motel void

You come from Chicago, Illinois. I once spent there an afternoon while waiting for my flight and enjoyed the city – as a tourist – very much. How is living and playing music in Chicago for you?

Griffin Mang (Guitar and vocals): Chicago is cool, it’s cold most of the year which can be a drag, but it’s one of the most welcoming cities I’ve ever lived in.

Cameron Goulder (vocals): We love Chicago, the people here have always seemed super friendly. We haven’t played any shows here yet but we’re excited for that possibility in the future.

Jakob Morris (bass): Chicago is great! There’s so many things to do, all kinds of inviting peeps, and a huge scene.

How would you describe music scene there? Could you say that you are part of a scene in your city?

Griffin: The music scene is pretty active. I think we are involved in the Chicago scene in a lot of ways outside of Friendly Faces by being in other bands and projects as well. Which is a great way to meet a lot of great bands and artists.

Cameron: There’s a pretty big DIY house spaces scene here and that gives smaller artists opportunities to connect with other art markers. Which is really cool. This definitely influenced me wanting to start a band here. We’re part of it too by hosting and helping at Iguana house Chicago DIY venue. I met Griffin there when I was booking his band Yin Waster at the venue.

Jakob: The scene here is very welcoming. There are plenty of opportunities no matter your experience level and there’s always room to grow, always someone to look up to. I try to stay pretty active in the Chicago DIY scene.

That sounds really great. So in what other bands except for Friendly Faces you play?

Griffin:  I play in Yin Waster as well as Violet Meridian.

Jakob: I play in Bach Hotel and sometimes Calico Plaid.

Could you name some of your favorite bands from Chicago?

Cameron: superkick, Yin Waster, Paul Stretch, Dehd    

Jakob: My favorite bands in Chicago right now are Retirement Party, Ratboys, Chevelle, and The Smashing Pumpkins

You also mentioned „DIY house spaces scene“. As a music fan from Europe, I was always jealous of these cool house gigs I saw on YouTube. How does this scene work, for example with promotion, invitations, are there any loudness restrictions you have to deal with…?

Cameron: I’ve been helping out the Iguana House since I lived there in 2018. A lot bands/artists reach out and we try to have a nice variety of bands which Instagram and Facebook get people to check it out and come to the shows. We promote it by posting about it and usually the local band has people show up for it. We ask that they DM us for the address, it’s a the second floor of an apartment building so it is a little strange but we love it. You’re preforming in a living room of an apartment in the middle of the city which can cause some noise complaints but we’ve haven’t too many noise problems. It’s very unique though which I think people enjoy.

The first thing that drew my attention was your single artworks. They remind me of Daniel Johnston music, are you fans? Who makes the artworks?

Cameron: I make it! It’s fun to be to able to cross my two loves for drawing and making music. They let me do the singles art cause I have a lot of drawings to choose from and I draw everyday. I love Daniel Johnston and he definitely has an influence on our work.

Cameron’s idrawbasketballs on IG

You have 4 songs out but haven’t played live yet. Will your first show take place anytime soon?

Cameron: We’re hoping to. Working on more songs, and rehearsals at the moment.

‚Why Do I Care‘ reminds of 60s singer Dave Bixby and his amazing folk record Ode to Quetzalcoatl while ‚Smokin‘ Dobbies‘ has this reminiscence of British music scene – Syd Barrett solo work comes to my mind… Who are your music heroes?

Griffin: For me it’s a lot of 60s psychedelic music like Neil Young, The Electric Prunes and The Doors as well as jazz greats like Monk and Coltrane.

Cameron: That’s a hard one but I’d have to list the Beatles, The Beach Boys, Lou Reed, Good morning, Alex G, Loving, Triathlon and many more.

Jakob: My influences are kinda all over the place, but my biggest is The Beatles. I also draw from the whole 90’s-00’s alternative rock and grunge thing, the Louis Cole/Knower, Vulfpeck, Scary Pockets, Snarky Puppy tight tight funk thing, and the midwest/indie/diy emo thing.

What I like about your songs is diversity. For example on My Darlin‘, you use synths and beats. Is this the direction you would like to take now or are guitars still the main instrument for you?

Griffin: Guitar is my main instrument, but I love experimenting with synths and beats. I just felt like the lyrics fit better over the dance music vibe if that makes sense. We are definitely looking to combine the two musical worlds as we write more material.

Cameron: We’re liked the combination on that song but are trying to stay more guitar focused. Since we’re such a new band we’re still experimenting with our sound.

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Do you record your songs by yourself? If so, which DAW do you use and why?

Griffin: I use logic, it’s really the only DAW I feel comfortable in but it’s also where I feel the most creative.

Cameron: We record pretty much all of our music at Griffin‘s apartment in Lakeview.

Jakob: I mainly use Ableton because that’s what the guitarist/producer of my other band uses and he’s teaching me little by little.

Do you have any experience with recording your music in a professional studio?

Griffin: I have recorded in a professional studio for other projects but I really think Friendly Faces works best with our more lo-fi approach, as in just us recording our parts in our apartments.

Thank you for the interview!