Interviews: Far
Far
As Jimmy and I embarked on our journey to see Far and Incubus play at the Bayou in DC, we wondered if we would be able to interview Far as well as Incubus. We were lucky enough to meet up with Shaun and then Jonah came in and sat through the rest of the interview. Mad props go out to all of Far and Derek Patton from Immortal for helping out as always.
Smother: How's the response been to Water and Solutions, your new album?
Shaun: A lot better than our first album. The first one we had a lot of bad luck with tours. This time we made sure we were on the West Coast when it came out, so it's been doing really well. I'm sure it will drop off soon, though.
Smother: How has this tour been?
Shaun: It just started two days ago in Atlanta, GA. It wasn't totally planned for us to be on it. It kind of sucks, because nobody knows we're on the bill. We always get left off or added at the last minute, and I know people out here know who we are. We just played last month with Life of Agony, and nobody knew we were here.
Smother: Are you guys planning on releasing any music videos?
Shaun: We've already filmed a video for Mother Mary. We're not sure what will happen about MTV, but it will probably hit radio in May.
Smother: Who's been your favorite band to play with?
Shaun: We like the shows that we put together. The Deftones tour was a lot of fun.
Smother: Are you looking forward to Europe?
Jonah: Europe is great. We've only been once. People didn't know who we were, but they totally got the heavy with light thing we do. It was great.
Smother: What are your influences?
Far: DJ Shadow, Jungle stuff. As far as rock goes, we listen to stuff like Radiohead, PJ Harvey, Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Van Halen, 7 Seconds, deftones, Bad Brains, Suicidal Tendancies.
Smother: What's life like on tour?
Jonah: It's a strange life. My journal entries provide about the best explanation I can give. We rode 47 hours on our bus from Sacto to Atlanta. Touring is psycho. It's a lot of van time.
Smother: How long you been together?
Far: 7 years this spring.
Smother: Have you guys taken lessons?
Shaun: I took guitar lessons for about 8 months. After a while, my teacher was just teaching me how to play the songs I wanted to learn. Before long, I already knew how to do it myself, so I quit.
Jonah: I took a couple of vocal lessons.
Smother: What would you do if you met a guy named Carbomb?
Jonah: I like good names. I met a guy once named 12.
Smother: Are you sponsored by anyone?
Far: Adidas, ESP guitars--we get those for free.
Smother: I see you're wearing a Godmoney jacket. What do you think about Godmoney?
Jonah: He's a good friend of mine. He directed both of our videos. It's got what matters in it, which is passion. That's all that really matters for art. I like to think of it as a more intelligent, bizarre "The Crow". It's really abstract.
Smother: How did you go about writing songs on this album?
Jonah: Water and Solutions took a while to write. It was a lot of hard work. A lot of ideas come and go. At first we just sorta chilled, then we started writing since we realized how close the deadline was. Bury White is my favorite song.
Shaun: It's been really stressful. The time constraints made it kind of hard. Our first album we worried more about what it would sound like live, and this one we thought more about what it would be like to listen to it at home.
Smother: How has the internet helped?
Jonah: We have no idea. I'm not sure how it has helped record sales, but I have a certain group of people I like to keep in touch with. I'm really one of those fan people. I like to talk to people. I love the people who help out. We have direct e-mail. Maybe all the people who hear us will spread the word of mouth. E-mail is much easier than snail mail. It's hard to respond to snail mail. I send about 170 messages in just a couple days.
Shaun: I respond to all the snail mail I get. Without the people who listen to our music, nothing else matters.
Smother: How did you come up with the name Bury White?
Jonah: It was originally called "Soothe Me Lover." The band kicked me in the ass, and then we had to rename it. It feels like a Barry White song, so we called it Barry White. Then the producer said "Why not call it 'Bury White'" and the rest is history.
Smother: What is Mother Mary about?
Far: It's not about God. It's weird because there's a lot of spiritual stuff on the record. It's about making art. We all hang our morals on Mary, so it's about creating things larger than us.
Smother: What has been your all time favorite show?
Shaun: A show in Manchester. 1,000's of people were going nuts. If they had a rock n roll Disneyland ride, It'd be like that.
Jonah: Lack of exposure creates a huge underground fan base.
Smother: What do you think of music today?
Far: Rock music is as watered down as it's been in a long time. It's always fun to play in little places.
Smother: What are some trends you completely despise?
Jonah: Trends suck. They're not about what a person wants, but about fitting in.
Smother: What do you think of the new bands on Immortal?
Jonah: Goodness is good. They're different. Tinfed is another band that's amazing.
Smother: Yeah, they're going to be touring with the deftones. So what do you think of the deftones?
Jonah: No one knows what to do with us, since we're too heavy for some bands, and too light for other bands. The deftones get bands to play with them that bring out different parts in the band. You'll see bands play better when they play with bands that bring out different sounds in them.
Smother: What do you think about Incubus?
Jonah: I don't know. They seem kind of like misfits, too. They don't see themselves as part of the mainstream world either.
Smother: Do you have anything to fall back on?
Jonah: Before Tin Cans we were ready to quit. Then we got signed and got more money, which kept us going. I love music. Water and Solutions is my favorite record ever. I love it. I went to college and I'd probably do something with music.
Shaun: I see myself doing this for a long time. Somehow the kids in Europe think we're rock stars.