May 16th, 2013 
Brian Leak 
Under the Gun Review is pleased to bring you this exclusive interview with Brooklyn, New York’s noise rock trio, EndAnd!
We had the opportunity to speak with all three members of EndAnd (Daniel Fern, Bill Fitzgerald, Mike Morales) and they divulged a ton of great information about the band, how they came together, their newest album, and much more, so read through the break and sink your mind into this honest, in-depth interview with EndAnd.
First off, your name is simple yet very unique. I was curious how you landed on EndAnd and what it may mean to you guys.
D.F: honestly, we tried so hard. We made lists! We asked for help and we brainstormed on and on and changed our name…I think twice. We came up with indulgent one-sentence names, not unlike that of the hipster taste. We came out with silly names, and names that bore too much of a statement. All I wanted was a name without “The”… too much of a statement right there. One word nouns are cool and there used to be many of those back when, and then further back I suppose there was “The” everywhere as well so let’s not repeat history. EndAnd was what I named my first self made album in 2005 — never thought I’d use that as a band’s name though. People ask, “What’s your bands name?” and I say, “EndAnd, end with an E, and with an A” — “Ooh” they say.
Blech! I’m glad you like it! It doesn’t mean much, I don’t think. Play on words. I like contradictions, especially within the context of words.
EndAnd originally began as a duo, correct? Now you have a third member. Can you explain that process of how the band became what it is? Do you foresee adding any more members in the future?
D.F: Assembling a band is THE hardest thing I went through. It’s excruciating, and taxing, and just generally poopy in the pants through and through — you can quote me on that! Diarrhea in your pants! Boy, what a nightmare. I would chase musicians left and right. Meet lunatics, addicts, and just plain awful musicians. I’d find one who’s good enough but with no motivation, or I’d have to literally convince players that there’s actual value in pursuit of this field. No rock stars…no rock stars! While assembling a crew of like-minded musicians in King Killer Studios, I was involved in a band with Ernest D’Amaso (extraordinaire) and Willie Chen (unfathomable man of ability and rationale. I literally can’t fathom his rationale) and we recruited Mike through a friend of mine. Generator Ohm and EndAnd; we were one, nameless. Go and listen to Generator Ohm (superb) and tell me how’d it’d have been possible to mend EndAnd melodies with that of Ohm’s…not happening. We split into two bands. Mike is in both. EndAnd was a duo because I had enough of relying on others, so I kept it as minimal as possible. Also, my dad pushed me to just play live as a duo instead of waiting for a bassist that may never come. Bill, a fellow killer, was a genuine fan and I was of his (Capita Clip). So when I asked him to sit in, he was surprisingly (I didn’t expect it) enthusiastic and learned %90 of our set in like a week and chimed in vocals unannounced. Mike and I were really surprised…we were EndAnd right then and there. We asked Bill to join.
That being said, dealing with musicians and artists is hard because we are all just fucked up in some way or another. Adding a forth could be disastrous…but why not? Maybe we will at some point. I can tell you if we go on the road with Generator Ohm I’ll just add Steve Woodzel, Willie Chen and or Ernest D’Amaso to the mix in one way or another.
B.F: I stumbled into this at a time I was literally aching for more music in my life, but EndAnd definitely tested my limits as a musician. Learning established material of this nature was totally new to me, and making it my own is still something I have to aim for each time I play. The most interesting part is taking it farther though, as we’re trying to do now. It went from playing catch up for me to forging ahead fairly quickly since we jumped right into writing and performing. I loved what came before having played shows in Capita Clip with the duo version of EndAnd. Hearing them mainly without any low end at all until I got some recorded tracks and rocked their Public Assembly set board recording as a fan. I found it exciting and intimidating when thought of as a future project. Like damn, these motherfuckers can play — can I? Dan actually asked me to sit in the night of that show, and I also watched Mike slaughter a Gen Ohm set from as close as possible backstage that night, too; good times. And though old and new material has its clear links, obviously I am truly fascinated with hearing what the three of us put forth as a unit. It’s a lot of aggression for some rather laid back cats, or we’re seemingly relaxed off stage at very least. As far as the future of the band, or of anything ever really, who knows about the future really? There’s plenty to handle with things just the way they are.
M.M: I was brought in by a former bandmate of Fern’s for an audition and with the first song, “When and There,” it was a natural fit. We powered along as a duo for several months doing the whole “White Stripes/Black Keys” before meeting Bill, and his enthusiasm for the project prompted us to ask him to join. That really solidified this project into a band, and we haven’t looked back since.
Since your inception, how would you say the band has grown and progressed as individual musicians and as a cohesive unit?
B.F: Um…simply, everybody’s better! Or at least things can often be comfortably tight even on our off days. I had to step my shit up and multi-task for a change — actually lift my head from my chest and sing like I knew I wanted to, while trying not to forget I also had hands attached to me. Luckily, it was really fun stuff to sing while I’m driving and soon enough it felt more natural. Plus I had somehow enough time to devote to some serious muscle memory work. We watched a lot happen to us from a personal perspective too, which has both affected our musicianship for better and worse, inside and out, individually and together. That withstanding, I’m always impressed by something from someone throughout the course of a practice. To say the very least of the bummer end, I had a few injuries recently that fucked up our fast pace a bit, so I’m relearning a lot again while we prep for what’s next. Luckily, again, one or two rehearsals in the old felt new again and the new felt old, in good ways. That’s just an example. Life is crazy but everyone stays creative, everyone works at their passion and loves what they do, and it shows in the ways things are played, and in the way things progress, and that’s true of all three of us.
D.F: Some disagree with me on this, but I think Mike got approximately 63% better at the drums, endurance and ability wise. I noticed this 6 months after he joined King Killer and I still keep tabs.
Bill and I have this chemistry where we write songs (I’d be on drums and he on bass or guitar. Or us on two guitars) where we both understand each other pretty well with minimal words and more melody. I think Bill and I got better at writing and communicating. The band as a whole keeps pushing our own limitations within technical ability and context of writing regardless of genre or premeditated concepts.
M.M: Who would disagree that I have improved, Fern?
Having joined both EndAnd and Gen Ohm at the same time, I began playing 4 times a week, not including shows. And riding the bike 10 miles each way to practice in Brooklyn from Manhattan. My chops and skill improved tremendously over the past two years as well as my stamina. As a band I think our internal knowledge of “odd” time signatures and tempo changes has grown incredibly mainly due to Fern’s ridiculous writing style of anything goes.
D.F: I’ll tell you who, Morales! Many at King Killer and room ‘I’ believe you were always as good as you are now, and that I miraculously woke up to find out. Maybe I got my numbers wrong, I don’t know.
You just released a brand new album and it seems to be doing great. Would you say that Mechanics & Energetics of Stilt-Running is your best effort to date?
D.F: What I/we write at the moment is usually the best we could do at the time. That being said, I think this LP is better than let’s say, my bedroom recordings, previous bands and previous EndAnd releases in the sense that I literally put everything out there, more so than all my other works to date. Also, this is the one LP that all the musicians involved made their own decisions and statements. Very impressed with Mike and Bill — there’s nothing I could have told them to do that would have made the album better than what it is. I put everything on the table, simply because I couldn’t avoid myself any longer and because I beat certain conditions that made me hopeless at the time and careful of what I say or do (immigration, Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome, my relationships with lovers and friends). Ultimately, when my father passed, or during the few months before his passing, I lost my mind all together. Everything I fought for physically and emotionally just went to shit. At that time I made every concern and annoyance I felt audible obnoxiously. I was a constant vessel of anger and irrationality and pain. I used to hide these things better…until I lost my shit. Welcome to Mechanics.
B.F: Hell yeah it is. It has this new bassist and he’s incredibly talented and devastatingly handsome! Kidding. Honestly, the two albums are different, and they’re both mega-enjoyable to listen to for me, and they’re both in my CD player. I’m audibly on one, and just my name is on the other because I slid in the band at the last second before pressing. Best is a highly subjective term though; I’m not sure how to measure that, but I’m damn sure happy to have my name attached to either one, and I get to play some of the sounds on the records with my very own hands! It is exciting to see favorable outlooks on EndAnd and just as interesting to hear interpretations that view it less favorably. Reviews of the first were often happy with Hi-Fi but sometimes rough on Lo-Fi, which just seemed musically elitist to me, or at least like they missed the point. Maybe people who never taped themselves on cassette growing up cause they were dying to record something don’t appreciate the greater value a “lesser” quality can have. And when a good song shines through the static, it’s more than just a good song to me. For the new, I just know we played many of these songs live to the point I was dying to hear them recorded, especially with the craftsmanship of Kramer after hearing his work. Glad people can dig it. As they say, I guess in the end opinions mean shit if you like what you produce at the end of the day. I do. We do.
M.M: This release is definitely something slightly pushed out. While we had most of these songs already in love rotation, it was a very emotionally cathartic album for Fern. And it was made at the time we did because of that, whatever the catharsis, the album speaks to all of our natures. I know personally I was in a big transition in my life and being able to bash those drums throughout was truly a gift. I’m very impressed with all of our work on this album.
What can you tell me about the cover art? What inspired that and what does it represent in terms of the album’s content?
D.F: Steve Woodzel (Generator Ohm) and Kat Wong (TinVulva) are responsible. Steve made the front cover. I sent him lyrics. I gave him the themes of the songs. Then I said, do whatever you feel, because he’s the artist, not I. Kat (back cover) did the same, only she was in constant communication with Steve. I didn’t get what she was doing until I saw the final product. Her colors are so abrasive compared to the two colors of the front cover that it makes all the sense in the color realm now. They did the artwork for Adventures as well — talented mofos. EndAnd, Dan Kramer (The Stink, producer and engineer of all EndAnd releases to date) and I believe a few others (The Morgans?) we’re working about at the studio. Somehow I asked, who would win in a race, a person running on stilts or walking on stilts? Or a runner on stilts versus a runner with no stilts. Is it possible to run on stilts? We Googled it and came across “mechanics and energetics of walking on stilts” — we all felt like we were running on stilts. Like we were juggling too many issues at once. It was a tough time for everyone in EndAnd.
B.F: The art’s inspiration I can’t speak directly on, but in my mind the Woodzell/Wong tag-team hit the mark perfectly. The album name came from a nonsensical talk within the King Killer community, but as we toyed with the idea of it becoming a working title it seemed the metaphor made more sense. Struggling to maintain speed at higher heights, accomplished more elevated feats and striving for balance with each step. Both in the sense of dealing with the life on ground level and attempting to climb the ladder musically, so to speak — it held weight with what was happening. I feel like I have an inner-streak of negative projection if I let my mind wander, so the analogy of the bigger they are, the harder they fall comes to mind, or adapted here to the higher the height the greater the fall downward. The well-received first record and the support from it, the new opportunities presented, love and life’s greatest gifts, it can create expectation from oneself and others, and can conversely all shake or shatter at a moment’s notice. The highs can quickly become lows as you propel carelessly forward with your head above the world. The crunching gears and effort it takes to resist the fall is what results, and manifested themselves in the sound of this album. The fall itself, in front of the usual anonymous onlookers in a sinister peanut gallery, is visualized by what’s shown. Or at least, that’s my interpretation of what is.
As far as your lyrics throughout Mechanics & Energetics of Stilt-Running, what themes would you say are prevalent? And do they relate to your previous work in any way?
D.F: I’d say so. I tend to speak about the same issues that bother me and immigration was an issue for over 7 years of my life. I was an illegal human being recognized by my community as a normal dude who grew up here. People think I was born here and that only intensifies the loneliness of the situation. Honestly, instead of making noise about Pussy Riot over in Russia, I was hoping my community would care about less fashionable endeavors and do something that involves their own community that has much to be repaired. I was hoping people would make noise for the Dream Act. As for the rest — Chronic Tension, OCD, and loneliness — these are repetitive themes.
You guys got to headline the noise rock stage at the CMJ New York Festival which I imagine was quite the honor. How did that come to be and how would you describe the experience?
D.F: Not to down-play this wonderful event, but I’m not sure this was an official CMJ showcase. I know the Deli Magazine hosted a CMJ showcase. They had like 6 different themed showcases in honor of CMJ with wonderful acts and we were certainly honored to headline one of the stages. I really like the Deli. I wish they were more in depth with some of their pieces, but then again, they cover everything! It’s wonderful because they obviously care about the community. I had a blast and we met some wonderful bands. I loved playing with TinVulva (as usual!) and loved meeting Bugs in The Dark who blew my face open during their set. I was thinking, “we’re headlining after this?”
B.F: It was low-key for the most part. There was a little fall through with an alcohol promotion and it was an afternoon slot, so it wasn’t the ragiest rager we’ve ever raged, but as mentioned, the honor itself was the pay off. CMJ is a city-staple, and Deli has its finger on the pulse of just about any beat in the indie circuit, so a name drop in either circumstance is fucking sweet. I was on crutches and wish I could’ve jumped around a little more for our set, and honestly all the others we played with. I like me some noise. TinVulva is our sister band and we love whatever they do. EULA was also a particularly dope set to behold. I’m pissed I missed Bugs in the Dark. I limped up late after a long night but the room was still buzzing when I got there.
Do you feel that that opportunity was a big push for your career and fanbase?
D.F: I think so. We got great coverage from publications, and accolades for being noisy and loud.
B.F: Indeed it was. After all, you’re still talking about it now! If we all were whisked away to corners of the globe never to hear from each other again, I’d still brag to my random corner about headlining a noise rock stage for CMJ. And hope they’d understand why I’m still bragging about it.
M.M: The Deli has been a fan and good friend of EndAnd for quite awhile. That event gave us recognition and furthered our credentials.
Now that the new album is out, what’s the band’s current focus?
D.F: Festivals and tours! We want to tour, damnit! We’ve had some offers here and there from small labels and agents. We’re waiting for this summer to travel. Recently SJC decided to endorse us so Mike is pretty happy. That being said, those guys are super personable and sweet! So cool!
B.F: Besides for pushing the album itself as far as we can obviously, first and foremost is getting back from an unplanned hiatus, polishing our playing shoes and spit shining our synchronized skills. Then hopefully, louder longer LIVEr shows. Touring is just about the only thing I’ve ever had written on my bucket list. I don’t even have a list, I just have a piece of paper that says “touring.” Now you know what it means. But yeah, we’re ready to branch out of this city that never sleeps and rock a place that wants to wake up too!
M.M: Getting back on stage after a brief hiatus post album release, and hoping to hit the festival circuit and playing larger venues to more fans and keep rocking our unique brand of prog/punk rock fusion.
How would you describe an EndAnd live show experience?
D.F: [laughs] Oh, man. Loud, energetic, angry, sweaty, noisy. I get habitually angry during gig night..about lugging equipment or waiting to play…or maybe my muscles are acting up again…so I’m introverted, and then we go on and I explode…I rarely leave the stage unsatisfied.
B.F: A lot of songs in one set that’s for damn sure, like 15-20 sometimes. Long set lists. Don’t go to the bathroom, you’ll probably miss two at least. It’s intense and sweaty, hopefully for others as much as it is for us. There’s a common theme of passion and energy amongst material slow and fast, new or old. If I don’t eat a piece of fruit up there I’ll pass out. Playing through nerves is exhausting, and shows with less nerves get even more energy. That’s from our side, I wish I could watch and tell you more about the viewers’ end. The most fun is when our friends get up and sing or scream along. I smile so much I kinda fuck up the words they’re singing or screaming with us.
Who/what are some of the most important influences to you that help shape what your music becomes?
D.F: First four bands to dominate my life were The Beatles, Nirvana, REM and Metallica (all pre black album). Nirvana at the forefront. This love affair happened around 3rd grade. My dad would continuously come back from his business abroad with new music for me to admire. He’s responsible for my first electric guitar, for encouraging me to get the hell out of the house and to the city. He called me out as a fake musician before I took myself seriously trying to prove him wrong. My dad was the shit. The amount of art he exposed me to in general. Books, music, cinema, travel. All had a direct mega impact on my life. Man, my father introduced me to one of my heroes, Robert Pollard, via a movie he showed me, Bubble.
B.F: I’ll always credit my teachers, both paid and inherited, though more so those life graciously afforded me through love. My father and my best friend handed me my blocks from which I built my base. In general, those around me have always been around to point my ears in new directions, and to provoke me when I found a direction I wanted to explore. The thing is, when they aren’t there, when no one else is, music still is. I’ve dug in deep enough in those moments to pull out things worth hearing, so I feel like I’m influenced outwardly as much as inwardly. That being said, my connection with the world, the love of it or the lack of it as it may be at the time, is what ultimately accounts for sounds I make. Maybe that’s too general, cause I feel like perhaps anyone can make such a vague statement in some way, but yeah. And I could not answer this question without again referencing the musical community to which we belong at King Killer. The bands around us, the people in them, the music made. Without its all being in place, we wouldn’t be in place as we are or where we are. I’m not alone in knowing all three of us owe King Killer a great debt for just being what it is.
If you had never started making music, what do you think you’d be doing today?
D.F: I love reading Russian literature (Tolstoy, Turgenev, Dostoyevsky). I love reading from author to author. Satre to Kafka to Balzac to Thomas Mann, to Hemingway. Charles Bukowski made that happen for me. He was so unrelenting in his aggressive truths. He had recommendations from Henry Miller to Tu Fu. Every writer of every country he had an opinion on. I loved reading the authors he spoke about and went on and discovered way too much. I got stuck on Kafka and Tolstoy ultimately, so maybe I’ll do comparative literature or teach English or something, I dunno. Can I get paid to research anything for the rest of my life? I’ll do it.
B.F: I do not think I would be here today, quite simply. Or if I was physically, I’d be so far removed from where I am I would not be me at all. I’m interested in other things creatively. I’m pretty often happy with selling flowers and taking pictures of them like I get to do at my heady lil Long Island garden center job, but the only reason I got here is from getting fired from my town job for missing work after staying out late seeing shows the night before. Then when I got fired, I spent all my money on a digital 8-track and a mic, worked the summer days and made music with friends all the summer nights until it was back to school. I literally can not contemplate an existence where myself and music do not coexist creatively on some level.
What’s the ultimate goal for EndAnd as a band?
D.F: We want to put bread on the table from making music. We want to travel the world. We want to be heard. We want to get involved with our heroes and artists we admire greatly. I’d like the be in the same room as Josh Homme or Mark Lanegan…I won’t say nothing, just want to be part of greatness.
B.F: Just like the Lone Rangers said, we want to be heard! Obviously, like any other band would want, but for substantial reasons and with substantial influence and connection to those listening, and ideally on a grander scale than now. Music is meant to be an end in itself, and not a side project, or a means to any other end, except livelihood, or perhaps sanity. I don’t think we have some grandiose point to make, or necessarily anything new to say, but to be a sound worth hearing is really something. A distinct one at that, where the sound is identifiable as us. We’d like to get to the next step through this or with this as it may be, to take things farther, whatever it is. And to make people move, hopefully towards us. If not, hey, at least we got a reaction!
Written and conducted by: Brian Lion – Follow him on Twitter
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