Photos by By Leigh Righton.
Hailing from British Columbia and Oregon, Fake Shark- Real Zombie! is really something that you’ve never heard but now you’ll never forget. A mash-up of post everything, FSRZ combine many different styles and are now slowly moving away from the pack and created something very special.
Marc Ramage caught up with Kevvy (vocals) and Louis (Guitar) speaking out about their debut album, Zebra! Zebra! And their forthcoming record Meeting People Is Terrible, along with slamming in dresses and being kicked out of Christina Aguilera’s after party.
Let me first start with how absolutely outraged I am to find you have no UK label. What do you have to say to any UK companies scoping around for new talent?
We would tell them to quit cock teasing us like Jemma Jameson.
Are you worried when you do get signed to a major label and get thrown into mainstream recording that you may lose your “roots” like many bands of today do?
All the major labels are crumbling in the next two years. Gone are the days of any labels taking chances on interesting bands that need to develop over a few years, so I don’t think we’ll need to even think about that. There won’t be any majors courting us because they’ll be gone soon, but in response to bigger indie labels trying to impose their opinions on our sound, we would rather take less money and have more say in what goes on artistically than vice versa.
How did you guys get together?
A combination of Craig’s List, Myspace and absynth.
Where does the name Fake Shark- Real Zombie! come from?
Vintage snuff erotica…….anything starring Jemma Jameson.
Musically, what are your inspirations, are their any stand out acts you really look up to, new and old?
We’re all influenced by different things musically. I think there’s a heavy love for early 90’s hip-hop and art rock. Parker likes his funk and smells like it, too. Malcolm likes 2nd wave ska, Lou likes Mini-Kiss, Kevvy likes RIOTTTT GRRRLLLLSSSSSS.
Your Debut record, Zebra! Zebra! is such a huge mash-up of different styles of music and genres, how did the writing and recording process go down?
Louis and Kevvy would bring a riff to practice, usually a verse and a chorus, then we’d jam it out.
Are you excited about your new release Meeting People Is Terrible and will this record be yet again a totally new sound or picking up where you left off?
It’s drastically refined. You can tell it’s us, but there is more music involved, more focus, better song writing. No hidden rap song. It was great to have Rave there as well, to have another set of ears to bounce ideas off of. We all respect him and his catalogue. A lot of spontaneity shows through as we wrote almost the whole record the month before coming in to the studio.
Was the recording sequence any different to when you recorded Zebra! Zebra! was it more fun due to it not being such a new experience or seemingly more difficult?
Zebra! Zebra! was essentially a series of EP’s recorded at different times (whenever we could afford studio time!), this was written mostly all at once and recorded and mixed all in 15 days.
I (Kevvy) went way further as far as programming goes. I sequenced a ton of stuff, and sampled constantly. There’re clips of homeless people screaming at me, crack heads having melt downs, knives and forks, just anything that would support the theme of the song and album.
What has been your most memorable on stage performance?
When I broke a pitcher of beer on some bitches head in Edinburgh. During the same show, Parker also smashed his borrowed bass.
I actually read somewhere that bouncers have had to “manually take down microphones and disassemble gear in order for the band to stop playing”.
We were playing Christina Aguilera’s after party, she and her Zoro-faced cronies didn’t like our sights or our sounds, so she had her douchey conglomerates drag us and the members of Trash Fashion out of the Club Royal mid set.
You played at Christina’s after party?! how did this happen?! Did u crash it?
We were booked at the venue before the party was booked there. I guess it was a case of the venue not communicating with a couple different promoters.
Any other famous after party shows I should be told about?
The band we toured with recently (Mindless Self Indulgence) played Frances Bean Cobain’s suicide themed sweet 16 party! Good for them!
You like to provoke your audience with certain statements, is this to create an obvious reaction or to get a certain crazy, have-no-idea-what-to-expect-next vibe in the crowd?
It’s a statement on how the audience is just as much there for my entertainment as the other way around
Have you any UK appearances in the near future planned at all?
None confirmed, but we’re always looking for some Charlie mate.
Cheers for your time guys, massive success for your forthcoming record and stoked to see you over here soon hopefully.
Thanks very much for the interview!
Check them out at www.myspace.com/fakesharkrealzombie