Interview with Facing Fiasco, a Local Texas Band

Hi, my name is Crystal. I would like to ask a few questions, and get some information on your band. To start with, let's do the interview, then from there if you have any additional comments that you'd like to throw in for the audience you will be more than welcome to add the information. Also, we'll upload the music and pictures at the end too.

Crystal: First off, how did you come up with the name Facing Fiasco?

Ben Henning:
The name Facing Fiasco is kind of a political statement. With all of the craziness around us, on the TV and in the papers, music is the only thing we really have to help us escape from the constant bombardment of bad news. It's our emotional outlet to scream back at the TV.

Crystal: What is the origin of your music, and what kind of audiences do you normally generate?

Ben Henning:
The origin of our music comes from our youth. I grew up loving Simon and Garfunkel, Green Day, and Offspring, just to name a few. I also have a strong choir background, so I take a lot of influence from the so called "classics". We normally bring the 18 to 25 year old crowd, mostly our friends and people that like to spend time on myspace. As we continue to grow and play more and more shows, we expect the variance in our audience's age range to increase.

Crystal: About the lyrics, do they have any specific meaning behind them? Such as: family, a loved one, or an experience.

Ben Henning:
When I write lyrics, they almost always have a specific meaning behind them. They always describe an experience I just had or an emotional state I am currently in. The lyrics make many allusions to family, loved ones, or even hated ones. I feel like most of my material is centered on fighting back and standing up for what you believe in. Often times, I'll create a character or situation based off of a true story, and elaborate in a fictional direction to emphasize certain elements of the story or character.

Crystal: How long has your band been together, and how long were you practicing and getting everything up and going before you started playing for crowds?

Ben Henning:
Facing Fiasco was formed just over 1 year ago, in February 2006. Our first public performance was about 9 months later. We spent a lot of time writing new songs, practicing, recording, and finding the right musicians to come aboard before our first performance. It's important to make a good first impression. Now that we have been unveiled, it's full steam ahead.

Crystal: Can you tell us a little bit about your group? Who's in it, how you met, where you're from, etc.

Ben Henning: Matt Ramsey, the drummer, and I (Ben Henning) first started the group as a duo. He and I have known each other for many years and are good friends as well as roommates We've had two previous band collaborations prior to Facing Fiasco, and we initially met through Alex and Christian, who are now making it big with "The Black Angels". In February last year, Matt and I started writing songs and choosing the direction we wanted to go with our music. We went through a few bass players as a 3-piece for about 6 months. Not long after, we picked up guitar player Bobby Kennedy and bass player Erik Cantu. These two came as a set, as they have played in bands together for several years, just as Matt and I had. The four of us have known each other for some time, many years. I initially met Bobby when he was a sound guy through my last band. He and Erik were in a band together at this time. I did a couple months of side project jamming with Erik and Bobby, it was a lot of fun, but circumstance prevented a serious pursuit. We are very happy and fortunate to be surrounded with such talent and motivation.

Crystal: Have you always wanted to play in a band, or is this something that you decided on later in life?

Ben Henning:
I didn't realize that I wanted to play in a band until I came to the University of Texas in 2000. By this time, I had been playing guitar for several years, and was just beginning to write songs. Austin was so full of music and creative spirit, it was the perfect place to grow as a musician. It just kind of happened; I guess this town brings that out of you.

Crystal: How successful have you been so far, and how successful would you like to be in the next 5 years?

Ben Henning:
Very successful in my opinion. When I initially started my very first band called Fading Fast, my ultimate goal was simply to perform on the world famous 6th street. After I first played there and realized I was good enough to compete with the other musicians out there. Four bands later, now my gauge of success is how much fun I'm having and how much fun I can make others have too. At the end of the day, the memories are all you have. In that sense, we have been very successful.

Over the next 5 years, we hope to grow our fan base and find our niche within the music industry. The goal is to make a new sound that has enough of what people are used to hearing to be well accepted. Getting a record deal would be a terrific step towards making music a full-time job. We intend to go with the flow, see what happens, and have fun doing it. The main goal though, is to have fun with our friends.

Crystal: Do you have any regrets towards being in a band? Or any doubts as to what's going to happen next?

Ben Henning:
Being in a band can be very difficult. It is a business afterall. The big difference between running a band and say... opening a shoe store is the inability to just fire a bad employee. If there are issues with a member, they are not just replaceable like a cashier. Each member is vital to the sound and talent level. So in that sense, it can be very stressful working through problematic situations. Being in a band has forged many new and special friendships, but has also destroyed and torn apart many special friendships. Ego, money, and power are a very volatile combination and it takes a special group to not let success go to their heads.

There are always doubts about what will happen next. Every musician dreams about 'making it big' and appearing on MTV's Cribs, but it only happens for a very small percentage surely. The rest of us work other jobs to fund the expenses involved in running a band. I wonder all the time if the other musicians will stick around, will they fight about little things, will the crowd love us? Will the next song be a hit, how much studio time can we afford? There are so many doubts in involved in trying to run a successful band. We can only hope that we will be in the right place at the right time.

Crystal: How does it feel having all of those people looking at you while you're on stage, and even just out in public?

Ben Henning:
It's wonderful; it's what I get drive and motivation from. Every musician enjoys having the attention of an audience. Even more so, every musician loves seeing smiles on the faces of those they are entertaining. We are entertainers and that is what we love to do. It is always a nice ego boost to be recognized in public, it provides a sense of worth and accomplishment.

Crystal: Is it everything you thought it would be, or is it better or worse than you thought?

Ben Henning:
Everyone can be far fetched when imagining themselves being successful at what they do. We've always tried to keep a humble attitude about what we do as Facing Fiasco. I believe everything has been how I thought it would be. We are having a great time and writing some really great music. We all get along really well and are always laughing or having a good time. The members of this group were carefully chosen, so everything is good, or better, than I thought.

Crystal: How has being in a band affected your friends and family?

Ben Henning:
It hasn't affected anything much for me personally. I think all of Facing Fiasco's member's friends and family strongly support what we are trying to do, and represent our core fan base, the most important group of people we know!

Crystal: Has it postponed any of your other life plans, or are you on cue with what you planned on doing?

Ben Henning:
Yes it has postponed other life plans. I want to go back to school at get my MBA, but the night life and time commitment required just doesn't leave time. Stuff like going back to school can always be done later in life, but the window of opportunity for a musician seems to go through the late 20's, and then kind of dies out for a lot of people.

Crystal: Does your band travel outside the Texas area? If so, does this cause any problems for you?

Ben Henning:
We haven't traveled outside of Texas..... yet

Crystal: Have you had any record deals offered to you yet? If so, do you plan on signing with any of them? And if not, do you plan on seeing about getting signed by any of them?

Ben Henning:
We haven't had any record deals offered to us ..... yet

Crystal: If anyone wanted to find out more about your band, or even get their hands on some of your music, how would they be able to access that information?

Ben Henning:
Probably the best way to learn about Facing Fiasco, is to visit our myspace or website (www.myspace.com/facingfiaco or www.facingfiasco.com )

Crystal: Do you have a website, mailing address, or any other contact information that would be accessible to the general public?

Ben Henning:
www.facingfiasco.com

Crystal: What about merchandise? What kind of memorabilia do you have available, if any?

Ben Henning:
We have T-shirts, CDs, stickers, posters, and more!!

Crystal: Does your music have a rating on it? For example: 16+ or parental advisory?

Ben Henning:
Facing Fiasco is all ages friendly

Crystal: When you started thinking about putting a band together, was there anyone that inspired you to do this? Was there anyone specific you looked up to?

Ben Henning:
My guitar hero is John Mayer, I try to follow the steps he has taken when possible.

Crystal: When it comes to music, do you listen to stuff in the same genre as yours, or do you listen to something outside of that genre?

Ben Henning:
Awesome question!! It's a little bit of both. In general, I listed to stuff on the outskirts of our style, and am always trying to link the two as new songs get written.

Crystal: If you could meet with anyone from the music industry, who would it be?

Ben Henning:
Anyone who has worked hard and had to scratch their way to the top, but who still has an honest soul. (That can be hard to find in the music biz)

Crystal: When your band makes it big, would you stick to your music, or would you expand outward like some of the other musicians you see today?

Ben Henning:
I think every band evolves as they put out new albums. I think some of Facing Fiasco's members would love to break into acting after we make it big!

Crystal: Do you have a certain style that you go with, or is it a day by day type of thing?

Ben Henning:
We're all over the place, it's definitely a day by day type of thing. Always trying some new crazy angle, you can't beat it cause it keeps everything fresh and new. I think a lot of bands start having problems when style gets stale.

Crystal: As a band, do you have any goals that you'd like to meet? How about as individuals?

Ben Henning:
We certainly have goals, some that are common to all bands, like, being able to make enough money to quit our day jobs and still have comfortable lives. More realistically, we would like to do some traveling, make some awesome recordings, and make new friends along the way. As individuals, we strive to improve our craft and be able to convey our emotions to the audience through our instruments.

Crystal: How can people get their hands on tickets to see you live?

Ben Henning:
All of that info can be found on our website!

Crystal: Do you have a schedule set already for the year? If so, can we post that also?

Ben Henning:
We are in the process of booking for the rest of the year. Our next show is this Saturday, April 21st. As more shows get booked, our website will have all the details!

Crystal: If you have any additional comments or information that you'd like to include, please feel free to do so at this time. (Enter comments here):

Please include the links or what not to upload photos and music for the interview.

http://www.facingfiasco.com/songs/
http://www.myspace.com/facingfiasco

Thank you for allowing me to interview you. I hope all goes well for you along your journey through music. Please keep us updated, and maybe in a couple of months we can do another interview, and see how you're doing at that point. Thanks again, and good luck.

This interview was with an up and coming band so to speak, Facing Fiasco. They are a local Texas band, and enjoy what they do. They would like to some day make it big, but are completely happy with where they are right now. I hope that you have enjoyed this interview and that you will check out their websites, pictures, and music. Let's see if we can't help them expand their music and possibly take it farther. Thank you.