Fear Before The March Of Flames
Denver punk rock upstarts Fear Before The March Of Flames (FBTMOF) first garnered attention with their debut, Odd How People Shake, originally released on Rise Records. After hearing the album, Equal Vision quickly snatched them up and reissued it last year before putting them in the studio with Matthew Ellard (Converge) to record Art Damage. Forming in high school, FBTMOF members Adam Fisher (guitar / melodic vox), Brandon Proff (drums), Dave Marion (screaming vox), and Michael Madruga (bass) built up their chops locally while taking frequent weekend trips to play such far-flung locales as Arkansas. Now they’re displaying their controlled chaos alongside groups such as Coheed and Cambria, Bad Religion and NOFX (on Warped Tour). Below is an excerpt from an HMmag.com online exclusive interview with Proff.
What music out there is really exciting for you, and why?
You mean bands? I’m just really into… I guess it’s music that’s challenging music – music theory and just every aspect of it, I guess. I’m just getting tired of all the bands that sound the same. What I’ve been listening to mostly is more ambient stuff. I’m not really into heavier music. Mogwai and Sigur-Ros, just bands like that we’re really into. We’re really into the new mewithoutYou record and stuff like that. Just bands that are really challenging music – being unique and stuff like that. It’s so complicated, I guess, because there are so many different ways to put it.
From your perspective, how do chaos and melody marry in your music?
I don’t know exactly. I just kind of happens. You want it to be intense. I really like music that kind of suffocates you, I guess. It’s like, “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe somebody came up with this at the same time.” I don’t want to be bland, I guess. You just try as hard as you can to take an element from a band that’s melodic and an element from a band that’s chaotic and just try to fuse it together. It’s mostly guitar driven for us, I guess. That’s where all the writing starts for us.
You guys do it really well.
Thank you.
What led to the adding the cool sound effects and accompaniment to your songs, like the kids in “Should’ve Stayed In The Shallows?”
Our producer, Matt Ellerd, when we first started talking to him about our newer record, we were just trying to come up with something that would tie all of our songs together and make it one piece of music. I don’t know what the word would be, but one altogether thing, like a book, you know? There’s chapters, but it’s all together as one story. When we came to the table with him, he had the idea of searching on the internet and all this other kind of stuff. He had all these ideas of ways that we could find sounds and just mess with them and kind of stick them in and pull everything together. We spent pretty much the whole time that we were recording our record, while whoever was up tracking, everybody else was kind of in the background trying to find stuff like that to put into it.
What are your primary thoughts when you’re drumming the fastest in a live setting?
I’ve gotta keep up! (laughs) Everything is normally just a blur when I’m playing. Sometimes I’ll be thinking about just normally what I have to do next, sort of thing. If it’s kind of a rough night, I’ll be thinking about what I’m gonna eat afterwards, where we’re going to the next night, stuff like that. But most of the time, though, I’m thinking about what’s coming up next, cuz it’s moving so fast I have to be thinking constantly.
What are some of the funniest things you’ve ever seen when looking out from your drum stool?
Well, in Houston there were these kids that kept falling over and they kept tripping our singer, Dave, over and over and over. He kept saying, “Guys, you’ve gotta stop! I don’t want to hurt anybody. I don’t want to step on anybody’s hands or anything like that, and they kept getting in the way. Towards the end of the set it was still happening and I looked over down at the ground – I don’t know what I was doing – I was looking at something and when I looked back half of my drumset was gone. It had been knocked over by the kids. And I was not quite sure what to do about it. The other funny thing about that was these kids… You know, the music was still going and one of ‘em gets on stage and starts trying to piece my drumset back together and our singer’s still going crazy. He’s scaring ‘em and getting in the way and it was just a huge mess. It was really, really funny.
That’s bizarre.
Yeah, really bizarre.
What do you think about Jesus Christ?
I love the… I can’t even describe it. I became a Christian when I was in middle school, I think, and… I grew up in a Christian family and I never really had taken it very seriously because of that. It was just always around, but there were things that effected me that couldn’t be explained by… There wasn’t anybody telling me, “Well, this is God. This is what happens, and that’s why I think you need to accept Jesus.” It was completely something that happened to me and it was between me and God and it was amazing. And so right now it’s just a constant journey and I… It’s really rough, because I’m young and very imperfect – especially being in a touring band. There’s a lot of things that can really challenge me and get in my way, but I have a lot of accountability from all my friends at home and stuff like that. It’s just been a very interesting life to have for me, I guess, being in a band and stuff like that, but at the same time having something that I’m totally in love with and have as part of my life – even though I don’t have many opportunities to surround myself with people who believe the same thing. So, that was a lot. Sorry!
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Comments
Fear Before the March of Flames is one of the best hardcore bands out there. I find it really interesting to read about one of its' memebers in this article. I wish them all the best and pray that they may be strong in their faiths as the tour the country. All the best to them
Christian band? Taken for an interview at TheBeep.net:
Mike: "Ok, I'll go outside and see if that helps (goes outside). Let's see if this is better. In track 3 you say, "the birds think I'm one of their own, the birds thank God to be alive." Is there any Christian or religious influences involved?
Adam: "It's a song that Dave wrote, and it's kinda like a conversation with the devil." (silence)
Mike: "Hello, you still there?"
Adam: "Yea, it's just a song about having a conversation with the devil. Don't think we are a satanic band or anything..."
Mike: "No, no, no, not at all. There are rumors that you guys are a Christian band because you guys played at Cornerstone and did some touring with Dead Poetic and Norma Jean."
Adam: "We never played Cornerstone."
Mike: "Never played Cornerstone?."
Adam: "No."
Okay, I don't quit get that post. It was never mentioned in the Hm article that they were a Christian band. The quotes you posted seemed that the band member was simply saying not to label them based on lyrical content. That just because God is mentioned does not mean they are a Christian band, just as the comment about it being a conversation with the devil does not mean they are a satanic band. But that's just my opinion.
I think it's fairly clear (from both the interview and the band's lyrics) that Fear Before is not a "Christian band."
Brandon Proff (the drummer) is a Christian. That's why this interview is in HM. It's sort of like the whole "So and So Says" thing.
I just saw Fear Before (along with Underoath, the Chariot and These Arms Are Snakes) on the "Totally Badical Tour." I personally think it's awesome for the hardcore scene to open up like it has. It's interesting to see a tour with two bands whose members are professed Christians, one that has no Christian members, and one that has at least one Christian member. Not to mention a show where some people are praying in one corner, and others are smoking weed in another corner.
It's awesome to see bands like Underoath and the Chariot going into the "real world," and also to see people like Brandon Proff perform in a non-Christian group, making himself a witness to his band and the fans.
Timothy (from Underoath) summed it up at the end of the show: "It's awesome to see people with different beliefs and values together in one space, and whatevere you believe, we're all here to have fun." (sic)
Anyway, I guess the point is to clarify: Fear Before is not a "Christian" band, and if you only listen to "Christian" music or are offended by profanity don't buy their album. But if not, check it out. It's some awesome hardcore.
