Fair To Midland (10/08/2012)
The 59th Sound recently spoke with US outfit Fair To Midland, who recently toured Australia supporting our own Dead Letter Circus.
So, you’ve just come back from a month long tour with Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja here in Australia. How did it compare to sharing a stage with Dead Letter Circus in the USA?
It's always a distinct pleasure to share road and stage with DLC, makes no difference where. We've never traveled with better musicians, performers, or friends. But to have them, as well as our new friends Twelve Foot Ninja as our guides in their home country on what was arguably our greatest odyssey yet, could only be described as Epic.
As your first time in Australia, how did you find the response to your music?
Surprisingly good. In many places, people were already familiar with us, even singing along, which was a pleasant surprise. Even where they had never heard of us, crowds seemed extremely receptive to new music.
You’ve played with both Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus, how do you feel about the Australian music scene after touring here?
The rock scene seems stronger in Austalia than in the states. People are also accepting of music which is more complex. They don't mind putting forth a little bit of effort to understanding and appreciating what they listen to. They don't need to have their music spoon-fed to them, as so many rock listeners seem to do state-side.
Are there any other Australian bands that you would like to share a bill with in the future?
Are Men At Work still together?
What are Fair to Midland’s plans for the next 6-12 months?
Possibly some writing. However, if another good touring opportunity avails, we'll likely jump on.
How do your southern origins play out in your music?
Darroh is an avid fan of folk music, and I've somewhat recently rediscovered Ennio Morricone, the composer who revolutionized western movie music scores on films such as "Fistful of Dollars" in the 1960's. I think everyone who's heardArrows & Anchors can agree that these influences are glaringly obvious in the track Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow. Morricone's influence is particularly strong in the guitar lead in the bridge section just before the wailing guitar solo. Gun fighting music...
Tell me about how you write your music, do you all get together and write? What gives you inspiration for your music and lyrics?
We work on ideas at our respective homes individually, then get together at some later point to forge them together into something coherent. With our varying interests and influences, this almost never proves simple.
Darroh's lyrics are a culmination of his love for the language and expressions of old Americana and folk, and free form stream of consciousness/ free association, and are meant to act more on a subliminal level than a conscious, literal one.
How did the name Fair to Midland come to be?
It's a slight distortion of an old expression that was once in use in the southern US, and that we've now heard in parts of Canada and the UK, fair to middling, or, in our part of the country, fair to middlin' (drop the g). It was used in old times to describe the quality of a cotton crop, somewhere between fair and middling. Later, it came into use to describe a state of being, simply meaning ok or average.
You’ve wowed Australian audiences with your hard-hitting progressive rock and highly energetic stage presence. The question on everyone’s mind is, when will Fair to Midland be making a return to Australia?
I really wasn't sure I wanted to come home yet in the first place. I have to admit, I fell in love with Australia and it broke my heart to leave her. My friends who had been there warned me... I think we'd be stupid not to return as soon as possible, especially in light of how well the first trip went.
Describe Fair to Midland in five words to someone who has never seen or heard you before.
Dynamic, cinematic, powerful, bipolar, strange.
Thanks for your time Matt!
Thank YOU!
Dugald McLachlan
So, you’ve just come back from a month long tour with Dead Letter Circus and Twelve Foot Ninja here in Australia. How did it compare to sharing a stage with Dead Letter Circus in the USA?
It's always a distinct pleasure to share road and stage with DLC, makes no difference where. We've never traveled with better musicians, performers, or friends. But to have them, as well as our new friends Twelve Foot Ninja as our guides in their home country on what was arguably our greatest odyssey yet, could only be described as Epic.
As your first time in Australia, how did you find the response to your music?
Surprisingly good. In many places, people were already familiar with us, even singing along, which was a pleasant surprise. Even where they had never heard of us, crowds seemed extremely receptive to new music.
You’ve played with both Karnivool and Dead Letter Circus, how do you feel about the Australian music scene after touring here?
The rock scene seems stronger in Austalia than in the states. People are also accepting of music which is more complex. They don't mind putting forth a little bit of effort to understanding and appreciating what they listen to. They don't need to have their music spoon-fed to them, as so many rock listeners seem to do state-side.
Are there any other Australian bands that you would like to share a bill with in the future?
Are Men At Work still together?
What are Fair to Midland’s plans for the next 6-12 months?
Possibly some writing. However, if another good touring opportunity avails, we'll likely jump on.
How do your southern origins play out in your music?
Darroh is an avid fan of folk music, and I've somewhat recently rediscovered Ennio Morricone, the composer who revolutionized western movie music scores on films such as "Fistful of Dollars" in the 1960's. I think everyone who's heardArrows & Anchors can agree that these influences are glaringly obvious in the track Amarillo Sleeps On My Pillow. Morricone's influence is particularly strong in the guitar lead in the bridge section just before the wailing guitar solo. Gun fighting music...
Tell me about how you write your music, do you all get together and write? What gives you inspiration for your music and lyrics?
We work on ideas at our respective homes individually, then get together at some later point to forge them together into something coherent. With our varying interests and influences, this almost never proves simple.
Darroh's lyrics are a culmination of his love for the language and expressions of old Americana and folk, and free form stream of consciousness/ free association, and are meant to act more on a subliminal level than a conscious, literal one.
How did the name Fair to Midland come to be?
It's a slight distortion of an old expression that was once in use in the southern US, and that we've now heard in parts of Canada and the UK, fair to middling, or, in our part of the country, fair to middlin' (drop the g). It was used in old times to describe the quality of a cotton crop, somewhere between fair and middling. Later, it came into use to describe a state of being, simply meaning ok or average.
You’ve wowed Australian audiences with your hard-hitting progressive rock and highly energetic stage presence. The question on everyone’s mind is, when will Fair to Midland be making a return to Australia?
I really wasn't sure I wanted to come home yet in the first place. I have to admit, I fell in love with Australia and it broke my heart to leave her. My friends who had been there warned me... I think we'd be stupid not to return as soon as possible, especially in light of how well the first trip went.
Describe Fair to Midland in five words to someone who has never seen or heard you before.
Dynamic, cinematic, powerful, bipolar, strange.
Thanks for your time Matt!
Thank YOU!
Dugald McLachlan