Hello, I’m Fuj. I play guitar in White Walls, it is fun. But don’t take my word for it, read this Maggot approved message:
“Channelling both a ferocity and a melody through a twin guitar/drum assault, White Walls offer a different approach to punk music. Describing their sound as ‘obsessive tone worship’, it’s obvious that Rory, Fuj and Dylan have listened to their share of early Dinosaur Jr. just as much as they have bands such as The Men and Milk Music. All three share vocals. All three blast. Their debut album is a must.” – Tim Scott
Your debut self-titled record has just been released, are you happy with how it turned out?
Yeah actually quite happy with the final product. For a band that doesn’t have a bass player it’s a fairly bass-heavy album. Idge (Andrew Hehir) did an amazing job recording and mixing/general wizardry. I think the thing we wanted most was just to have everything audible and all layers distinguishable, while maintaining rawness so it doesn’t sound overproduced or expensive. That, and have crushing tone.
Were there any funny or memorable moments recording the album?
There were a few issues during the recording process. I was extremely ill the entire time and was mainly running on instant coffee, singapore noodles, and Codral. But the perpetual daze made for some funny decisions. We did for instance agree on having a sample of a massive bell chiming in the climax of the last song, definitely didn’t have any intention of that prior to recording – more than happy we did though, sounds epic. Actually, I was slightly pushing for a rain sample to fade in after the bell but Rory thought that was taking it too far (rightly so).
Andrew Hehir produced the record, looking ahead a little bit, are there any notable producers you would love to work with?
I haven’t actually placed too much thought into it. I know of the general awesomeness that surrounds recording with Albini, but besides that maybe Kurt Ballou of Converge fame. Any album I’ve heard that he has recorded sounds massive, everything pushed right to the limit. That being said however, it’s probably not the best kind of production suited to us.
No doubt you’ll be launching the album, what can we expect from a White Walls live show?
It will be like most other White Walls shows, it’ll be loud and we will be playing with sick bands, and hopefully there will be a general chipper vibe to the atmosphere.
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
My first show I ever played was only about four years ago in my other band Backwards Zombie (shameless plug) so I still feel pretty nervous at the prospect of playing live. I get the feeling I’m never going to be that comfortable on stage but who knows maybe in 20 years I’ll be able to properly face the audience.
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
Deathspell Omega gets constant attention and I’m quite partial to that self titled Krallice album at the moment. I’ve also been enjoying the most recent Raw Nerve 7” and Boomgates album – that is real pure. The newest Black Breath album definitely gives me the nourishment I require for half-time riffery and massive Entombed style guitar tone. There are plenty of other things thrown in there too but listing them all would result in a lengthy Tolkien epic, with less adjectives.
Do you feel like your environment plays a role in your songwriting?
Yes I’d agree with that. The only lyrics I seem to be able to come up with are usually about work but that’s just because I work full time. I try and conjure something that sounds witty and meaningful but when it comes down to it I’m just writing about having a job, and my job isn’t too bad anyway. More soul depleting than soul crushing.
Do you have any particular ritual before you go on stage, or even a lucky charm you take with you?
Nope, not really. Just drink a couple of beers pre-show and hope for the best. We did recently eat a pizza before getting onstage, but I don’t think I’ll be doing that again, granted it was delicious but I think there needs to be a certain amount of time allocated to sitting and chilling post pizza consumption.
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
I don’t really mix well with the whole festival atmosphere so I’d try and keep it as stripped back as possible. A decent sized venue that can handle a crowd without making you feel claustrophobic and it would be ideal if it was fitted with some sort of anti-jerk technology at the entry. Line-up would be a tough task to get together, but I’ve always wanted to see Mind Eraser and the rest would have to be a mix of harsh and not so harsh bands such as Nomos, Crazy Spirit, Whirr, Deafheaven, Genghis Tron (return from hiatus!), Ulcerate, Merchandise…(impossible to include everything without just basically listing bands I would like to see) not mention the onslaught of sick Australian talent: The Stevens, Deep Heat, Useless Children, Boomgates, Total Control, Agents of Abhorrence, Internal Rot, Strightjacket Nation, Rort, Extortion etc etc the list is endless!!
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with?
Not too sure. I think the stress of working with someone I idolize and not wanting to appear as a wiener would break me.
Where we can see you play next, what releases do you have available and where can we get them?
Our next show is December 15th at the Northcote Social Club supporting Earthless and then the last one before the end of the year is the 22nd of December which is also our album launch at The Tote with Deep Heat and Useless Children it’ll be a good one so be sure to attend. We have some great shows coming up next year too:
Supporting The Men on the 6th of February (with NUN!)
Supporting Dinosaur Jr. on the 7th of March (with Straightjacket Nation!)
Stream the album here: whitexwallsx.bandcamp.com/album/white-walls
BUY the album here: poisoncityrecords.com/estore/catalog
More info on coming events/news here: www.facebook.com/whitexwallsx
Cheers!
