Fuck The Facts (Grindcore from Ottawa/Gatineau, Canada)

Grindcore is more like an art, it’s more than just music. It seems that coathic music is really more complicated to play. A popular quote says:

‘make noise, not music. And to the ears of those who are not familiar 

with this particular kind of music, dont get the point that it`s not an insult, 
but just a metaphore to say it`s a brutal and crude kind of music`.

Fuck the facts is one on the best band on north america who can play noise like a tank crushed their enemies. So I ask them some interview question:

Jonathan - What makes a Good grindcore band?

FTF - For me it’s stripped down, fast, honest and aggressive music. When I think of straight up grindcore bands, I think of bands like Phobia, Kill The Client & Flesh Parade. For us, it’s a big influence but I would never say we’re a straight up grind band.

Jonathan - I saw you at the Maryland Deathfest in 2010, and I have to say that I consider it to be one of the best perfomances I seen of you guys. Tell me your opinion on this show, was it just like any other show? Or kinda special because it`s one of the most reputed fest in North America?

FTF - Playing any large festival is always awesome and weird at the same time. It’s great to be in front of a big crowd and especially part of something as big as MDF, but usually it sounds weird on stage and it’s pretty uncomfortable because we have to use a different backline of gear. That being said, we definitely love playing MDF and it’s awesome that we’ve been able to be a part of it twice.

Jonathan - You record all your stuff yourself, and support the DIY movement, correct?

FTF - We started out recording ourselves but at a certain point we felt that we needed to step up our production, so we decided to work with other people. Overtime we learned a lot more about recording and it came to a point that we felt we needed to get back to recording ourselves. Mainly it’s out of necessity, because we just don’t sell enough albums to justify a high recoding budget. By having our own studio now, not only are we constantly building it up and getting better at what we do, but we’ve also been able to record other bands.

Jonathan - I really believe it is the only passionate way to do music, with your heart. But sometimes hard times and trouble can get in the way. Why is it so important for you and do you have any funny stories to tell?

FTF - I’ve been doing it so long now that I can’t imagine not doing it. There’s no doubt that if I would stop I would just get bored and end up playing music again. There’s definitely tough times and at some points it’s been hard to continue, but we do our best to be smart with ever decision that we make so we don’t sabotage ourselves financially or burn ourselves out.

Jonathan - What's the origin of the band name, Fuck the Facts?

FTF - I took it straight from a Naked City album. I liked the way it sounded and I felt it described well what I wanted to do with this project.

Jonathan - Have you changed the band's name before?

FTF - No, it’s been Fuck The Facts since day one. We discussed changing it at some points, but we didn’t and I’m glad that we didn’t.

Jonathan - Who are your major influences? Or do you just write what you like and that is the result?

FTF - Mainly we just do what comes out and go from there. Everyone in the band is involved in the writing, so things always change when there’s different members involved. We all listen to a lot of different music and we’re always discovering new music, so our influences are always changing as well. Personally, I’m a big fan of bands with a long and interesting history. Bands that are not afraid to try new and different thing even if it doesn’t always work.

Jonathan - How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?

FTF - Besides me, Mel is the member that’s been there the longest, about 11 years now. FTF played a show with her old band back in the day and when we needed a new vocalist we asked her. Our drummer Vil actually joined the band as the 2nd guitarist about 8 years ago. We also knew him from his old band that we played shows with. About a month of so before we recorded “Stigmata High-Five” we had to kick out our old drummer, so Vil switched to drums. That’s more than 7 years ago. He wasn’t the 2nd guitarist for very long, but he still writes for the band and often plays guitar on the recordings. Again with our bass player Marc, we knew him from his old band. It’s been more than 5 years that he’s been playing with us now. It started as just a “fill-in” thing, but his old band broke up and things became more permanent with us. Our other guitarist Johnny has also been in the band for about 5 years now. We didn’t really know him before, but our original drummer got him in touch with us and things just clicked right away.

Jonathan - When did you form your band?

FTF - I started doing recordings under the name Fuck The Facts by myself in the late 90’s, but the actual band started in 2001.

Jonathan - What inspired you to make music together?

FTF - Making Fuck The Facts a full band just seemed like the next logical step. We went through a decent amount of member changes in the beginning, but I feel lucky that now we have a solid line-up and we’re all on the same page regarding all aspects of the band.

Jonathan - Im sure some countries or crowds are more enthusiastic than others, do you have any particular anecdotes to tell us? Any funny moments? Disappointments?

FTF - We’re never disappointed. We’ve played shows in front of hundreds of people and shows in front of less than 10 people. It’s not all about the size of the audience that makes it a good show. It’s mainly about the vibe and exchange of energy between the band and the crowd. There’s not one place in the world that we’ve played that we’re guaranteed that there will be hundreds of people when we play. For the places where the shows were continually bad, we just stopped going there.

Jonathan - Which songs do you perform most frequently?

FTF - Our set is always morphing and we’re always trying to bring in newer songs into the set. Songs like “The Sound Of Your Smashed Head” & “Kelowna” spent a long time in the set, but eventually everything gets put aside to make room for newer songs. We always try to focus on playing what’s more current.

Jonathan - Do you ever play any covers?

FTF - We played Unholy Grave’s “Confession” live for a while. Actually I think we even played it at MDF back in 2007.

Jonathan - Who writes your songs?

FTF - Everyone in the band is involved in the writing.

Jonathan - What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?

FTF - Mel handles the lyrics with a little bit of help from Marc and me. She mainly focuses on things that have affected her and what she has seen or read about in current events.

Jonathan - Do you think these topics will change over time?

FTF - Who knows, we can’t predict the future. We just do what comes naturally.

Jonathan - Could you briefly describe the music-making process?

FTF - It’s always a bit different, but most often someone works on a demo at home and then sends it to everyone else. We’ll take that as a starting point and as we all start to learn it, things will usually start changing. Some times a lot and sometime not too much. Even while recording in the studio the songs are still changing.

Jonathan - What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?

FTF - We have set times during the week that we rehearse. We’re pretty busy in life, so if we didn’t have set times it would just never happen. Mel, Vil and I are the only ones that live in the region, so we practice fairly often together. Manly Vil and I will get together and work on new stuff together or even just practice songs in the set. Usually a few days before a tour or recording Marc & Johnny will come down and we’ll all rehearse together.

Jonathan - How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

FTF - Like I said, things are always changing as we develop new influences and with the different line-ups the band has had over the years. But maybe what I’ve noticed the most is just that we’ve all gotten a bit better at playing our instruments and just doing what we do. Now when something starts coming together it’s a bit easier to see where it’s going to go.

Jonathan - What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?

FTF - 2 of our members live about 6 hours away. That’s probably the hardest thing to deal with in the band at the moment. We do our best to work with it and those guys have been really good about coming down when needed, so it has definitely been workable.

Jonathan - What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?

FTF - I used to say just do it and learn from your mistakes, but now I would probably expand on that thought. If you just want to have fun with your friends in the basement, just jamming for kicks, then yes just do it and have a blast. But if you want to start playing shows, record albums and tour, then take some real time and effort to make sure you’re ready to do all those things as best as possible before you start booking shows, studio time and tours. That could take years, but if you’re serious about doing something it takes time and it take sacrifice. You’ll definitely learn from your mistakes along the way, but having your shit together early on will not only make your band look much better right out of the gate, but it’ll also make old guys like me not want to kill you for being horribly unprofessional.

Jonathan - For those who don’t know you, How can fans-to-be gain access to your music? Do you have a website with sample songs or a demo CD?

FTF - Our bandcamp page is probably the easiest place to check out and download our music. http://fuckthefacts.bandcamp.com

Jonathan - And the last question is all yours, you decide what to say here!

FTF - Cheers!

If any of you are fans of grindcore and really want to support the Canadian underground scene, check out these guys. They are one of the few who really believe in what they do, and according to my personal experience, to see them a few times live, I consider them one of the only real grindcore band of my area who play music with passion, not for money and fame. Show them some respect, and support the DIY movement, and the real music will come back. They are hope for tomorrow.