An Interview With The Female-Fronted Rock Group, FINE FINE TITANS On Their Biggest Musical Inspirations, Their Forthcoming Album “Renaissance” and More!

Fine Fine Titans began officially taking shape in December of 2010 as the brainchild of husband/ wife (bassist/vocalist) Evan and Jennifer Bartlett. The band self-released their debut EP, Arms, in 2012.

Their meteoric rise in the local music landscape also got them selected for opening slots for Dead Sara, Emery, Blessthefall, Vanna, Still Remains, Stray From The Path and I See Stars.

Fine Fine Titans’ 2014 Omega EP was produced by Erik Ron (Panic! At The Disco, Foxy Shazam, Chiodos, New Years Day).

They recently released the first single from their forthcoming album. The song, “I Just Saw A Ghost” features vocals from T.J. Miller of Still Remains. Fine Fine Titans’ next album, “Renaissance” will be out on November 27th!

Learn more about this talented group in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time today! So, what’s a typical day look like for you lately?

Jenn: Thank you! These days, Evan and I get to the gym around 6:30/7am and afterwards, he heads straight to work at an advertising agency while I may head into the salon, the studio (doing hair/makeup for shoots) or back home to work on Fine Fine Titans business.  Each day is different and eventually, we round it out with a dog walk, a show or band practice. A pretty simple yet busy life while fitting in as much music as we can.

How exactly did FFT first come to be? What got you and Evan to start this band? How did you come up with your very interesting name?

Evan and I met in late 2007 while I sang for a different band. Soon after, we discussed starting our own project as soon as I wrapped up cosmetology school and we moved to the Detroit area. After a couple years and another move back to Evan’s hometown (Grand Rapids, where we reside now), we finally buckled down. It was in 2010 that we found our original guitar player, Dustin Posthuma, and he happened to come up with the name Fine Fine Titans. None of us really understood it but we decided that it would work (at least for the time being). I suppose it stuck!

How would you describe the music on your forthcoming album, “Renaissance”?

This new album for us touches on a darker level than what we felt we reached before. I feel like as we were writing it, it wasn’t a “This is really exciting! Let’s write some rad songs together!” mood as it felt before. This time, we dug a little deeper. We couldn’t ignore the anxiety we had been feeling in our personal lives or in the band and I felt that even though it was exciting, we allowed ourselves to feel more vulnerable. Personally, I know I struck a few walls down for myself. It’s heavy. It’s melodic. It’s honest.

How creatively involved were you all with your “Mistress” video?

Very involved. In fact, I was humbled and honored when Three Goats Moving Pictures really listened and considered every detail that I wanted to see in the film. Of course, we place a lot of trust in those guys and love the work that they do, so I’d say we collaborated extremely well for this one. They took our vision and worked it into a masterpiece. Extremely talented guys!

How’s the voting coming along for the upcoming Warped Tour? How much would you love to play at it next year?

Oh man…I haven’t even checked it, I’ve been so wrapped up in the album. Playing Warped Tour has been a dream of ours since we were teenagers – attending the festival nearly every year and watching not only our favorite bands perform, but seeing how hard the crew works and what it means to the attendees. It’s still a huge goal. Last summer when Brit and I attended, we saw that really not much has changed except that it only ran smoother. Evan and I had the honor of hearing Kevin Lyman speak at Launch Music Conference and one thing is clear: no matter how financially and insanely difficult it is to run a festival of that caliber and still keep it affordable for the listeners, he absolutely does it for the right reasons. For the music and for the kids. And that alone is enough for me to want to jump on board in a heartbeat…if we were so lucky.

From checking out your Facebook page, you seem very supportive of the other bands on the CI Records roster. What has being part of this label been like for you so far?

From the moment we met Jeremy Weiss and his team at Launch in 2014, we felt a certain energy that drove and inspired us. Upon booking in PA at one of Jeremy’s venues, that relationship grew. We’ve always wanted to be a part of a family and to build a team around us because we understand that there is strength in numbers. Families aren’t perfect and we’ve certainly stumbled a bit but we know that we are blessed to have people around who believe in us.

You’ve posted a few cover songs online. How do you go about choosing with songs to cover?

We were asked to play a cover set a few years ago for a local Michigan show and we picked Glassjaw because we were collectively inspired strongly by their music.

Since then, people started to request that we play “Tip Your Bartender” at shows and so we would throw it in the set from time to time and eventually, we just recorded it. I’m pretty sure that covering “Diamond Eyes” was Evan’s idea and we agreed that it would be fun to try. We knew without a doubt that there would be plenty of people on the internet who would not appreciate our attempts at these songs but whatever. We really enjoyed paying homage to bands that we hold in such high regard in whatever way we could.

What bands have consistently inspired you and the group’s sound? Who would you love to work with one day?

Besides the bands that I mentioned above, a few other bands that could be mentioned are Incubus, AFI, A Perfect Circle, Letlive., Underoath, Bring Me The Horizon. Personally, my inspirations stem from a lot of 90’s R&B and grunge while Evan is a huge RUSH fan. Brit has a an affinity for metal and Nate seems to appreciate any and everything.

What do you hope listeners take away from your sound? Is there a greater message?  

I’m not sure we could pretend that what we are doing is so grandiose. We’re just a small group of people who have felt a deep connection and strong energy in music and it’s been the best therapy; sometimes the only therapy. It’s become this part of us that we just have to continue to pass on. If we can help one person to get through the day, to feel better about themselves, to feel stronger and more inspired to follow their passion and their calling, I feel like we’re on the right track.