Friendly Faux, a rock band from Columbus, aims to captivate audiences in Athens with a first listen of its unreleased second album.
During the Athens Halloween Block Party, the population doubles, and yet Friendly Faux entertained what seemed to be the same amount of chaos while playing a two-day show in Columbus.
“Twelve bands played in two nights,” Geoff Spall, the guitarist and vocalist of the Columbus-based rock band Friendly Faux, said. “It was pretty crazy.”
Spall dressed as Neil Diamond and sang Neil Young covers at the Brothers Drake Meadery as the band played a high-energy show.
The three-member group started out in 2012 when it took advantage of an open recording session from a previous band Spall was in.
When the opportunity arose to try out the new sound from the three musicians, Brandyn Morit, drummer of Friendly Faux, said he was already looking for the opportunity.
“I kind of wanted to start something more heavy than we had been doing so we started a little side project,” Morit said. “It was our side project that became our main project.”
The band takes influence from a variety of groups such as Queens of the Stone Age and the Arctic Monkeys.
“A lot of people my age were into the present and the past,” Spall said. “I like the classics and pop, but I also like darker more psychedelic, grungier sounds, too.”
Friendly Faux has been booking gigs independently since 2012 but has taken time off to perfect its new record, Spall said.
The band will attempt to gain a new following outside of Columbus by playing at Casa Nueva, 6 W. State St., on Thursday to perform its new album from start to finish.
“Our stop in Athens this weekend is us basically starting back up,” Spall said. “The people in Athens will get to hear our record before anybody in Columbus has.”
The band’s second record titled Abandon Ship! will be released Saturday in Columbus.
“It’s a big deal for us and it’s a practice for our release show (in Columbus),” Spall said.
Spall said he hopes the album will help create a bigger name for the band by taking risks as it continues touring throughout Ohio.
“We’ve never really sent anything out and up to this point, we’ve been working on our live show and recording new songs,” Morit said.
Spall said songs can be written in one sitting or gradually.
“I collect things in my mind that ring out that are idiomatic, that are catchy and then I twist them to make them say what I want them to say,” Spall said. “It’s an expressive way to show people I’m thinking deeply.”
Spall said he wants to connect with audiences so they take away something more than just the entertainment.
As for long-term goals, Spall said Friendly Faux hopes to be able to play more shows throughout the year and survive an industry that can be difficult to succeed in.
“If you play at an empty bar and you play at a packed bar, it’s a totally different show because you feed off of the crowd’s energy,” Morit said. “When it’s packed and crazy, it makes me want to try harder to get to that level on a regular basis.”
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