Are you sleepwalking through life?
False Heads' new single 'Rabbit Hole' portrays strong and haunting imagery. So, I asked lead singer Luke about its meaning and what kind of personal journey he is taking us on this time.
Luke: The song fits the lyrics, and whether it's personally, politically or socially, it feels as though you push yourself out of a rut, and then you end up back in it. A big theme on the album is dreaming and sleepwalking through life. The first song of the album ends on "Wake from your sleeping", and Rabbit Hole ends on "I see", so I guess that wraps it up quite nicely.
Your debut album 'It's all there, but you're dreaming' is due for release Friday, March 13th, what themes did you feel were important to explore?
Luke: It ended up having quite a few themes. However, this was accidental and not conscious. A lot of it was just my views on the world and me finding the best way to express that. We are all similar people and seem to be on the same page, so it was expressed coherently through the music as well as the lyrics. One of the most significant themes that appeared to be prevalent was personal mental health struggles, life and the added stress of being in a band in your twenties. The inner battle strangely was reflected by everything that is going on in the world. We seem to be suffocated by social media and two opposing political ideologies that seem to spread division, spitefulness and a willingness to censor freedom of expression. For a lot of people with mental health struggles or just people who don't have life handed to them on a silver platter already feel suffocated internally so don't need external forces doing that as well. Life seems to be either a dream or a nightmare, whether it's inward or outward.
You explore the highs but also the darkest depths of False Heads, when you're listening back if you had to pick a track off it that was your favourite what would it be?
Luke: Probably 'Whatever you please' as it's the darkest track on the record, but still seems to be full of energy. Overcoming how shit and bleak everything is with doing what you love most (music) seems to be what we do best and sums up our journey in the last four years.
As a band, what rabbit holes have you encountered?
Luke: The music industry seems like one big rabbit hole to us, you swirl around in the dark for lots of it and come in and out of the light. It is hard to keep pushing yourself out of that rabbit hole, but you do it because you love music. However, we are where we are now, and we are excited about the future.
What has been the most distinctive gig of your career that you measure like the one to top this year?
Luke: Playing the main stage at Inmusic Festival in Croatia; playing before our heroes to a sea of people that had never heard of us and winning them over just made me realise what we can do as a band. I hope we can take energy into every gig we do this year and with the weight of the album behind us win over everyone that we play in front of.
You're off out on the road again in the UK but also off to infiltrate the ears of those across the pond as you're off to the US. You will be at the New Colossus Festival in New York, how does it feel to be playing in a city renowned for punk?
Luke: It's every band's dream to be able to take your music outside of where you live, let alone the continent. NYC is so iconic, and a lot of the music I got into as a teen originated from there. Hopefully, Danny Fields can come and see us on his home turf and not feel like he had wasted all these years championing us.
Do you have any preconceived ideas as to how Americans will receive you guys?
Luke: I genuinely don't have any expectations; we are just going to go over there and give it everything, like every other gig. Although, we have had a fair share of Americans message us on social media saying they like our music and asking us about US dates.
You have also been invited to play the iconic SXSW festival in Austin, does it feel real?
Luke: It's such an iconic festival, and there are so many amazing stories of massive bands playing tiny bars. You just come back skint, haha but that isn't a problem for us as we are always skint.
What are you hoping to learn or gain from your stateside trip?
Luke: I think it's important to see how you can be received in other countries and get out of the bubble of only playing in your hometown or country. We have already learnt that from Europe, so it would be good to see how it compares in the States.
What else do you hope the rest of the year will bring you as a band?
Luke: We want to do this for as long as we can, as well as keep writing and playing live. Despite all the shit that has gone on and my disdain for certain aspects of the music industry, we're all in a good place and are fortunate enough to now have a team around us that works extremely hard for us. We want to tour heavily, have a great festival season and start working towards album two!
See False Heads live:
13/02 @ The Victoria Dalston - London
11/03 @ New Colossus Festival - New York - USA
26/03 @ Castle & Falcon - Birmingham
27/03 @ Record Junkee - Sheffield
28/03 @ Off The Square - Manchester
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