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Krank'd Up music festival 2016
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Facing The Gallows | Dead Mindset

Mar 152018

Since early 2007 FTG have found much delight in locking themselves in a sound proof room and writing music to share with people all over South Africa and the World. Now having released their debut full length album. We decided to catch up with them to find out more about the making of the project as they embark on a national tour to promote it.

we're extremely happy with this record, and glad we took the extra time to tweak things here and there.

So guys, you have just released your debut full length release Dead Mindset? How long have you guys been working on this project?

Dead Mindset has been over 2 years in the making, and we are thrilled to finally have reached this point. Time was a huge battle for us, writing, doing pre production and recording all in between full time jobs. The journey of this album took a bit longer than we had hoped for, but looking back on the process now, we are extremely happy with this record, and glad we took the extra time to tweak things here and there.

You started the FTG journey in 2007? Did you ever see yourselves still playing with almost the same line up of members 10+ years down the line?

A few years back, before our first member change, I thought we had the strongest member line up ever and it would never change. Time moves on and things change, but since James joined on guitar we have been back to a very strong committed line up. To be honest we never really imagined that we would still be jamming 10+ years later, but we have kept our heads down working hard and are excited to see that we are running stronger than ever.

Any cool stories you’d care to share that happened while recording Dead Mindset?

We were in the final stages of recording, and Clint our engineer was moving studio. The day after he moved his gear out, the studio/house got robbed, and we nearly lost two years worth of work. Thank F*#! it didn't happen. Having James, his younger brother and his dad in a vocal session, all harmonising together was a pure magic moment to see! One time, there was a spider in the studio during a vocal session and Bryan wet his pants and didn't want to sing anymore.

Doom II

We shot a good old fashioned house party and invited our closest friends to really make a memorable video for us

You also dropped two videos leading up the album drop “Doom II” and “Tides of Terror"? What inspired the visuals behind those songs?

Tides of Terror sparked the literal effect of having waves overlay-ed to a band performance. The lyrics speak about the tides/waves of anger and coping mechanisms that some people have to deal with. Doom II's concept follows the concept from our original Doom track, which is about living in the now and to the fullest. We shot a good old fashioned house party and invited our closest friends to really make a memorable video for us. It was one of the greatest shoots we have done and cannot thank our friends and family enough for the incredible time! We are very much a DIY band meaning both videos were done on a very minimal budget, and we are pretty happy with how they turned out! Hopefully our audience is too!

We see you’re also about to head on a national tour? Which SA cities are your favourite to play and why?

Yes! We are super stoked to finally be heading out on tour again after a bit of a break, it feels like it has been way too long. We will be heading to Bloemfontein, Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Durban, Ballito, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and Cape Town. Ballito will be a first for us so we are pretty excited to see how that turns out. Our favourites would have to be Bloemfontein, Cape Town, PE and Durban. The hospitality we have received from these cities has always been amazing for us, our friends there have always been very accommodating and welcome. We have had the opportunity to play in Grahamstown once and it was absolutely mental, so we are hoping to have a repeat experience!

If you could add one international stop to your album tour, where would it be?

Damn that is a tough question! We have yet to play overseas, and are definitely looking into booking a tour within the next year. Europe, Asia and Australia are definitely top of the list. Personally to make the most out of a first time international tour I would choose somewhere in Europe. The support for metal is very present and geographically its just easier to get around to more than one country, and pack as many shows as possible into a short time frame. Czech or Germany would be an incredible starting point.

Tides of Terror

We are also starting to plan a concept type EP to be recorded this year, which is something we are looking to have a little fun with, and step out of the FTG mould a little.

What are some your personal favourite tracks on the album?

As a band we all love 'Illuminate' and 'Dead Mindset', they're definitely the most fun tracks to play live and are also some of the newer tracks we wrote. Personally I find the song 'Virginia' extremely emotive and gets me every time I hear it. Its a song written about James' mom who passed away a couple years back. Every time I hear the track, I get a complete sense of the lyrics James wrote, and the emotions he has been and is going through.

What else can we expect to see from FTG in the rest of 2018?

We have some exciting tours coming a little later this year, which we arent able to say too much about now, but its looking to be one of the greatest tours FTG has ever done locally. We are also starting to plan a concept type EP to be recorded this year, which is something we are looking to have a little fun with, and step out of the FTG mould a little.

Any special shout outs or thanks?

We would love to send a massive shout out to Monster Energy! Without your support we would not be where we are today! We cannot express our gratitude towards your support for local artists and athletes. TOMS Music Store, Peavey Electronics, and Zildjian Cymbals. Thank you to everyone that has supported the release of 'Dead Mindset', our friends and families, and especially all of those that supported our crowd funding campaign on ThundaFund. Look out for a tour venue near you, stage dives & high fives!

Krank'd Up music festival 2016 Krank'd Up music festival 2016 Krank'd Up music festival 2016

Keep up with Facing the Gallows on Instagram and Facebook and grab Dead Mindset HERE!

 

Facing The Gallows - Dead Mindset Tour Dates

 

15/03 - Bloemfontein: Warriors Pub

16/03 - Grahamstown: SSS Top Bar

17/03 - Port Elizabeth: Music Kitchen

13/04 - Pretoria: Arcade Empire

14/04 - Johannesburg: Sundowners

21/04 - Cape Town: Mercury Live

11/05 - Ballito: The Hive

12/05 - Durban: The Winston Pub

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