NEW WAVE ARCADE
Jul 1, 2002 12:00 PM, By Erin Hutton
In a packed, sweaty basement overflowing with sweater-clad indie-rock kids in mid-Missouri, The Faint seem larger than life. With seizure-inducing strobe lights and a foreboding fog enveloping them, these boys from Omaha, Neb., at once recall the simplistic joy of early Depeche Mode, the sexy ooze and thrash of Jesus and Mary Chain and the desperate anger of Joy Division.
The Faint have recently emerged from Midwestern basements and appeared on stages across the United States, headlining San Francisco's 2002 Noise Pop 10 and supporting No Doubt on their recent nationwide tour.
As The Faint's popularity grows in tandem with the rebirth of new wave, they have no choice but to become the reluctant electro heroes for the indie set. Their most recent release, Danse Macabre (Saddle Creek, 2001), is a straight-up dance record that, while retaining the dark attitude, buffs away some of the grittiness of their 1999 release, Blank Wave Arcade (Saddle Creek). “We didn't try to make Blank Wave Arcade completely new wave without other influences,” says the band's diminutive but dynamic front man, Todd Baechle. “We did that knowingly because that's what was coming naturally to us when we started doing more with keyboards.”
The Faint began as a punk-tinged lo-fi outfit (originally called Norman Bailer) and had to nearly start over musically when they entered the electronic realm. “When we started playing guitars, we didn't know anything about guitars; when we started playing keyboards, we didn't know anything about keyboards,” says drummer Clark Baechle. “The way we learned to play all our instruments was by playing together as a band. It was the same way when we started with keyboards: Everyone kind of learned at the same rate, not just the keyboard player.”
What they learned they put to use by crafting their records with Yamaha CS2x, Yamaha AN1x, Clavia Nord Lead 2, Novation SuperNova 2 and E-mu Turbo Phatt synths. Although they recorded both albums in Digidesign Pro Tools, the band “purposely made Blank Wave Arcade sound like it wasn't that type of recording,” says Todd. “We miked our amps and tried to make it sound like a live basement show.” Equipment upgrades and improved skills prompted the more dancefloor-friendly Danse Macabre. “It's a process of getting better at making electronic music,” Todd says. “You tend to learn what you want and make sounds that represent what you think your band's about.” Moreover, with increased popularity comes increased-capacity venues, which give the band freedom to expand what they can perform live. “We can put things that aren't physically possible to play in the sequence,” Todd says.
Certainly, some of the larger venues have come courtesy of the No Doubt tour, a definite learning experience for the band in terms of discovering who they tip for setting up monitors, who sleeps on the bus as opposed to in hotels and which cities you can and cannot get naked in. After walking onstage with nothing but “ND” printed on his bare bum, Todd was arrested for public nudity in Albuquerque, N.M., following the final show of the tour in May.
Almost as free with their music as they are with nakedness, The Faint encourage remixes of their songs. “We give out tracks to just about anybody who's really interested in our band,” Clark says. “Just because you've never heard of someone doesn't mean they're not going to be great.“ For information about remixing a song by The Faint, go to www.thefaint.com.
Acceptable Use Policy blog comments powered by Disqus
| Want to use this article? Click here for options! |  |
