Interview with Follow Me Dark

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

 I think all four of us have always felt a bit out of step with the times we live in, with the mainstream culture, so music has always been an escape, a world to explore and get lost in.  First as a listener, then as makers of music.  It’s very central to all of our identity to the point where it’s hard to fathom what our lives would be otherwise.

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

 We are all pretty different - Elliott is a professional chef and passionate about his hobbies like disc golf and gaming. Sean is a painter and is also a trained chef - very creative.  Jim does a lot of mindfulness and breathwork, and leads an organized life where there is always time and space for music.  Stephen is a dreamer and finds himself in creative projects or leadership roles often.  It’s a really nice balance of energies and allows the four of us to create in a very democratic fashion where everyone is contributing ideas.

How long has your band been around?

 We formed in early 2019 and have been going strong ever since - even during the pandemic we managed to stay active and write and record a lot of original music.

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

 We are based out of Grass Valley / Nevada City in northern California, a really unique area of small towns, gold mining, and weed farming in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.  It’s an environment with a ton of history, old wild west architecture, old growth pine forests, quartz lined riverbeds.  The rugged natural landscape likely contributed to our cryptic, arcane, pagan-tinged soundscapes.  It’s a hub of freethinkers so I think that culture encouraged us to do our own thing rather than try to go after trends.  It’s also full of kickass people who have been very supportive.

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

 The name came from the ethers and seemed to stick out on our list of random phrases and ideas early on.  It’s an invitation to engage with mysterious and unseen forces, which is at the heart of what we are doing.  

Tell me about your most memorable shows.

 Our first show in Sacramento was at an out-of-the-way metal bar, and we played on an off night on a kind of odd lineup, and Stephen decided to drop acid beforehand.  Great idea!  We ended up playing some new material and when his microphone stopped working he went into the crowd and just started screaming at the few people in attendance.  So that was one for the books.  Our favorite shows were the last couple we played locally in Grass Valley - just to be part of building an awesome community of other musicians, and see the growing family of friends and supporters coming to our shows - has been highly gratifying.

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

 Lately it’s been the Gold Vibe Kombuchary in Grass Valley - just an awesome small business that makes great drinks, has great people, and always is willing to go out on a limb and support creativity in the community.  We filmed part of our music video there, too.  Bucket list venues for us would include Ace of Spades in Sacramento, the Fox Theatre in Oakland, and the Cabaret Metro in Chicago.

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

 Would be awesome to share a bill with Phoxjaw and Spotlights - some of our favorite up-and-coming underground heavy rock.  For a headliner, gonna go with Deftones or Floater - we adore both of those bands and what they’ve been able to accomplish.

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?

 Keep going.  No one starts out as masters of the craft.  You’re gonna suck for a while.  We all do.  Play a lot of shows, join different bands, try out different scenes.  Find out what’s really you.  And keep it pure, and keep it fun.  If you’re making music that you love, and your passion shines through, that’s the golden path right there.  Put your soul into what you’re doing, and worry about the validation later.

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

 Just play more music and be consistent.  All of us as creators shy from the spotlight at times, but you need to keep putting yourself out there in order to grow and build an audience.

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

 Out of what we’ve released so far, “Lullaby” has been a favorite within the band as a track that really stands as a cohesive whole.  It’s atmospheric, melodic, and epic.  Honorable mention would probably be “As She Feeds” - it was our first release and the first song that really fused the songwriting abilities of all four of us and proved to us that we had something special.

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

 “Ancient Ones” hits both those marks - it’s a heavy, doomy sludge fest that’s over 8 minutes long.  It’s very confrontational when we play it live, as metal should be.  “Flight Risk” and “Stars Collide” are catchy, more ‘radio’ type songs, and some other popular songs on the proggy/epic side would be “An Offering”, “Solace”, and “Alone”.

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

 It’s generally very collaborative - usually one of us string players will bring an idea to the band for a part and we build out from it as a group.  Occasionally, someone will have more of a finished song that they bring in, but even then the band all get their input in shaping the arrangement and structure, and then Stephen will go off and write the lyrics.  We have a rule in the band of “try it first” - so if someone has an idea we will get it up on its feet as a band and then feel out whether it works or not.  

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

 We want the listener to go on a deep journey - exploring unpleasant emotions, suppressed feelings, the unconscious parts of themselves.  Our songs poke at some pretty deep themes, universal forces, grief, loss, and hope.  Our new album is based on the Hero’s Journey of Joseph Campbell and explores all sorts of themes rooted in mythology and psychology.

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

 Generally we go on unanimity so either we all feel great about it, or we don’t do it.  This is why we play so few covers - it’s hard to all agree on them!  When we feel good about playing shows, we go out and play shows.  When we are excited to record, we go and record.  We’ve managed to last five years and still be great friends and brothers.

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

This is a big year for us, as we are putting the finishing touches on our new album, called Far From Any Shore, which is a concept album that we recorded in Nevada City with Chris Tabarez, who works with Boz Scaggs and is just an incredible talent and a great friend and brother of ours.  It’s our most ambitious work yet - some of the songs are the heaviest metal we have yet attempted, some is almost post-hardcore, other stuff has an almost Portishead jazz lounge vibe, there are some Queen and Pink Floyd influences, there is some more Eastern influenced materials, there are cellos and pianos all over it.  It’s really a journey and we can’t wait for people to hear it!  The first single, “Acid Desert” is out now on all streaming services, and we did a really cool cinematic video for it which is on YouTube, so go check it out!  We are hoping to do some touring later on this year so keep an eye out.