Following one of
the last local concerts Faktion would play before
embarking on their first US tour, Mikel sat
down with vocalist Ryan Gibbs and talked about
the band's new single, and upcoming debut self-titled
album from Roadrunner. The album comes out on
March 21st, and you can preorder
the album now at Amazon.com and have it
delivered on the release date.
TuneLab: Your first single "Take
It All Away" is already impacting radio
stations, how did you pick the single from the
album?
Ryan Gibbs: Actually
we had nothing to do with picking the single.
"Letting You Go" was going to be the
first single, but then at the last minute the
label changed their mind and decided to go with
"Take it all Away" which was a better
idea in my opinion. "Always Wanting More"
would have been a good pick too.
TL: You've got your
first nationwide tour coming up with Hinder
and Revalation Theory, "Girls Gone Wild
Rocks America", I'm sure you guys are looking
forward to that?
RG: One of the
most fun things about that is gonna be going
out with Hinder. We've been out with them a
few times and those guys are just awesome, just
cool guys, and their music is amazing. I've
become a huge fan of them.
TL: What are you looking
most forward to going out all over the country?
RG: Yeah, I'm
kinda nervous about it honestly, but I'm really
looking forward to going to some places I've
never been and meeting a lot of new people.
TL: The album was produced
by Brett Hestla [who also is the vocalist of
Dark new Day], did you get any mentoring or
advice from him?
RG: We got all
kinds mentoring from him, beyond just musical,
he would give you life advice. He's a guy with
a lot of experience, he's been out there, he's
just given us so much advice. Some of the most
fun times with Brett were just the times when
we were outside of the studio just driving in
the car and cruising around. He's given me alot
of vocal advice as well.
TL: When your album comes
out, why would you say people should spend their
$15 to buy your album and what sets it apart
from the other albums out there right now?
RG: Actually they
should go buy it if they like the songs, otherwise
don't buy it. But, I think it goes way beyond
"Take It All Away". Basically, don't
waste your money if you think it sucks haha.
I'm gonna buy it though, so thats why you should
buy it.
TL: The majority of the
lyrics on the album seem to have a positive
message, what is the inspiration for a lot of
your lyrics and songs?
RG: As far as
the positive thing, not to be bashing anyone,
but too many people... their lyrics are just
feeling sorry for themselves ya know, I hate
you, I hate this person, look at our world and
look how negative our world is today anyway.
We need positive things out there.
TL: Of all the songs you
recorded how did you pick what songs made the
cut?
RG: We actually
all heard it together with Justin [Thomas, co-producer]
and Brett and decided. Actually Roadrunner had
the option to change that, but they went with
our decision.
TL: "Take It All Away"
is starting to get into the radio stations including
XM, Sirius, and Music Choice on the TV. Have
you gotten any feedback as far as new fans across
the nation?
RG: Oh yeah, our
Myspace page is growing more and more everyday,
it's insane.
TL: As far as that, you
guys are real big with fan interaction. How
do you see that being maintained on tour?
RG: New friends
everywhere ya know.
TL: What was the thought
the first time you heard yourself on the radio?
RG: Honestly,
I had been hearing that we were being played
on Sirius and I listened for like 3 hours one
night and never heard it. The next day I was
listening and they played Dark new Day, and
they said "coming up next we've got Faktion"
and I was seriously blown away by it. Cause
I mean, I love Sirius, I listen to it all the
time. And to hear it on the Edge [94.5 KDGE
in Dallas] was crazy too. I called my mom and
we were both flippin out.
TL: Do you guys have certain
roles in the band?
RG: Jeremy (drums)
handles alot of our Internet stuff, Josh does
too, and Mikel here of course. Mikel's like
the 6th band member.
TL: How many tracks did
you record in the studio?
RG: We recorded
15, but we wrote 22 songs that we demoed.
TL: So the stuff
that didn't make the studio cut, are you going
to keep those for future albums?
RG: Who knows
what will happen to those, hopefully we'll use
them on a future album sometime.
TL: Can you describe what
"Take It All Away" is about?
RG: Everyone has
their own interpretation about what each song
is about, but It's just a crazy ass song. In
my opinion "Take It All Away" is about
temporary insanity, totally fed up with everything
just going nuts for a second. Thats what it's
about in my opinion, but everyone else may have
a different opinion.
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