FOR BETTER ENDINGS

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUEVEN TAN
WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/fbecore
COUNTRY: Singapore STYLE: Hardcore / Metal / Rock

YOU WERE SIGNED TO A MALAYSIAN BASED LABEL CALLED GEGEY MUSIC A WHILE BACK; IS THIS THE OPPORTUNITY YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR TO TAKE THE BAND TO NEW “HEIGHTS”?

We have been blessed enough to be signed by Gegey Music which has only brought us to a better place here in South East Asia. The people in the label have become close friends of ours and they have been doing everything they can to push us as far as possible.

We are just so proud to be apart of the Gegey Music family, we never thought the music we have been writing could bring us such opportunities to travel and play to new faces.

WHEN DID YOU GUYS FIRST GET INTRODUCED TO HEAVY MUSIC AND WHAT ASPECTS OF IT DO YOU LIKE THE MOST?

We all got into the music when we were way younger and before any of us were actually friends. Regardless, the idea of something being an alternative that can be rewritten in any way that we want, to express ourselves is reason enough to fall in love with it.

YOU ARE RE-RELEASING YOUR DEBUT EP “VARIATIONS” THIS AUGUST. IS IT THE WAY FOR THE BAND TO INTRODUCE NEW FANS TO THE ORIGINAL FOR BETTER ENDINGS “SOUND” AND ARE YOU WORKING ON A FULL LENGTH ALBUM?

We are re-releasing the EP for the people that have not gotten it so far and it will be distributed worldwide for fans across borders and oceans. It will include 2 new songs that will be in the full length. We are still in the writing process of the record and we should be done with somewhere mid or early next year. We are pushing our boundaries as a band with the song writing and arrangements, trying our best to give listeners a new take on the tired genre.

MUSICIANS PROBABLY NEVER STOP WRITING; DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE SONG IDEAS “FLOATING” AROUND AND HOW MANY OF THOSE IDEAS USUALLY BECOME FULL SONGS?

Damian and Shaun are constantly writing new drafts for songs and we would come together as a band to rearrange riffs, structures to make things work. A draft would normally start with 6 riffs that will eventually become into 13 completely different riffs that normally ends up as the final song.

WHAT TYPES OF MUSIC INSPIRES YOU GUYS TO WRITE THE MOST AND WHAT PARTS OF YOUR MUSIC WOULD YOU LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH A BIT MORE?

We all like really different sort of heavy music, be it Story Of The Year or Converge or The Bled, we take exactly what we want from each of these influences as guides to our songs. For example like having the melodies of Story Of The Year with the intensity of Converge to the riffing of The Bled.

In our current song writing process, we have been experimenting with the way we have been writing our guitar and drum parts. We also have been working on a lot more slower and cleaner passages.
YOUR BAND BIO READS, “OUR MUSIC ABOUT SUMMING UP THE COURAGE TO SAY OR DO WHAT YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO. OUR MUSIC IS ABOUT CARRYING ON.” WOULD YOU SAY YOU’VE DONE EXACTLY THAT WITH YOUR MUSIC, AND WHAT INSPIRES YOU GUYS TO CARRY ON?

What we want from this band is to do whatever we can to help listeners through their struggles. Haven’t we all at one point escaped our demons through our favourite bands and records? We just want to let them know that they are not alone going through whatever they are facing. That is one of the reasons why our lyrics lean towards to the positive side.

It is really difficult being in a band in Singapore, where the scene is really small and most bands here get disheartened by the constant uphill battle to break to out of the endless cycle. Where there is little or no chance for bands to make it elsewhere, we have taken this to be one of our biggest inspirations because it is stupid to think that barriers can’t be broken and bars can’t be set higher for the rest of the bands. We hope to be an example for other bands to push themselves as hard as they can and have a chance to share their hard work with the world.

I SEE THE WORD “REVAMPING” IN BRACKETS ON YOUR MYSPACE. WHAT ASPECTS OF THE BAND ARE YOU REVAMPING?

We are the revamping the Myspace page with a whole new layout, merch store and new tunes. Any means to make us easily accessible for foreign fans.

YOU’VE PLAYED SOME OVERSEAS SHOWS AS WELL; WHAT DO YOU ENJOY THE MOST ABOUT PLAYING WITH BANDS THAT ARE IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT “SCENE” AND WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED THROUGH THOSE EXPERIENCES?

It is really amazing to play in a room of complete strangers, trying our very best to win over as much hearts as possible in that 30-40 minutes we are given. And you get see to what is going on in that scene like who are the upcoming stars and who totally dominates that scene, there is politics everywhere. It is always an insightful thing to learn new things from new bands that we get to see on the road. Any experience at all is a blessing for us.

WHAT IS THE ONE THING THAT YOU’VE SEEN OR DONE THAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON THE WAY THE BAND APPROACHES LIVE SHOWS?

We have seen too many bands really “rocking/freaking the fuck out” and it gets to a point where it is so fake and staged? And they tend to miss their cues and parts due to it.

We too used to go into a room with the intention to get peoples attention by having really crazy stage antics and stuff but we have toned down a lot. We are more focussed on playing tighter sets now and giving each show everything we’ve got.

ARE YOU GUYS HAPPY WITH THE EQUIPMENT YOU HAVE AT THE MOMENT AND WHAT DO YOU USE?

We definitely need better gear for better sound, any means to enhance our live shows. Alex and Lee are endorsed by Gibson and Epiphone guitars and bass. And Damian proudly uses the Singaporean based Craftsman guitars.

THE BAND IS PERFORMING AT BAYBEATS IN AUGUST, IN WHAT WAYS ARE YOU TRYING TO GET THE BAND TO FEATURE IN BIGGER SHOWS AND BETTER TOURS?

We try our best to get into as much local and regional shows as possible through emailing or messaging various bands and labels on Myspace. We also managed to get a stronger following here in Singapore and we hope get more opportunities to open for more touring bands like we did with the god-like Misery Signals.

I SEE THAT YOU ARE NOT SHY TO POST LINKS TO OTHER BANDS WEBSITES THAT YOU HAVE PLAYED WITH ON YOUR MYSPACE BLOG. HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT “GOOD” MUSIC AND MUSICIANS THESE DAYS IN YOUR OPINION?

We wish to help spread and promote great bands we come across as much as possible. It is not too much to take a little effort to put a link on a blog that might help another band win over dozens or hundred more fans. We just hope that more bands would help each other out rather than cut each others throats.

ANY COMMENTS/ADVISE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

We really want to thank Gegey Music and everyone that has stood by us all this while. We also want to thank Neil for giving us to opportunity to share this with whoever’s reading.

Please don’t stop believing.
For Better Endings