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The Faults Get a Leg
Up
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Mic Harrison knows he
got a little bit of a leg up on most bands in his spot. Sure, his
band The Faults is just one of thousands of struggling rock bands
slugging it out in the clubs and bars of this country, playing to
crowds that may or may not be paying attention. Sure, he wants to
make it to the big time and see his name in lights just like any
struggling rock musician, but the difference is Harrison doesn't
expect fame to drop in his lap and he knows better then to get stars
in his eyes when some slick-talking label head starts promising the
world.
See, Mic Harrison and most of The Faults have been
there, friends and neighbors, and they've seen how the game is
played. Mic Harrison was a V-Roy, and there was a time when it
seemed the Knoxville-based quartet were set to take over the rock
and roll world... or at least a small part of it.
But of
course, things don't always work out like that. After releasing two
killer studio albums full of pop hooks and beer-soaked twang the
'Roys split at the end of 1999, with co-singer-songwriter-guitarist
Scott Miller heading for a solo career and Harrison forming The
Faults with drummer Jeff Bills and bassist Paxton Sellers. Bringing
along fellow Knoxvillian Robbie Trosper (ex-Ramblin' Roy), The
Faults followed the more pop-rock muse of The 'Roys, cranking the
amps up to 11 and blasting out what Harrison calls "nervous, pure
pop fucking rock." Sure, the ghost of The V-Roys and that band's
trials and tribulations loom over The Faults' new life, but Harrison
accepts both his history and the bright future ahead of his band.
"The crowds are a lot smaller these days, but I know a
helluva lot more now than I did then," singer-songwriter laughs.
"We're still getting some of the old V-Roy fans, but we're also
building our own crowds. I don't get excited about the little
things... or the big things, either, because I know they may not
happen. I knew it was going to be tough [starting over], but that's
okay. Beats being a band out in a garage somewhere; at least I got a
story behind me. [laughs]."
Away from the past, The
Faults stand pretty strong on their own. The band's sonic punch has
been likened to Cheap Trick and Roky Erikson with some AC/DC thrown
in for good measure, and Harrison's skill as a songwriter has grown
by leaps and bounds. As he said, The Faults play pure power pop with
big ol' guitars, much in the same manner as Guided By Voices or
fellow Knoxville rockers Superdrag. In fact, the former band's
drummer Don Coffey helped produced The Faults' self-titled debut on
Lynne Point Records, an excellent collection of rockers that looks
at the idea of "pop" equalling fluff and spits beer in its eye.
"It's been called 'power-pop guitar rock,' basically what I
did with The V-Roys," Harrison explains. "To me, pop is silly little
melody rhymes you catch in your head that stay there for days. I
just like to layer those big, fat-ass guitars around it."
The story really starts in the early ’90s, when Harrison
moved to Knoxville from Jackson, TN, to join his old buddy Bills in
a new band then called The Viceroys. Along with Sellers and Miller,
the band began to get some notice in Knoxville, eventually signing
to iconoclastic songwriter Steve Earle's label E-Squared and
truncating the band name. The group and label's debut, Just Add
Ice, came out in 1996. Combining sharp songwriting and
hell-bent-for-leather playing with healthy doses of twang and humor,
the 'Roys were a breath of fresh air in both a world of pop rock
weighed down by the mundane and alt-country collapsing under its own
pomposity. Catching fire, the V-Roys appeared on Conan O'Brien's
show, played Farm Aid, and toured Ireland and Europe with Earle
before releasing 1998's All About Town, which showed even
more of the band's ability and versatility.
However,
conflicts with the notoriously hardheaded Earle over artistic vision
and frustrations with the pursuit of rock and roll fame led to the
band's break up at the end of 1999. After a rollicking live album in
2000, Are You Through Yet?, the 'Roys went their separate
ways and The Faults were soon born.
Cutting their teeth on
the road, The Faults recorded the debut with Bills' stepped down
from the drumkit to concentrate on his label Lynne Point after it
was finished. Replaced by Jason Peters, also of Ramblin' Roy, The
Faults are chugging ahead at full speed, and Harrison credits a lot
of that success to Trosper and Peters while at the same time noting
how his own skills as a tunesmith have grown.
"I'm opened up
to make a lot more stupid mistakes on my own now," the good-natured
songwriter laughs. "I've always had someone looking over my shoulder
and telling me this was wrong or that was wrong. Now it's just me,
and if it makes sense to me, fuck 'em.
"Robbie's a much
better guitar player than me or Scott either one. He comes from a
punk background and gets way out there... plus, he's got a
four-track [laughs]. Jason hits a little harder than I've
been used to, but that fits with what we're doing. To me, he's
across between Bills and Don Coffey. He's perfect."
With the
accolades the record is receiving and the band's new lease on life,
Harrison is pretty content with his position in the rock and roll
world and is more than ready to climb the hill once again, in spite
of knowing the pitfalls of the journey. The Faults are playing more
and more away from Knoxville and opening more and more eyes of both
those who loved The V-Roys and those who never heard of the late
band. This rock thing may be a bitch, but Harrison says it beats the
alternative.
"Shit, man, I just love doing it," he enthuses.
"The day job thing? I've done it and it sucks. [laughs] I
just love writing songs and playing, and I'd be doing in my room
anyway, so why not make a dollar on it? Actually getting out and
getting a reaction from the crowd, man, it's like doing dope. I just
love it."
Matt Thompson
WHO:
The Faults, Conflict Of Interest
WHEN: Thursday,
June 14
WHERE: Tasty World
HOW MUCH:
$4 | | |