FAX GANG - Interview

(I)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Congratulations on completing your RBG series, with Dataprism (Green) being the final entry in the series. How did Dataprism differentiate itself from the prior entries (FxG3000 [Blue] & Aethernet [Red])?

PK SHELLBOY

With dataprism, we deliberately tried to strip back some of the more extravagant things that fxg3000 and aethernet were known for and go for a more “friendly” sound. i tried to write some of my poppiest vocals yet, and sort of make the world that you step into while listening to it more inviting.

MAKNAESLAYER

I think dataprism is more atmospheric rather than the more melody driven sound of fxg3000 and aethernet. along with that i think it has a generally more uplifting sound, especially compared to aethernet.

GLACIERBABY

I think the biggest difference was how much more involved the collaboration progress has grown over the past year! the group has tightened down significantly since aethernet, and we really had many of the ideas on dataprism rolling very early on, I felt.

KIMJ

Dataprism when I first heard it sounded like a combination of the blue and red sound.  the sound selection in some of the instrumentals were really unique and haven’t heard anything like it in some of the previous projects like space requiem, spiral, and four walls. shellboy has some new style melodies/flows on this project that i haven’t heard them use before like on no evil and guardian angel.

(II)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

At ethereal.press, we were excited to see your collaboration with Parannoul on track 11 of the album! How was it collaborating with Parannoul on the track Four Walls?

PK SHELLBOY

Parannoul was super easy to work with, and he’s a very friendly person. He slotted into the way that we work like a charm, cause we basically just send demos back and forth and offer advice, which is exactly what he did. I hope we get to work with him again.

MAKNAESLAYER

It was really awesome to get to work with him. we were all big fans of his 2021 album and shellboy decided to reach out to him and somehow it happened. The process came down to him sending a demo which we offered some suggestions on tweaks and i added some additional synths to give the track more texture (and a more recognisable fax gang sound (rather than just sounding like a parannoul song)). I'm really happy with how the song came out, i definitely think its one of our best songs yet.

(III)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Since the band spread out between the Philippines, Great Britain, and The United States, how can you put together cohesive projects?

PK SHELLBOY

As we conceptualize our projects, we try to make sure that we’re all shooting towards the same goal before really going forward. A part of it is definitely just being on the same wavelength though, I never find it easier working on something than with fax gang.

MAKNAESLAYER

Generally by laying out aesthetic and musical influences and what kind of musical ideas we want to explore, as well as critiquing and subsequently tweaking ideas has helped. Also, good track sequencing goes a long way in creating a cohesive project.

GLACIERBABY

I think the key has always been taking our time on things, and putting a lot up to group decisions. It's simple but it works!

KIMJ

The band being spread out is more fye in my opinion. It could be cool if we all lived together, but the whole point of faxgang and their sound is that it’s digital as fuck and we’re all internet babies. Raised on the internet. It makes the band much cooler and incorporates a much more unique style in music and aesthetic too.

(IV)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Do you feel your nationality affects the type of music you produce? (maybe it doesn't)?

PK SHELLBOY

Being Filipino affects my particular brand of sentimentality, but in terms of sound it really hasn’t so far. we’re doing something very different from what all the scenes here are doing, so it’s pretty hard to draw from local inspiration unless it’s abstracted to a certain degree.

MAKNAESLAYER

Honestly so far it really hasn't as ive mostly been influenced by internet culture and music rather than local music. However, I do want to change that and bring in more UK influence in my prod, such as garage.

GLACIERBABY

I think it definitely has, in the sense that most of the music that inspires me is specific to states or cities in America, but I don't want to say that's exclusive at all.

KIMJ

Maybe a little but not too much. It makes me want to dive more into Asian music scenes and work with more Asian artists. I love the American music scene and how fast paced it is.

(V)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

How did the cover art come to be?

PK SHELLBOY

13moonss came up with a series of pieces based on the tracks on Disagreements 4, No Agreements’ 4th group project, and i absolutely adored the artstyle. i decided to reach out to him to work on the visual direction for the album, and he signed on! the cover was one in a collection of pieces that he came up with over the many months we worked on the album and sent demos to him.

(IV)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Are there any artists you would like to work with in the near future?

PK SHELLBOY

Long shot since she hasn’t released anything in a while, but I absolutely need to work with Jvcki Wai at some point. I’ve been obsessed with vocaloid as well recently, and deco*27’s recent work is easily my favorite stuff. big dreams, but we can see!

MAKNAESLAYER

Obviously thing is a long shot but I think weiland would be really cool to work with. I love his old and new music and really like how much hes been willing to branch out, experiment, and be open to new ideas.

GLACIERBABY

I don't think I ever know how to answer this kind of question reasonably. I think one fax gang collab I want to see the most is Hakushi Hasegawa, since I know he's been listening, so if he ends up reading this reading this, come play with us!

KIMJ

Definitely parannoul more. Maybe mid air thief too. Drain gang x fxg would be an insane collab tbh. Maybe japanese bands too like climbgrow or j artists like yurika.

(VII)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Outside of music, what inspires you creatively?

PK SHELLBOY

I’ve had most of my music be inspired by other music, to be honest. It’s fairly rare that I write inspired by art in another medium, it’s usually my personal experiences or active imagination. I guess everything you consume informs everything else you do, however, so I could say everything inspires me in some way, haha.

MAKNAESLAYER

I guess its kinda corny but anime. I think animation as a medium is so awesome in how you can literally depict anything, beyond the constraints of live action and japanese animation is an industry that has actually pushed those boundaries time and time again. saying that, but really, I find any great work of art inspires me to want to create.

GLACIERBABY

Probably clouds, which i am obsessively taking daily pics of, most things outside in nature inspire me but right now it's the clouds!

KIMJ

Definitely visual art and just real life situation shit. Anime too. I’ll always name my compositions(beats/instrumentals) after shit that happens in the moment or something i’ve been thinking about.

(VIII)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

Where did the name Fax Gang originate?

PK SHELLBOY

The fabled other original vocalist in the group and I had the idea to form the group after we were screwing around with autotune in his garageband. we wanted to have a name that had some sort of nostalgia or retrotech aspect, as well as a “crew” noun like “boys” or “clan”. We settled on fax gang after some deliberation, and hopped in my discord server to ask if anyone wanted to do production. The rest is history.

(IX)

ETHEREAL.PRESS

What's next for Fax Gang?

PK SHELLBOY

We’re gonna try a bunch of new things out before deciding where to really go from here. whatever it will be, I hope that people enjoy!

MAKNAESLAYER

I don't really know yet, all i know is that we wanna continue to create forward thinking music that no one else is really doing, and i can say that the post-dataprism ideas we've been throwing around have been pretty crazy.

GLACIERBABY

Lots of music and love to give, hopefully!

KIMJ

To push art culture forward and influence the many upon us. To make the best music we can and shift da universe <33

ARTIST LINKS: @pkshellboy - @maknaeslayer - N/A - @youngkimj

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