Words: Scott Jensen 

REAX: Since Aesthetic you’ve been through several member changes, 4 different record labels and a drastic evolution of your sound. What drives you to keep FFTL alive when the things that you’ve been through with this band would make most artists give up entirely?

Matt Good: When I was in high school I decided that I wanted to be in a band and I didn’t exactly know what kind of responsibilities or hardships were going to come with it. The things that I’ve encountered with this band are really nothing in comparison to what I had to deal with to get to the point where we could sustain ourselves. I feel like there’s this initial period where we had absolutely nothing. You can’t really get much lower than that unless you’re homeless, and that went on for so long until we could get to the point to where we could sustain and at least live on the level of a normal person making minimum wage. I feel like I would hate to have that much work just be in vain by giving up.

REAX: Do you feel that FFTL’s most recent incarnation with the lineup that you have now is a completely different animal than when you first put the band together or have you stayed true to your original ideals?

MG: We’ve definitely remained true to our original ideals, but to say it’s not different would be a lie. Our idea of what we want to accomplish musically is changing all the time. When we first started, we just wanted to make music that we liked and that’s different and just go for it. Now, it’s still like that but we are pushing to be better musicians and songwriters. And recording too, we’re always trying to get better and better.

REAX: So it’s a really organic process then?

MG: It just takes time, like anything. If you want to be a blacksmith then you apprentice under a blacksmith and in a couple of years you’re a blacksmith. It’s one of those things where experience makes you better.

REAX: The songs from the new album are really hooky and vibrant and contrast Heroine musically, although they still deal with some really dark subject matter. Can you describe what you were going through when you were writing this record and how it affected the music that came out of that process?

MG: On this record we were going into it feeling like we had a heavy weight on our shoulders. I’ve never in my life felt like I’ve had so much to live up to. There’s a lot of lyrical content dealing with what it felt like with everything that we’ve gone through in the past year with Sonny Moore, ex-vocalist leaving and getting released from our label. We were being very reminiscent but still trying to keep a positive outlook on the situation and not being all “woe is me, the world sucks, blah blah blah.” Just talking about it in a mature manner and addressing the way that it felt.

REAX: So besides the new album and the touring cycle that you’re on, what’s next on the horizon for FFTL?

MG: We’re just going to be doing a lot more touring. We’re going overseas for a while and playing a couple of festivals with Rage Against the Machine. We’re doing six dates with Kiss. That’s just insane, I’m completely blown away by that! We’re just trying to do as many new things as we can and pushing FFTL TV and possibly upgrading it in the near future. We’re always looking for new ways to do things and we have a lot of crazy ideas. Hopefully we can make them come true.

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