Fasedown Interview
What has Fasedown been up to in the last 5 or 6 years? Why the "layoff" of inactivity? Why the resurgence?
Jim Chaffin: Well, a lot has happened since our first release on Rescue Records. The album didn't have the push we would have liked and even still we had a good run for a year or two doing some shows. Then our bass player (John Hansen) had to quit; it took awhile to adjust to our new bass player (Dana Veit). In the meantime, Rescue Records shut its doors. We started writing new material with our new bass player. But by the time we had the new material recorded, we lost our bass player again. We now have another new bass player (Matt Hopson-Walker) and have added a second guitarist (Jesse Gibson). With the new members we've added, we feel like we've got a new start and are anxious for people to hear our second CD and get working on the third.
What is the new/current sound of Fasedown on this new album?
Jim: It's hard to say, our first record had a pretty good mix of heavy and slow, and technical and fast. Our second CD is along the same line, but more extreme – the slow got slower and the fast got faster. Devin's vocal style, in my opinion, is a little angrier sounding; I like that.
Mike Phillips: From my perspective, as a guitar player, I always try to play the most complex, but tasty riffs I can come up with. The sound hasn’t changed much. Musically it is a bit more complicated. I’ve played lead guitar all my life and have never stopped, even when some people thought it wasn’t cool. Hence, you’re gonna hear a lot of leads!
What songs stand out to you and why?
Jim: As the drummer, I think ‘Equal the Task’ and ‘Chaos’ stick out to me the most, because they're so fun to play; very aggressive.
’False Array,’ for its heavy tastiness, plus I feel really good about the solo. It’s mainly in D minor with some obscure notes, like harmonic minor and whole tone. My personal favorite is ‘The Lie.’ Again, with this song, it has some fast, syncopated harmonized scales within the rhythm. And now with two guitarists, we can play it live! The middle section has a really neat mellow part and a double lead in harmonic minor. Towards the end of the solo, I used some whole tone runs, kind of Michael Romeo sounding… The last scale is a really cool Jazz minor scale I learned in theory class. Mixing some of these scales with metal is a really cool sound.
Jim, as an "elder statesman" now (he he), what do you see when you look around in the Christian hard music scene...and makes you happy? ...and what makes you bummed? Why?
Jim: I'm very excited about the level of musicianship and talent that the scene has generated, and the quality of recordings that have been put out since I first started back in The Crucified days. To see bands like As I Laying Dying being in the general market without holding back the gospel is encouraging. The thing that bums me out is the industry putting a higher value on touring rather than on an artist's integrity and walk with the Lord. They may not be able to do anything about it considering the great number of bands, but it just seemed to be more of a focus “back in the day”. That’s just an observation from somebody who has been around awhile. I just think, in the scheme of things, when it's all been said and done, God is more concerned with the "heart" of the artist than the "product" of the artist.
How was it playing with Once Dead at Cornerstone?
Jim: It was a blast. I've looked up to Larry, Doug, and Roger for a long time. It was fun to get together with them and do those old songs the way I've always heard them in my head (or as close I could come -- ha, ha). This was the first time I had worked with Scott; he did a great job on the vocals. It was a bummer Larry missed his flight, but we made the best of it. We'll see what God has in store for the future with that.
©2005 HM Magazine – All Rights Reserved
Return to Internet Exclusives
