The Fauns - Photo by Rebecca Cleal

Photo by Rebecca Cleal

With their ever floating and dreamy mixture of hypnotic melodies in a powerful shoegaze setting Bristol-based outfit THE FAUNS really caught the attention of NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION. Somewhere in the middle between SLOWDIVE and THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART the four-piece found its own sound. Lights, their second album released last December, is the unmistakable proof of this. A tender but strong sound with the delicate vocal performance of singer Alison Garner on top of it. Lights is one of those records where you really don’t need to skip a single track as it really works as a unit.

It’s about time for the rest of world to get to know these likeable group and their tender melodies. THE FAUNS are also on tour in Europe right now, playing all sorts of different cities (for example, in Berlin on December the 14th) so don’t forget to catch them. The band also found the time to answer our infamous ‘Introducing’-Q&A about dragons, movies and shoegaze legends right here.

 

How would you describe your music to a deaf person?
Warm, immersive, comforting… a king size duvet of sound.

Describe the sort of film your music would fit in most perfectly.
THE FAUNS have been described as having a ‘widescreen sound’ which I think is accurate. We’re into art-house sci-fi, the films of Darren Aronofsky also Blade Runner, Dredd, TRON, Drive etc. I really hope we get to write some film music for these sorts of films one day.

Would you rather be a dragon or have a dragon?
Definitely to own a dragon, if I was a dragon I’d get bored of being hunted. I enjoyed How to Train Your Dragon, it looked like more fun to own a dragon.

The essential question – SLOWDIVE or MY BLOODY VALENTINE? Which one would you choose and why?
I love both bands… but… I choose neither… New shoegaze bands and new music I find more interesting, MY BLOODY VALENTINE and SLOWDIVE were pioneers but things have moved on a long way. New shoegaze bands don’t get enough exposure whereas the old school seem to dominate the press.

If you as a group could have an alternative job together – what would it be?
We’d live together in an extinct volcano… monitoring the world secretly waiting to be called upon in an emergency. We’d have super advanced futuristic helicopters and motorbikes and stuff… which can join together into a giant robot cat… which we’d use to save the world. I think this is realistic.

The music & culture industry is currently about to redefine itself on many levels. Do you feel like being completely and utterly at the its mercy, or should things be seen as a chance for artists?
I think the internet/downloading can be seen as a curse or a blessing depending on the band. It’s possible to promote your own band as efficiently as an indie label would have twenty or thirty years ago. Label support financially is extremely rare now so bands have to take the strain for developing their act. If you have the determination and a united band anything is achievable now.

What mean ‘hope’ and ‘passion’ to you?
Exactly that.


THE FAUNS