CRACK
Fear of Men - America

Fear Of Men meld pop hooks to fine art

© Eleanor Hardwick

16.04.14
Words by:

“Statues have a feeling of permanence. They’re a reminder of the anxiety of mortality that we have as humans.”

Jessica Weiss, singer and guitarist from Brighton-based band Fear of Men, is speaking academic about her band’s cover art. The collection of singles and EPs the three-piece have released so far all feature stony figures, conserved in a permanent state of stillness.

It’s quite a gallery: a tangled dog preserved in Pompeii ash writhes on the ironically titled Outrun Me, disjointed marble disciples feature on the Early Fragments EP and, covering their soon-to-be-released debut album Loom, a glass cabinet containing a plaster corpse is framed by ornate pillars against the backdrop of a museum.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that both Jessica and co-founder Daniel Falvey (guitar) were art students before forming the band. The pair’s first encounter came about through an exhibition featuring Jessica’s short film soundtracks, and they began swapping mixtapes in the hope that some shared inspiration might culminate in a new creative project.

“Combining ideas about pop music and fine art isn’t something I really think about, but it’s definitely how this band came about,” says Jessica. “I’m always researching and reading about things, and they seem to naturally filter through to what I’m working on at the time.

“I really like pop music, so writing it was something that felt right for me. We wanted to take reference points from a fine art background and bring it into a pop context.”

It didn’t take long for the pair to recruit drummer Michael Miles and bring those cerebral seeds to life. Demos released on cassettes and 7”s through DIY labels like Sex is Disgusting and Italian Beach Babes emerged, but things have really picked up since the backing of Brooklyn based imprint Kanine Records, who snapped up the trio for the release of their first full-length.

“We released a limited edition 12” through Kanine last year and got to know them through that,” explains Jessica. “They work with really great bands like Grizzly Bear and Chairlift, and they’re excited about our music and work really hard for us. Going with them seemed like the right thing to do.”

Daniel, whose technical know-how was invaluable when producing the record, was convinced by the Kanine team’s willingness to allow the band full creative freedom. “There are some labels out there who are very pushy about how they want you to work or even how your single should sound. (Kanine) let us make all our decisions, which we really like. We don’t really like people telling us how to do things.”

In preparation for recording their first full-length, the band sought out a unique environment to capture their best material from. That turned out to be Church Road Studios, a small underground studio just down the road from Jessica’s home in Hove.

The tight confines of this space, coupled with the inevitable financial pressure of trying to balance a promising music career with a day job, culminated in an album influenced by intense claustrophobia.

“It was intense,” Jessica admits. “We’d be sleeping in shifts, or just having a couple of hours of sleep before going into work the next day. It was hard, but definitely important to the feel of the record. Recording into the night and in that room kind of manifested itself in the album.”

© Eleanor Hardwick

“I’m not sure if it was being underground or having a low ceiling, but it didn’t feel like there was a lot of space in there,” adds Daniel. “Because of that confined feeling, we found ourselves pursuing more built up textures and layers, trying to get that claustrophobia into the songs. The environment played into that a lot.”

After so much time indoors, Fear of Men are understandably anxious to get back out on the open road. A full US tour will offer them plenty of that: as we speak, Jessica and Daniel are gearing up to play their last hometown show at the Brighton Dome before going stateside for a month. None of the flamboyant visuals found in album covers and music videos will be accompanying their live performances as they rough it around America – the band prefer a more stripped back approach to their gigs.

“We like it to be down to earth,” says Jessica. “The other arty elements can work in a certain context, but we don’t want to come across as pretentious in person. I think it’s better to have a strong energy live rather than overcomplicating stuff.”

Surprisingly for songwriters so concerned with the topics of anxiety and introversion, neither Jessica or Daniel seem at all worried about hitting it off with the audiences overseas. On the contrary, both are psyched to get gigging and connect with new people, regardless of their location.

“We played in Mexico last summer,” Jessica recalls. “It was around 7 o’clock and everyone was having a good time, with the sun setting on the mountains in the background.

“People knew the words. It felt incredible to be that far from home and still be so well received. Hopefully we’ll have more experiences like that.”

Loom is out now via Kanine Records

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