UTG INTERVIEW: Famous Last Words Discuss New Short, ‘A Two-Faced Charade’

March 25th, 2015

Kriston McConnell

Famous Last Words have been keeping themselves busy over the last few years. They’ve released two full-length albums since 2013, a short film and have toured all over the country. Even as busy as they are, they still took some time to answer some questions about performing at South By So What?! and their new short, A Two-Faced Charade. You can see what they had to say below. If you haven’t seen the short yet, you can view it here, or right below the interview.

A Two-Faced Charade is available to pre-order through the band’s website. It will hit stores this Thursday, March 26. You can catch the band on their current tour with Tear Out The Heart through the first week of April. Tour dates are available on Facebook.

Let’s start off by introducing who you are and your role in the band.

My name is JT. I am the vocalist for Famous Last Words.

First of all, you are currently on ‘The Touring Dead Tour.’ How is that going so far?

The tour is going great so far. We are great friends with both Tear Out The Heart and For All I Am, so we are super privileged to be on the road with all of our friends. The turnouts have been great and everyone is having an awesome time.

Do you have plans to embark on additional tours this year? Is there a possibility of an international tour?

We do have some tours lined up that are in the process of being booked. Nothing has been announced yet so make sure you are keeping your eyes open on all of our social media outlets!

The band has only been officially together since 2010. In that short time, you’ve carved out a little niche for yourselves in the darker side of post-hardcore. Your music has a theatrical element to it, but it also covers darker subjects than the average “core” band. Is this something you intended to do from the get-go? What about this art form interests you?

We’ve always been pretty dark. Our main message is helping people find the light even in the darkest places. To show that there is always some kind of hope, even if it is bittersweet. Music is a huge therapeutic outlet for all of us so writing about the darkness we all face day to day with love, betrayal, and loss is very helpful. Also we love horror movies, so I’m pretty sure that has something to do with it too.

Your short film, A Two-Faced Charade, is currently streaming online and is available to pre-order. I know it has been delayed a couple of times. How does it feel to finally have it ready for fans?

It feels incredible to finally be able to show people the film. It was pushed back so many times because of distribution. We had a deal worked out that eventually fell through. Also it takes quite a bit of time for the post production phase, and having done this independently, we didn’t have tons of resources. We are just happy it is out there for the fans to finally see.

The short has been streaming for a few days now. How has the reception been so far?

The response has been incredible. In just a couple of days the film has received 14,000+ views and very little negative feedback. Pushing back the film’s release wasn’t what we wanted to do, but the fans seem to think it was worth it.

I have to admit, A Two-Faced Charade gets a little gruesome near the end. Was there ever any concern that the content would turn fans away?

It does get pretty brutal towards the end. There will always be people who think we take things “too far,” but we have never been, and never will be, a band that sugar-coats our stories or lyrics.

What does putting together a movie look like? Was it the first time any of you participated in filmmaking?

This was the first acting I have done. Ever since I was little I wanted to act, but I had more interest in music. I never thought it would be possible to act in movies and do music, so I just stuck to music. I’m happy I was wrong!

Can fans expect to see more stories like this in the future? Do you plan on releasing additional short films?

We do consider ourselves a “concept album band” so there will definitely be more stories in the future. I would love to make a film for each one of our albums, but that gets to be very costly. As long as we keep getting support from our fans, we will be making more albums and hopefully be able to make more films!

When did you decide you wanted to make a short based off your debut album? Why? What is the inspiration behind the storyline?

I knew from the second that we came up with the Two-Faced Charade concept that I wanted to do a short film. After we did the music video for “The Show Must Go On” I talked to the director of the video, Charlie Anderson. I told him, “If this video gets to 1 million views, you have to consider doing a short film.” So as soon as it hit a million views he shot me a text and said, “Looks like we need to do this short.”

You played at South By So What?! this weekend. How did that go?

It was such a pleasure actually being able to play for all of our fans this year. We were actually booked to play last year but unfortunately our set got rained out, so we were really excited to get the opportunity to come back.

For those fans who weren’t at the festival, what kind of experience should they expect when going to a Famous Last Words show? What sets you apart from your peers?

We are all about having fun. We want all of our fans to feel comfortable with who they are and just let go and go crazy for a bit. That’s what you can expect at a FLW show.