An Interview With The Bi-Coastal Group, FAULKNER, On New Music, Working With Their Producers and More!

Bi-Coastal group FAULKNER announces the February 9th release of their debut LP ‘PARIAHS.’ Recorded at Rick Rubin’s Shangri La and East-West studios, produced by RZA, JP Bowersock (The Strokes) and Mark Needham (The Killers,)  the resulting 10 song album is a punchy mix of a new emotive listening experience.

The band’s dizzying climb to this debut album is the stuff dreams are made of, when their unfinished demo ‘NY Anthem’ landed in the hands of Wu-Tang mastermind RZA, capturing his interest and artistic contribution. The single (co-written, produced and featuring RZA) made airplay on major sports outlets, taking ESPN by storm and finding love at the NFL, the U.S.Open and the N.Y. Yankees’ home games. The rockers even found themselves featured on the iconic KROQ radio station – an impressive feat for a debut.

FAULKNER is also THE only band in recent memory to have collaborations with two major rappers on a debut album, enthralling the attention of Royce Da 5’9” (Eminem) who went on to co-write and feature on ‘Keep Your Enemies Closer.’

With millions of views on their first music video “Revolutionary” and over 3+ mm streams on Spotify this week alone, FAULKNER is poised for an explosive 2018. Their latest single “Hot Streak” is a high energy track, capturing that feeling of being untouchable like Nicky Barnes.  Sounding like The Weeknd meets The Clash, it’s an uplifting and infectious take on feeling on top of the world and being unstoppable.

To celebrate the release of PARIAHS, FAULKNER will perform at The Peppermint Club in Los Angeles on February 8th.

LISTEN: Hot Streak  http://smarturl.it/hotstreak  

WATCH:  Revolutionary Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drFSi7S-Pqg

WATCH : NY Anthem with RZA Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gOuJMUz8AM

Connect With FAULKNER Here:

http://www.FAULKNERmusic.com

https://www.facebook.com/FAULKNERmusic

https://www.twitter.com/FAULKNERmusic

https://www.instagram.com/FAULKNERmusic 

Learn more about FAULKNER in the following All Access interview:

Happy New Year! Thanks so much for your time! Where did this interview find you today? What is a song that you are loving these days? What is a song that you disagree about loving right now?

Happy new year! We’re in the studio writing. We’re loving “Lemon” by N.E.R.D. There’s a little debate about J.T’s “Filthy” at the moment.

So first things first, what all are you most excited about for this year? Did any of you make New Year Resolutions? Care to share any of them with us?

We’re most excited about our album release on 2/9. As far as resolutions for the new year we gave those up a long time ago.

Can you recall the moment when you all thought you could be in a band together? Was it hard to come up with a name that you all thought fit your sound and who you are?

It was after we finished writing our first song together “These Kids Nowadays.” It felt great and it was pretty effortless so it made sense we kept doing it.

Let’s talk about your debut album that you will be releasing next month. What does it feel like to finally be putting it out soon? What was it like putting together “Pariahs”? Were there any unexpected challenges or surprises? How long did the whole process take you? What was it like working with your producers RZA, JP Bowersock and Mark Needham?

The album took a couple of years to finish.  We can’t wait to release it. It was definitely a creative rollercoaster but every little detail ended up making sense even if it didn’t seem like it at certain times. All our producers are in their own way geniuses. RZA was just exceptional. He’s producing techniques include not just his vast musical knowledge but he’s able to incorporate math and philosophy into it. It’s a real treat to be able to experience it and benefit so much from it. Of course when he started freestyling in the studio for one of the verses he just blew us all away. J.P has mastered the art of choosing the best take. He has exceptional ears for studio performances and picking tones. He knew exactly when to push our limits and also when it was time to wrap it up. Mark is just one of those guys that has seen it and done it all with the best of them. He really knows how to elevate just about everything in the studio. He really knows how to break down a song to its bare bones and build it up to a masterpiece.

How do you think your previously released single “Hot Streak” captures what the album is all about? How did it prepare listeners for “Pariahs”?

Hot Streak sets a certain tone for the album but just like every song on the album, it’s unique. A snapshot of what was going on at a particular time in our lives.

I would love to know more about why you decided to have such a hip hop presence on this album? Is that a genre that you all love? Having asked that, what was it like having Royce Da 5’9” co-write one of your tracks, “Keep Your Enemies Closer”?

Hip-hop for us picked up where punk rock left off as far as attitude and a DIY presence in music. We’ve always admired hip-hop artists who just started from absolute nothing and never gave up. Royce Da 5’9” is a perfect example of that. He certainly had some serious ups and downs in his life but he remained resilient through it all. He is one of the greatest rappers to walk this planet. Not a lot of people out there who can hang with Eminem and rap on his level right? His verse on Keep Your Enemies Closer is pure fire!

Who would you love to work with in the future? Who are some of your favorite artists right now? What would be a dream collaboration for this group?

We would love to work with Dr. Dre. Also, Kanye West would be a dream collaboration as well.

Where do you think you are all happiest- on stage performing, in the studio recording music or elsewhere?

As long as we’re a band making music we’re happy anywhere. Just like Keith Richards said onstage at desert trip “it’s good to be here, it’s good to be anywhere”.

We are living in a crazy and at times rough world right now so I am curious how you think being in this band gives you the most joy in life today? Do you think that new music being created today is going to reflect these difficult times?

We can’t speak for other artists and how they’re dealing personally or artistically with these strange times. We’re most definitely aware and in tune with everything that is happening and we definitely have to say something about it on our album as well as on new material we’re working on now.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs? What do you hope they take away from one of your shows?

We can’t dictate what listeners will take away from our music. As long as they feel something and end up being intellectually stimulated even by just one of our songs then we’ve done our job.