & they just get what we are going for, they hear the reference points. That’s where our roots are ultimately & where we feel most comfortable so we welcome that crowd.”
What’s next for the band this year?
“More new music & hopefully more opportunities to play with friends & artists we look up to.”
Finally, what do you want people to take away from fakeyourdeath?
“Hello, we are just getting started.”