Interviews: Fallen To Flux

In this new occassion we have had the pleasure to interview the Alternative Rock/Metal/Post-Hardcore band Fallen To Flux, from UK. Check out this band because they are amazing and do not forget to follow them in their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that? 

Luke was in Kalymnos, Greece, on a rock climbing trip. Some of his spare time was spent musing on contrasts between the lifestyle in different countries, and on the British (and Western) obsession with money, jobs, and physical possessions. He has always had a strong feeling that these obsessions are very strongly driven culturally, but lead people to unhappiness through a misunderstanding on the factors that truly enable happiness and fulfilment. Given the endemic spread of such misunderstandings our society has fallen into a state of unhappiness, chaos or ‘flux’. Hence Fallen to Flux. 

2. Why did you want to play this genre? 

Oli: There’s always a part of your childhood when your emotions can make you connect with something for the rest of your life. I was an angry kid at times and rock & metal music allowed me to indulge that. When I began to create it for myself, I just found it the most incredible way to release that anger in a postive way. 

Bjorn: A distorted guitar is still the best thing in the world. I’ve listened all my life to rock/metal and I really can’t help making this music. 

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?  

Noooooooo 

4. Each band member’s favourite band? 

Oli: Bullet For My Valentine - first act that properly got me into rock & metal 

Luke: Haken. For years it was Killswitch Engage, and they always have a place in my heart, but Haken manage to do what every prog. band aims to do - take you on hour-long journey’s through your own head - while managing to sound unlike any other band and to never overdo it. This is the classic bane of prog., doing something for the sake of being progressive, and Haken have the perfect level of ridiculous composition and vision combined with mixing it up at the right moment and either dropping in a massive grove riff or breaking out into ragtime. 

Bjorn: Dream Theater. I’ve never seen a band cover a range of emotions this vast. Haken are kind of like Dream Theater, only a generation younger, so everything Luke said applies to me as well. 

Declan: Iron Maiden/Motorhead 

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs? 

Oli: Usually I’ll start writing when I’m feeling in a shitty mood… if I’m upset, frustrated, angry etc etc I’ll just sit by myself with a guitar for a while and mess around. If anything good comes out, I’ll record it and it’ll be used as an idea later on! 

Bjorn: I want to tell a story, but I’m not great with words. I can express emotions much better through harmony & melody. 

Declan: Dandelions 

6. Where was your last gig?  

Camden Barfly 

7. Where would you like to act?  

Oli: My gig bucket list is Download, Warped Tour and Brixton Academy 

Bjorn: I would love for the band to be big enough so we can tour back home in Austria. 

Declan: Hammersmith Apollo 

8. Whom would you like to feature with? 

Oli: I’m actually a massive fan of musical comedy - why not have Bo Burnham or Bill Bailey on a Fallen To Flux track?! 

Bjorn: Chopin – not particularly realistic, but a great experience nonetheless.

Declan: Iron Maiden 

9. Whom not? 

Oli: Skrillex  

Bjorn: Donald Trump 

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?  

Luke: My answer to this is not rocket science, but I did suffer from terrible stage fright in the first gigs of my first band. I guess there are two main reasons; lack of preparation and inexperience. Nothing is more scary that playing to a crowd of people listening to your every note and knowing that either you don’t know the songs, or that as a group you haven’t practiced enough. As a band we have always practiced regularly, and by that I mean at least a few hours every week and maybe double that in the week or two before a gig, and this means I know that none of us will let each other down. That confidence in our performance means I don’t worry nowadays before going on stage. The second reason I suggested was inexperience. In my first, say, 5 gigs, I was essentially nailed to the spot and staring constantly at my bass. The lucky thing is, if you have this problem, that it went away purely through playing more and more gigs, and realising that most of the time when I thought I’d fucked up too much, everyone else still loved it. Being too critical of mistakes will also not help given you notice every single one whereas the crowd won’t notice many at all. If you ever see us play a gig nowadays, and you look at the mental shit that I end up doing on stage, mostly without realising or intending to, you’ll see what is possible from such frigid beginnings. 

Declan: Yes, never stopped me from getting up but still been shitting myself a few times. Just get up and kick into the first song, by the time its finished you wont want to get off the stage.  

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Oli: Bullet For My Valentine, Avenged Sevenfold, Rise Against, Senses Fail 

Luke: From a bass perspective, Tim Commerford from Rage Against the Machine. My band mates will attest to my love of a ‘proactive’ bass layer in a track, less because it's me playing but more because of the unique aspects of drive, emotion or melody that it can bring. I have Tim to thank for that. Nowadays I listen to plenty of prog. Metal so you have lots of examples of great bass composition, but that wasn’t always the case with the music I was exposed to as a child/teenager. 

Bjorn: Queen, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica 

Declan: A selection of drummers: Nico McBrain (Iron Maiden), Ian Paice (Deep Purple), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Mikkey Dee (Motorhead) 

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for? 

Oli: Well that would be mean to call them out on that... 

Luke: Well my girlfriend is actually a big fan, so for sake of both our dignities I won’t repeat a lot of things she has asked me for. 

Bjorn: My old RE teacher asked me to write a song about Jesus. He’s actually a fan of the music (the teacher, not Jesus); he plays in a classic rock band and let me play some pretty heavy stuff at school masses.  

13. What do you think of your fans?  

Oli: For me, the best thing about making music is looking out from a stage and seeing someone singing along to a song we’ve written. To think about the commitment and love that these fans give to us and how it enables us to carry on is just incredible. 

Bjorn: I’ve never laid my eyes on a more beautiful sight. 

14. What do you think of our site?  

Oli: It’s great that there are sites out there, yours included, who love to feature smaller bands… exactly what the scene needs! 

Bjorn: I’ve never laid my eyes on a more beautiful site. 

15. Something to add? 

There will be a UK tour in June!