Today is a great day to share the new EP from ska/punk band For The Record called Fake It ‘Til You Make It. The California band take their influence from ska legends like Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto, but they have a nice pop-punk sound that is unique to their brand of feel-good tunes. If you’re enjoying the early listen of the EP, please consider purchasing the album when it hits the streets this Friday, July 1st.
I was also able to catch up with For The Record for a brief interview about the new and exciting direction they took on their new EP.
Thank you for your time today, and congrats on the upcoming release of your new EP entitled Fake it ‘Til You Make It. Where did this album title originate from, and why did you feel it fit for these songs?
Thanks for taking the time to talk to us! The title was kind of a collaboration of ideas. We kicked around a few and landed on “Fake It” because we liked that the album has a lot of allusions to masking your feelings for the sake of people not worrying about you or just doing whatever you need to get through something.
How do you use the usually upbeat and happy vehicle of ska/punk music to tackle more pertinent themes such as mental health and depression?
My favorite thing about our style of ska is that it’s so high energy and so easy to make it sound happy and fun that you can say almost whatever and people will go back and check out the lyrics and be like, “Hey man, you good”?. I’ve had a few people reach out to me asking me how if I’ve been doing okay. I wasn’t. That’s why this album exists.
The live show is a very great way to engage with your fans, and make new ones along the way. How would you describe your performances?
Crowd interaction and engagement is a big part of our live set. We’ll direct sing a longs and in-between songs I’ll usually have a joke or something ready to go or someone will bounce something off of someone else and we’ll get a bit going. Those people are there to see a show and they’re going to get one.
Every band has a unique story to tell through their music. What do you hope listeners will best take away from listening to your music?
However sad or alone you’ve ever felt or currently feel, either myself or anyone in the band has been there ourselves. You’re not alone. You’re never alone.
I really love the opening song, “Another Notch in My Notebook.” How did this song in particular come together from a writing standpoint?
I wanted to get out of my comfort zone writing. I’ve been writing a lot of faster stuff and wanted to try and write something slower and the end result was something that was super bouncy and dancey but then kind of really picks up towards the end and gets people moving. It’s probably one of my favorites to play live.
How does your band primarily do most of its writing, and were there any challenges with writing during a pandemic?
Typically, I’ll get lyrics and structure, really a skeleton of a song, going first and then do a rough recording and send it to everyone to see if it’s up to snuff and worth keeping around. Then we’ll usually hash some stuff out at practice and add horns and other tweaks. Writing during the pandemic was a challenge in and of itself. I don’t think I’d ever felt so uncreative or uninspired. I tried to make a habit of sitting down and writing and creating some kind of practice regimen so I was still doing music in some form just to keep the rust from setting in.
What are 3-5 albums that have been key to your growth as musicians and people, and that you feel have some influence in your own music?
In no particular order: Talon of the Hawk – The Front Bottoms, Best Buds – Mom Jeans, Take This to Your Grave – Fall Out Boy, Cheer Up – Reel Big Fish, You’re Gonna Miss It All - Modern Baseball. There was a period of time where I had all of these on repeat for WEEKS. Lyrically or musically they always get me out of a rut or give me an idea or something to work with.