Just
in time for the 4th of July, some fireworks, a Fatal Flying
Guilloteens interview. Ernest Hemingway is a fan. They're
known for wild live shows, Lone Ranger getups, fisticuffs,
riots (explained below) and blistering, blissful bombast
and racket. These Houston-based maniacs have released
their second album for Estrus
Records. A true masterpiece, it's violent and thrilling,
just like a big ol' M-80. It's intricate and crazy, but
the instructions are simple, when these guys are lit,
BACK AWAY!
Brian
McManus, guitarist for the Fatal Flying Guilloteens, told
us what it's all about.
Ok.
Are you a fan of Kung Fu movies, or did you just pluck
the Fatal Flying Guilloteens as a name because it sounded
cool.
The name of the band comes from two things...1) the kung
fu movie of the same name and 2) the wu tang clan lyric,
"like richard dawson/ survey says, 'you're dead,'/ FATAL
FLYING GUILLOTINES chop off your fucking head!" that cinched
it.
I've
had a hard time finding any tour information on your band,
or any information at all, for that matter. You're an
enigma. What gives?
Just like you, buddy, we're lazy. We are touring in august
for three weeks. Check Estrus.com
for the dates soon. Info about who plays what is provided
in each album. What kind of stuff are you looking for?
our signs? height/ weight? Stop being so fucking creepy,
Phil!
The
information I did find, mentions that you've had some
feuds and fights with other band in Texas. Is this overblown?
Can you address these accusations? Do you guys have a
bad rep?
Overblown a bit. We have been in a few scraps, but not
just with texas bands. We had kind of a bad night with
that shitty band Rainer Maria and just recently we had
words with an even worse band called the Black Eyes, but
it is only because they didn't get that our making fun
of them was only jokes...well, not really....they sucked.
I
read that you guys started out as a joke on Epitonic.
Is that true?Can you explain the circumstances surrounding
the beginning of the Fatal Flying Guilloteens?
My brother, Sean, was in a band from houston called "Junior
Varsity" in which they dressed like cheerleaders.
They played a show that we opened before we even had songs
really written and we decided that since they dressed
up we should too. That's why we did the lone ranger thing.
We also played the three songs we knew and four of their
songs that we had learned the night before. Over the next
few nights we had people ask us about our band and how,
"I hear you dress up like Lone Rangers!", They seemed
to love it so much that we did it for a couple of years.
we finally just got sick of it and stopped.
It's
interesting that you're mentioning bands where the visuals
match the name, or the subject matter, like Junior Varsity.
A friend and I who played in a band together would always
dream up these stupid side-projects during practice. For
example, we discussed starting a gymnast-themed band,
where we would dress in leotards. On stage we could have
a pummel horse and some rings suspended above the drum
set. Part of the show would be a gymnastics demonstration.
We also talked about starting a "college rock" band, with
a 1930s college "sport" theme, where we would dress up
in racoon coats, leather football helmets, pennants and
megaphones with "UNIVERSITY" and "STATE" printed on them.
Another thing we talked about doing was a band that was
actually a bad situation comedy, where each show was an
episode, and we would build a set for a group of shows
(or season). Each member would play a character, each
show would have a script, there would be a plot that would
drive the music along, a laugh track, all this stupid,
hilarious stuff. Anyway, Junior Varsity, and your story
about the beginnings of FFG, made me think of this. Have
you ever been involved in a band like that, seen any good
bands with an equally dumb gimmick or have you ever concocted
any wierd, complicated band premises yourself?
A couple of the members of FFG used to be in a band called
"Legion of Serpents" in which they dressed up like evil
priests. By evil i mean they had taken bites of blood
capsules just before going on. They also had a caldron
on stage with dry ice in it so it smoked. It was really
over the top and stupid. Actually, I don't think they
ever played any shows... Just talked about it. It's funny
that you mention the pennants and megaphone thing. My
brother and I attended Stephen F. Austin State University
for a year. We were so bored there that we almost started
a band where the them was "pro SFA"- we'd dress in SFA
baseball jerseys and whatnot and all the songs would be
what a great thing it was to be a lumberjack (the school's
mascot)...We were going to call it the "Spirit Twins"
but we couldn't really practice in our dorm so it fizzled.
That's about all i can think of.
Get
Knifed sounds a bit more aggressive than "The Now Hustle
For New Diaboliks. I also noticed you seem to have more
violent imagery, song titles, and album title than before.
"The Now Hustle" seemed to flirt with a cowboy thing.
Do you try to tie your albums together thematically?
I don't know that there is a theme... At the time of recording
"Diaboliks" we were still wearing the cowboy stuff so
shawn just wrote about cowboy themes because he didn't
want to write shit about being in love or trouble in the
world or whatever. "Get Knifed" is a lot less straight
forward. I don't know what half of the lyrics are about.
we never discuss them.
The
cover for "Get Knifed" is really great. Where did the
imagery come from? Did you guys come up with the concept
or did you just get a great designer to take care of it?
It's basically Michael Jackson's "invincible" with blood
splattered on it. I like it though. this guy named Ballard
in Austin did a bunch of posters for shows we would play
in Austin and we all loved them. We got to talking to
him and by the time it came to do artwork for the new
album we asked him if he could do it. He sent us about
a dozen ideas and we decided on that one. The great thing
is he did it for a bottle of crown.
I
also hear you have a lot of side projects. What other
releases are out there for a FFG completist?
No releases. Roy (our bass player) plays in a Karp tribute
band called "Defend the Ghetto". I'm in an R&B/ Meters-esque
thing called "The Rhinestone Life". Both projects just
play around town though.
Are
the fake mustaches going to replace the Lone Ranger getups?
No. That was just for a photo shoot.
That's
it. Pick up The Fatal Flying Guilloteens' latest, Get
Knifed on www.estrus.com.
That's
it. Pick up The Fatal Flying Guilloteens' latest, Get
Knifed on