Interview with Face of a Stranger

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today? 

(Mitch) I grew up on Soul, Motown, and Country music, then got into Brit-Rock, and Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Industrial Metal, Nu-Metal, etc. The Offspring, Staind, Creed, Matchbox 20, Metallica, Tool, Cannibal Corpse, To The Grave, are just a few of my fave bands. If I wasn't doing music I'd probably be 6 feet under, haha! Or writing horror fiction.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

(Joe) When we’re not playing music we tend to just be talking about our music/artwork/merch etc which always seems to inspire new ideas/concepts for artwork etc. We’re always sending each other ideas for new songs and riffs. Even though weve only just finished recording the new EP “Monsters Among Us” weve already got about 10/15 decent ideas for new songs which is exciting. 

How long has your band been around? 

(Joe) Originally we formed in 2012 so nearly 12 years which is mad to think about, in our original run from 2012 to 2014 we played quite a few gigs around our local area in the West Midlands UK. We then went through a period of about 5 years when we went through numerous line up changes and never really got anything solid going. Then in around 2020 we finally landed on a drummer who was an old friend of mine from school. Then we had the pandemic which then led to our first gig in nearly 10 years happening in April 2022. 

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

(Joe) We’re based out of Birmingham, UK. Any rock/metal band who says they arent directly or indirectly influenced by Black Sabbath or Judas Priest are lying haha. One of my first experiences of heavy music like most people was listening to the Paranoid album by Black Sabbath which my uncle got me a copy of. One of the main things from that album is that its just classic riff after classic riff and theyre all really simple but sound incredible. I think we try and do something similar which is simple riffs that also sound huge and heavy. 

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

(Joe) back in 2012 when we were first starting up we were going under the name of “Loud Thought” which was a very early version of the band with very different members. We wanted to change the name to represent the direction the band was going and started brainstorming ideas. I was listening to an Alter Bridge song called “Find The Real” and really loved the line “Its a face i put on all my life, face of an angel, I look in the mirror only to find the face of a stranger”. I took the idea back to everyone at the time and they all loved it and we took it from there. 

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

(Mitch) The o2 Academy back in 2013 was incredible, we shared the stage with a band I still go and see often: Cower, Hounds!. That was a superb show, everyone stayed till the end, even people who came with other bands, everyone was so engaged with us, it was brilliant, in my opinion that's my favourite gig to date. Headlining The Slade Rooms, excellent! We were sponsored for that gig by ‘Old Guys Rule’ clothing and merch brand, that was fun.

(Joe) we recently played a halloween gig at the Duke William in our hometown and it was a great party vibe, we played for an hour and did covers of “Propane Nightmares” by Pendulum and “Hero” by Chad Kroeger which went down really well. Everyone who came had a great night and so did we!

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

(Mitch) Download Festival, Bloodstock, any festival, any small festival, haha! Always wanted to play a festival. I played Stourbridge festival once, acoustically, solo, and that was cool, but to go anywhere and do anything with my brothers in FOAS is always a blessing, we only get one physical life, and to do this with these fellas is truly an awesome journey. So wherever we are, we just feel lucky to play our music to new crowds.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

(Joe)If we were going for an absolute dream line up for us we would be opening up for Metallica with maybe Staind and Alter Bridge on there for good measure. We can dream haha. 

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?

(Joe)I would say to keep to what you love about music. Make music you love to listen to, dont try and conform and make music that you think people will like, people will be able to tell. Im always of the belief that if you really love and believe in your music then other people will see that and it will come through. One other bit of advice is not to be too bothered by what other people think. If you love what you do and you are enjoying what you do that is what its all about. Be prepared to play gigs to not very many people 

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

(Mitch) Be patient, nothing worth having comes easy. Sometimes we learn that the hard way. It's never a clear path, FOAS have had our fair share of clashes, but we're in an amazing place now, better than we've ever been, and the future is bright. Stick to your guns and don't lose sight of what's important.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why? 

(Mitch) I have 3: The Road, Forget Me Not, and If the Dead Were Here. The Road is about a very personal journey with my health, and living with a hereditary genetic condition. Forget Me Not is about loss, fear, and not knowing where you're gonna end up. If the Dead Were Here, is about when I lost my brother Tyler, he was only 30, he died from Cystic Fibrosis, and that's a song we are going to be working on in the future to bring to you live, we recorded it but have never played it.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

(Joe) My favourite to play at the minute is Artificial Life, being a new song its a good feeling to get to play new material to people who have never heard it before. Its also got some really cool riffs in it that make it a really fun song to play live.  

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

(Joe)At the minute what tends to happen is because of time and other commitments we tend to write on our own individually and then send ideas across via whatsapp and then work on them when we get together. For the new EP theres a song on there called “House of Bone and Flesh” which is one of our favourites. This song is based off a riff myself and Dan worked on back in 2011 which we really liked. We altered the riff up a little bit and made it heavier. 4 out of the 5 songs on the new EP are based on riffs that have been around for along time which is why i think they sound awesone as weve had a long time to go over stuff and chop and change bits as weve gone along. The other song “Skirmish” is the product of a jam in a practice room this year that we all got a really cool vibe from. 

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

(Mitch) personally, as a storyteller, and someone who has faced, and still faces, life in some of its most raw forms, I try to bring some fantastical elements, and content based in realism. It's all about personal experiences in terms of lyrical content, and opinions, views, observations, etc. All sorts really. We want people to get engaged in crunching riffs, soaring melodies, emotional and deep lyrics, and mainly, for people to have fun.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

(Joe)To be honest yes we do, not as many as we used to as myself and Mitch would often clash about stuff in the past haha. We used to clash around stupid stuff that when you look back on now really didnt matter such as song names and minor details. I think as weve grown older we realise now what really matters is the music and the minor details will take care of themselves. We tend to get over any disagreements we do have pretty well these days as weve grown to learn each others personalities better and we both realise that the other is coming from the same place which is that we both want the same thing, the best music possible. 

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

(Joe)Yes as weve mentioned there is a new 5 track EP called “Monsters Among Us” coming out in February 2024. This will be preceded by a lead single called “Artificial Life” on the 1st of December and then a second single in January. Our plans for 2024 are just to get as many gigs as we can and hopefully play a few festivals and continue to grow.