Facing The Gallows

If you’re a fan of Norma Jean or As I Lay Dying, these guys will be right up your alley, with ear crunching breakdowns, neck-breaking riffs and growls that’ll scare
the hell outta the devil, FTG are setting the South African thrash-core scene on fire. Don’t let the shorts and sweatbands fool you, their bark is just as beastly as their bite!

An interview by: Sean Routlege      (Published 2009-08-12)

Conceived in 2007 the Five-some played +- 80 gigs in just 15 months, starting a party wherever they went! And they ain’t slowing down for anyone!

Facing The Gallows is:

Chase: Guitar Rick: Vocals & Guitar Bryan:Vocals Nem: Drums Ray: Bass

Achievements
Shows:

- Bells Festival 2 (headlining)
- Bells Festival 3
- Fight Festival
- Seasons Wither 1 & 2
- Lido Festival
- Thornfest 1 & 2
- FHM Homegrown Honey’s Show
- Polarity Festival
- PURITY Magazine Launch (JHB)
- TRI Tone Festival
- Black Dahlia Opening
- Dual Entertainment CD Launch (JHB)
- Equilibrium Festival
- Tour to Durban (played with The rising end, Show and Tell)
- Tour to PE (with Unforsaken Truth)
- Various Charity Shows
- Played With Conquest for Death (from USA/Japan)
- Recently confirmed to play WOODSTOCK 10 ’2008
- Underoath support act (Venue: Bell’s Sundowner, Date: Saturday 26th September)
- Durban/Pietermaritzburg Tour (with 16 Stitch and Pestroy)

- Ramfest (worcester) ’09

- Wynberg Sports Club Festival – Jan ’09

- Tour to Capetown – R.O.A.R, Stellenbosch, Wynberg Sports Club

- Tour to PE – Jesters

- No Turning Back (Netherlands) Support Act

- Haste the Day (USA) SA tour support act for the JHB leg of the tour

…To mention but only a few…

http://www.myspace.com/facingthegallows

HBT: Thanks guys for taking the time out to share a few words with us.

FTG: Amped! Thank YOU!

HBT: So first of all, whats with the ‘short’ shorts an headbands?

Ray: Not all of us wear them, we all express ourselves in our own way.

Chase: It’s called “sexercise” when we hit the stage!

HBT: Metal is perceived to be “dark, mean and evil”  Yet you guys are the
total opposite. What’s your image about? How important is image?

Chase: The genre has diversified so much now.
Rick: Some people categorise music by the image.
Nem: We don’t think about image really. We just wear what we feel comfortable in…

HBT: Last year at Tempos, you gave Bryan’s dad(Who was headbanging in the
crowd, fuck yeah!) a shout out, thanking him for everything. How important
is it to have support from your family?

Rick: Bryan’s dad is our dad. He’s supported us since day one. And still
vows to take us to play in Japan haha. Amped! All the other parents want us to have “real jobs”.

HBT: You guys just released your debut video “Hey! I can see my house from
here” Did it turn out how you guys thought it would? Was it difficult to
kinda act normal in front of the camera?

All: It turned out way better than we expected.
Nem: We just act like we do on stage.
Ray: It’s easy to go wild in front of your friends.
All: We would like to thank Chris Carstens (Diretor) for taking the time to
help us out with the video.

HBT: With song names varying from “Hey! i can see my house from here”, to
“Undying Beautiful” what’s the main theme to your lyrics?
Could you give us a rough meaning of what “Hey! I can see my house from
here” is all about?

Rick: Hey! is all about how civilization destroys itself and rebuilds to
survive. Bryan writes about random things. I think he’s writing lyrics about
Brave Heart now… To be honest, I think Bryan’s the only guy in the band
who understands his lyrics haha

HBT: So “Facing the Gallows” – Means a few things, what does it mean to you
individually? Who came up with the name?

Nem: Rick found the name! It’s a name that I can say, so I’m happy haha.
Ray: Back in the day people went to watch people being hanged as a form
of entertainment of sorts.
Rick: Yeah Nem stutters so it’s rad for him haha. I think of it as
you’re faced with something, so deal with it.
Chase: Don’t wait for a time of your life to do something. Before
you know it, you’ll be dead, so do it now.

HBT: Who are your musical influences ?

Ray: Norma Jean, Blink 182, 65 Days of Static as well.

Chase: Parkway Drive and Foals.
Nem: UnderOath, Enter Shikari and a fuck load more.
Rick: Unearth, Parkway Drive and August Burns Red to name a few. It
varies between all of us.

HBT: The pits at your gigs are just plain hectic. It’s more of a martial
arts show than a mosh, with roundhouse kicks and windmilling all over the
place. It must feel pretty crazy knowing your music does that to people?

Chase: It’s impressive to see people go crazy while we play. It’s cool to
see the crowds reaction from the stage.
Ray: It’s slowly changing, it’s not so much just fists and flying kicks,
everyone gets involved. It just makes me happy.
Rick: I think it’s sick! It’s always fun seeing people having as much fun
as I am.
Nem: I don’t see anybody… But it’s cool when people tell me about it after
the show.

HBT: Ever had any embarrassing moments on stage?

Nem: Bryan shat his pants once…

Rick: I broke my lead on stage once, and after I replaced it, I blanked
out and forgot how the song started when we came back in.
Ray: I played super drunk once at Lido and I fell  into Nem’s drumkit.
*ED note: I actually saw that! Epic!
Chase: I played a whole song with my guitar muted…

HBT: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done at a gig?

Rick: I smashed my guitar at Seasons Wither 2. It didn’t have the effect
I thought it would have had though…
Ray: I got the headstock of my guitar stuck in the ceiling at Black
Dahlia. Fuck low ceilings…
Rick: Yeah we owe Dahlia a few ceiling boards and light fittings.
Nem: I sometimes get off stage during a song and get in the pit to get
people amped, or make them clap or dance with Rick. We can’t really get too
crazy though because we still pay for our gear.
Chase: Rick hit me in the face with his guitar once.

HBT: Metal is kind of looked down upon in South Africa, (don’t get me
wrong, the metal community is growing by the thousands) but how hard is it
to get recognized and to get the word out?

Rick: Here it’s really hard. There’s no proper media coverage. ie Metal TV
show, radio: UJ fm just canceled their metal show… wtf?
*Ed note: A sad day indeed for SA metal.
Ray: People’s attitude towards local music isn’t strong enough.
Rick: Yeah, people will rather spend thousands on bringing international
bands out, rather than using the money to send our bands overseas.

HBT: When i mention Facing The Gallows to people, the first words that usually come out of their mouths are “Heavy as fuck!” Are you guys going to keep in the same direction, considering musical style ? eg. Bring Me The Horizons’ new stuff
compared to pray for plagues.

Ray: Music changes overtime, metal is evolving.
Nem: We’ve evolved as a band and we’ll probably keep evolving. Whether it’s
heavy or not, who knows.
Rick: As we learn new things we try fit them in where ever we think it’s
cool. I’m liking the idea of going back in time somewhat and get some
metalcore back into our sound.
Chase: Progression hey…

HBT: You guys have played all over South Africa, where’s your favorite place
to plug in and make some noise?

Nem: Ramfest and Jesters in PE.
Ray: ROAR in Cape Town.
Chase: ROAR, Ramfest. I always dig playing JHB though.
Rick: The Seasons Wither shows are always sick.

HBT: What is best thing about being in Facing The Gallows ?

Nem: Hanging out and going to cool places and meeting rad people.
Chase: I don’t really have family here. So Facing The Gallows is kind of my family. It’s the coolest thing in life right now.

Ray: Getting the chance to tour the country and meet people.
Rick: What Ray said, and getting the odd free thing here and there.

HBT: And the worst?

Nem: Standing in human shit during a photo shoot.
Ray: Dealing with Bryan being late haha
Rick: Carrying gear!
Chase: Being held back. We can’t do things we really want to do. We’d like
to make this bigger. It’s just difficult from here.
Ray: It will happen though.
Nem: But the scene is getting bigger, so we’re not going to be selfish. We
know that we’re putting down a stepping stone for other bands. We might not get our chance, but it’s ok because we’re still doing what we love.

HBT: A day in the Life of Facing The Gallows:

Chase: Wake up at like 10. Practice, do some work.
Ray: Wake up at 2, Play X -Box until band practice haha.
Rick: Play guitar, work a little. Practice. Play. A lot of partying happens
during the week.
Nem: Wake up, practice, play. Eat.

HBT: Your dream bands to tour with?

All: Unearth, Norma Jean, Parkway Drive, Every Time I Die, Lamb of God,
Evergreen Terrace, Go Go Bronco and The dead Will Tell.

HBT: The most embarrassing album you own?

Nem: Wigfield. TLC – Fanmail
Rick: Hanson’s first album. I have Vengaboys, but I like it.
Ray:  A Lionel Richie album and Living Sacrifice.
Chase: Mine was Bryan Adams but I lost it. Invader (n) In -fah-der

HBT: What are Facing The Gallows’ plans for the future and where would you like to see yourselves in 5 years?

All: Hopefully record an album soon. Tour! We want to tour overseas. We
really want to try get to Australia.

HBT: What’s your take on the G word?… Groupies?

Nem: Haha we don’t have any.
Ray: Lack thereof.
Nem: If anyone wants to be a groupie. Take a bra and fill it out…
Chase: And bring me booze.
Rick: I can’t say I know what those are…

A few words on:

HBT: If you were invisible for a day?

Rick: No one would see me… and I’d be naked.
Ray: I’d wank in public.
Chase: I’d like to see what it’s like to get drunk and see what happens. I’d
try and chat to people.
Nem: I would sit in a cinema and watch free movies.

HBT: Bring Me The Horizon:

Nem: It’s a band.
Ray: Rad!
Chase: I dig them.
Rick: Revolutionary.

HBT: Beer:

Ray: Nectar of the gods. It’s habitat is my stomach.
Nem: Mmmmmmm, beer…
Chase: Heineken sponsor?
Rick: I’ll let you know once I learn to handle it.

HBT: Swine Flu:

Rick: Breeeee breee!
Chase: Sucks, but what about cancer and AIDS?
Nem: No comment.
Ray: I’m not a pig so I’m ok.

HBT: HeadbangToday:

Rick: Sick! We need more people like you!
Chase: Awesome that you support and cover music like ours.
Nem: It’s rad that you want to expose bands and help with exposure.
Ray: Guys like you put in the time and effort in your day to promote local
music. It’s greatly appreciated.
*Ed note: The pleasure is all ours!

HBT: Long hair and skinny jeans?

Chase: Fuck yeah! I’m a sex monster.
Nem: On a girl…
Ray: I don’t have long hair or wear skinny jeans.
Rick: For the win!

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