God, Please Save These Troubled States

The Faint, Omaha, Nebraska's dance-punk heroes, have recently embarked on a US tour in support of their fifth full length, Fasciinatiion. Keyboard/synth player Jacob Thiele took a moment to speak with Buzznet about the inspiration for the new record and how the band keeps things interesting after all these years.



The Faint recently left their longtime recording studio, "The Orifice," and set out to build an entirely new space, called "Enamel," to record what would eventually become Fasciinatiion. We wanted to record ourselves and to create a space we could rent in the long run," Jacob explained. "We figured that it would be nice to have a place to store our gear indefinitely and we definitely plan on using it to our fullest potential. There are no set times we have to leave the studio. We just get to stay up all night rehearsing and working on music."

In addition to reinventing their recording space, the band left longtime label Saddle Creek and created their own label, blank.wav, to release all future albums by themselves. When asked about going DIY, Jacob said, "To be honest, I think it's better to have a label than to be DIY. It's great for a starting band. But if you're an established band, it just makes sense. You have bands like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails who don't care to make money anymore or selling x amount of records. Being DIY just makes sense."

He added, ""We wanted to be the only ones held responsible for the record. It's good timing for us; we've been talking about it for years. It seemed totally obvious that it was time, especially with the nature of digital sales and such."


Jacob joined The Faint just prior to Danse Macabre and is routinely credited with moving the band towards incorporating more synth and dance elements. "You know, I always feel I got too much credit for that," he countered. "The band existed before me and it was their decision to add keys and synths. It's not like I came into the picture and changed everything. They already wanted to do it. I saw a show of them playing and I watched them play "Worked Up So Sexual" without a drummer. Todd asked me later if I'd be up to play with them."

From that point, the band has always been open about group song writing. Jason explained that "...we all write, though I'm on synth mostly. It's a very democratic process. Clark writes the best drum beats and, naturally, Todd writes the bulk of the lyrics and vocal melodies. It's really a team effort."

Using this process, the band penned the songs that eventually became Fasciinatiion. The band, who recorded themselves, chose a different route than the previous record. "I think working with Mike [Mogis] on Wet From Birth left the recording just erring on the side of overproduced," Jason said. So, coming into Fasciinatiion, we wanted something that wasn't too rich on sound. Something more minimal and limited."


"We were somewhat worried that people thought we'd be going through the motions on our new record, but that's not the case," he added. "We are still pushing the boundaries sonically and we're still using new technology and trying to challenge ourselves."

This includes some lyrical content the band hasn't addressed before. "I think the song "Machine in the Ghost" really hits the idea of the record," Jacob mused. "It's all about the bigger picture and addresses so many variants in philosophy. There's so many thoughts that are deeply involved in the idea of belief and I'm fascinated by that in the same way."

"I think that other people are the most fascinating things on the planet. In a personal relationship, [vocalist] Todd [Fink] writes about what he's fascinated about. The title [of the record] represents a desire to create. It's the best word for how we live our lives."

The Faint are testing out a majority of Fasciinatiion while on their current US tour, where Jacob promises an energetic, unpredictable show. "It's the little moments I live for," he explained. "I love ad-libbing live, just twisting knobs and making new sounds. There's so much potential to become infatuated with that instrument, with me.  But really, our show is all about dancing, having fun, and getting the crowd riled up.  We're experimenting with new videos, including live camera feeds of us on stage."

The Faint is currently on tour. Fasciination is available through blank.wav Records.

Make sure to check out our gallery of The Faint live at the Henry Fonda Theater.