INTRODUCING…THE FADES
The Fades – are you the only one with that or similar names? If not, what do you know about the others?
When we chose the name it was unique, it now seems there is an eighties covers band in NYC also using the name. I don’t really mind though as we are easily told apart. There was also a BBC drama recently using the name, but that was a cool show about ghosts and stuff so it’s fine by me.
We’re guessing your influences are quite varied…who are the key ones and are there any surprising ones there?
Everything from Elvis to Queens of The Stone Age really. I like Beatles and Stones, Dave I think is more Bolan and Bowie, James is nuts about Flea and anything with slap bass, and Flash is a metaller through and through
There are two brothers in the band. How do you avoid Oasis style problems?
Sometimes things flare up, but the good thing about the fact we all grew up together is you can be fighting one minute, then laughing the next. We’re pretty close. It’s sometimes best to avoid the brothers at the end of a long drinking session though!
You’re London-based, but would you ever consider heading to the South West? It’s very inspirational here!
I agree, I love touring and visiting the South West. Great venues like the Louisiana in Bristol and Moles in Bath, as well as the numerous festivals which are cracking rain or shine. We’ll come down at any given opportunity
The new album’s called Ragnorak – what the heck does that mean?
It’s the name given to the Norse day of reckoning. We thought it’s such an awesome name for an album that we had to do it. When you asked about surprising influences before, I’d like to add Beowulf the epic poem to the list
The artwork’s pretty cool, how important do you think that is?
Very important frankly. Of course the advent of the mp3 is totally wicked, but we are record collectors as much as anything and wanted to make a complete package. James (bass) does the majority of our artwork and tries to make it special. That’s why we’ve gone to town on the limited edition boxset for the new album. Order your copy now and get the box set with t-shirt included.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
A massive album launch show at The Borderline in Soho on 29 September is our main focus. We are going to pull out all the stops for that one. We also keep writing new songs so it’s back to the studio to get it all down.
What’s the best fade at the end of a song you’ve ever heard?
I like the ‘Helter Skelter’ fade-out and fades-back-in again approach. Like the band forgot to stop and the engineer wants to go home. We paid homage to that on the last track on Ragnarok too!
More info on The Fades at www.thefades.net – or catch them live at www.figure8festival.co.uk in Dorset on September 22, 2012.
