Fair To Midland are getting ready to drop their full length debut release in the spring of 2007 on Serj Tankian's label, Serjical Strike Records, and the band couldn't be more thankful to have Tankians producing ear in the studio during the recording process. Tankian, who is the lead singer for System of a Down was immediately drawn to the bands live performance and incredible musical gift of songwriting and signed them to record their follow up the bands 'Drawn and Quartered EP.'
We caught up with
Darroah and
Matt of Fair to Midland to get a little insight on working with Serj and having him produce their upcoming album.
Watch video: Fair To Midland On Signing With Serjical Strike
"So far that's where we've seen the biggest benefit having signed on with Serjical Strike in addition to Universal because we've got somebody with enough clout to speak on our behalf for something or if we're having a hard time with something or if it's taking us a little longer to do something they not only have us calling them and telling them that, but they also have Serj Tankian on the phone saying you need to give these guys more time and they tend to listen to what he has to say and he's been great through all this."
We also talked to Serj Tankian recently about Fair to Midland and why he was so impressed musically with the band from Texas.
Watch video: Serj Had To Work With Fair To Midland
"As it happened they were going to be in LA so I went and checked them out at The Roxy and I was completely blown away by there live show. It's very seldom that you see a band that you would just completely look at and go 'This is the real thing.' There's very few of those bands as you know, and I felt that immediately and I saw them for a second show a couple of days after and it was obvious that I really, really needed to work with them."
So has Serj been a hands on producer?
Watch video: Fair To Midland On Producer Serj Tankian
"It was a bit more of a long distance interaction. We would send him the work that we've been doing and he would send in his critics and make suggestions. He has been available every day and he's listened to what we've done every day so it's not something were he just checks in every few weeks to see how it's going. He's been there the whole time and had something to listen to and he's made a comment at least every other day. Yeah, he's been really involved. He's really more than anybody else responsible for us and where we're at right now."
Fair To Midland are all set to hit the road opening for Dir En Grey on their North American Tour. The tour kicks off February 1st in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and extends until February 25th in San Francisco, California. Look for the band to finish off the album in early 2007 and hopefully have their as of yet untitled album out for the Spring of 2007.
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