If you have not heard or seen FIDLAR yet, you soon will. They are quickly becoming the visage of the surf/punk scene. After haphazardly meeting in an East LA studio, they embarked on a project that started with gear modifications and sound engineering.
“I started interning at the studio and living there. I met Elvis [Kuehn] at the studio; he was interning as well,” Zac Carper (guitar/vox) explains.
Bandmate Brandon Schwartzel adds, “The live aspect [of the band], which most people focus on, came second; we started out recording in the studio.”
In 2012, FIDLAR stumbled upon the opportunity to tour nationally, opening for The Hives. “The first show was in Washington, D.C. We showed up to the venue while they were sound checking and they immediately stopped sound check to introduce themselves; it set the bar for the entire tour,” Schwartzel says. The band credited The Hives for showing them the ropes, as well as being great mentors. “They are the best example of a band that did it right, how they handle themselves as a band and as a business.”
Since last summer, FIDLAR has caught fire, touring Europe’s festival circuit as well as making new music. If you have not seen the music video for “Cocaine,” it stars the well-respected Nick Offerman of NBC’s Parks & Rec, who is a friend and fan of the band. The guys collectively explain how surreal it was to shoot the video, which was Offerman’s original idea.
“We filmed some of the shots on Memorial Day, and Nick was walking though an East LA park pissing on shit. And we were looking around like, ‘No little kids, if any kids show up we have to shut it down.’”
Be sure to catch FIDLAR on their North American tour, starting this month.
HOMETOWN: Los Angeles, CA
GENRE: Punk
ARTISTIC APPROACH To make sweaty, loud rock n roll.
URL: www.fidlarmusic.com
photo by Ali Onasty