You may know these guys from Pinhead Records’ “International Punk Rock Superstars” vol. 7 compilation I featured on IDIOTEQ some time ago. Hailing from Sherman, Texas, the Urban Scandal Records representatives agreed to do a brief interview for IDIOTEQ, which turned out to be a nice introduction to what they do.
FAIRBANKS blows a breath of fresh air into the punk scene serving fast and melodic tunes in the vein of early LIFETIME. Taste it below.
Hello [smiles]. For the purpose of our readers and your new audience, could you introduce yourself, say your name and what you do in the band?
Austin W:
My name is Austin Waymire, I play guitar and sing. Austin Carroll, bass. Rafael Garcia, Drums.
So, you have a new EP coming out, right? Tell us more about it.
Austin W:
Yes, it actually came out November 29th on Urban Scandal Records. We worked really hard on it, I think it’s a more mature version of our music compared to our first release, and we’re really proud of it. You can check it out pretty much anywhere online, Itunes, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc. It is available on CD and Digital.
Why release another EP instead of a proper full length?
Austin W:
We consider our first release a demo, this is more of an official EP. The songs have a lot more time, work, and heart put into them.
What’s the highlight of the EP for you? A song, a riff, a lyric, a moment while writing or recording?
Austin C:
Writing the bass parts of Distilled Manx was definitely a highlight for me, it was the first song we wrote for Eat This Record and I was able to expand techniques and influences into writing the parts as apposed to our old stuff.
Austin W:
The highlight of the EP for me is the song “Bad Luck Brain“. I like all the songs, but this one has my favorite lyrics, and I have fun playing it.
How was the recording and writing process for the band?
Austin C:
Writing was a fun and easy process. We didn’t force anything just because we were planning to put out a release. All the songs came naturally. Recording was pretty easy, the producer had some cool ideas for our songs. Hearing those ideas made it very interesting for us. The way our songs are projected, as far as quality, tones, etc. I think really helped make the songs what they are.
What’s Denison like as a city, overall, and as a local music scene in comparison to Dallas?
Rafael G:
Denison is just regular small town. It’s where all of our friends and stuff are, so when we play here it’s a pretty good community vibe. We don’t have to deal with any promoters, it’s just the bands putting on the show. We’ve had fun in Dallas and have met some cool people down there, but I think we have had more fun just playing here.
Any local acts you’d like to shout out to?
Austin C:
Check out everyone of these bands weekenddudes.bandcamp.com.
How has touring been going so far for you guys? Have you played a lot of gigs as FAIRBANKS?
Right now we’ve played as far North as Oklahoma City, and down south as far as San Antonio. Basically all over TX and OK. No real touring yet but this summer our plans our to start traveling to more states.
Yeah, but I bet you have your favorite cities and venues. Tell us more about it.
Austin C:
Honestly our favorite places to play aren’t even real venues. We played in the back of a thrift store in OKC in a tiny ass room and it was really cool. Backyards, houses, and garages, count us in for it.
Alright. Do you guys have any side projects?
Austin W:
Yes, we do a hardcore/power violence band on the side called ATWHC. Its fun being able to branch out and do something like that when we’re not doing FAIRBANKS stuff. We have a demo at atwhc.bandcamp.com.
What music have you been into this year?
Austin W:
DIAMOND YOUTH – Orange, CEREMONY – Zoo, WAVVES – Afraid of Heights, I’m missing some but that’s what I can think of [laughs].Rafael G:
ADVENTURES, DR. KNOW, ALAN MENKEN.Austin C:
GG ALLIN, PANDORA.
Have you seen some of them live?
Rafael G:
A few of them, and there are tours with some that we haven’t seen coming to our area so we’re excited about that.
Ok, so please list some of your favorite shows in 2012.
TITLE FIGHT‘s fall tour and SXSW in Austin are a definite highlight.
And what about those you performed?
Also, tell us how do you felt about all those reunions happening lately.
Sadly we couldn’t attend some of the reunions but we’re fans of the Lifetime show at This Is Hardcore, and Seaweed at FFF Fest!
Austin C:
Our favorite gigs have mainly been in 2013. Last weekend we played an outside show with a bunch of really cool bands, in January our show at Bad Granny’s in OKC was really cool. Those are off the top of my head but this year’s been fun for us.
What has the beginning of 2013 been like for FAIRBANKS?
All that’s been on our schedule is writing and shows, we plan to have a new release out by the end of this year! More details about that will be announced via social networks!
Thanks for the chat, guys!
