Fauxchella VI Recap
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Yours truly, about to have the weekend of his life.
First off, this is going to be much more of a “multimedia” post than this blog is used to. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I haven’t been publishing many things on Swim Into The Sound lately. In fact, I haven’t posted anything since August. Whoops. At first, that was kind of just a lack of inspiration. Then, I moved across the country, and that took a fair amount of brainpower, energy, and attention. After that, my excuse was that I was “settling in” to this new part of the country and enjoying life in my newly-no-longer long-distance relationship. Lately, I’ve been thinking it’s some combination of all those things. My life has shifted around massively, and sometimes things take a while to equalize.
As I write this, I’m still recovering from Fauxchella VI, which happened smack-dab in the middle of October. If you didn’t read my massive 5,000-word Fauxchella interview/retrospective back in April, I don’t blame you (after all, it was 5,000 words). The gist of it is that Fauxchella VI was a three-day 69-band DIY punk festival that took place in Bowling Green, Ohio. This sixth iteration of this festival kicked off at 2:00 PM on Friday, October 13th, 2023, and played its final notes sometime around midnight on Sunday, October 15th.
The days were packed with an overwhelming slew of talent, from plucky, fresh-faced newcomers like Saturdays at Your Place to seasoned scene vets like Dikembe. I got to shout along to Equipment, Ben Quad, and Michael Cera Palin. I got to see Carpool fight Summerbruise in a battle set I’ll never forget. I got to shout along to “Pepe Sylvia” and “Fight Milk!” on the same stage on the same weekend. It did my Midwest emo heart good.
The short version is that Fauxchella VI was a three-day all-you-can-eat buffet of riffs and infectious energy, and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. There was popcorn, Jell-O shots, and an endless sea of merch nuzzled in the back, and if you’re anything like me, you are not immune to popcorn, Jell-O shots, or cool t-shirts.
The draw in both fans and talent was immense. Some bands traveled from neighboring Ohio towns, while others hopped on planes just for the opportunity to rip a 30 minute set in front of an adoring sold-out crowd. In my case, my girlfriend and I drove up 12 hours from North Carolina the night before just so we could be there all weekend. I’ve spent the last half-decade of my life listening to, loving, and writing about this type of music, and the opportunity to hear so many essential songs played loud-as-fuck and in-the-flesh was nothing short of life-affirming.
The whole weekend was a constant stream of seeing bands I’ve loved for years, meeting people whose art I’ve written about, and finally putting faces to the names of Twitter avatars I’ve seen the whole pandemic. It was a beautiful, communal moment, all put together by the lovely people over at Summit Shack. Thank you, Conor, Ellie, and the whole crew, for everything you do, everything you’ve done, and everything I know you will put together in the future. You are the best of us, truly.
I wanted to recap some of my favorite moments that I happened to catch on video because
I want to document this weekend while the events are still fresh.
I have COVID, so there’s nothing better to do than watch videos on my phone and reminisce.
I want to keep this to the blog so I don’t annoy people on Twitter with an endless spool of emo music posting (at least more than I already do).
Also worth noting that this is not comprehensive, just some of my favorite sets as I saw them and captured them on video. Before we get into my little collection of homemade videos, I’d also like to share that I made this Spotify Playlist of (almost) every band’s most recent material in performance order if you’d like to listen along or just need 39.5 hours of emo music to fill your day. Let’s get into it.
Saturdays At Your Place
Going into Fauxchella, Saturdays At Your Place was one of the bands I was most excited to finally catch live. I’ve had always cloudy on repeat since January, and over the last ten months, it’s emerged as one of the strongest emo EPs of the year. At first, I was drawn in by the undeniable singalong emo anthem that is “Tarot Cards,” but I soon grew to love every track on the 18-minute release just as much. These days, I’m especially drawn to the cresting bombast of “eat me alive,” which was a marvel to scream along to live. If “pourover” is any indication,” the band’s upcoming split with Summerbruise and Shoplifter means we only have more heaters in the future.
NATL PARK SRVC
Only one band dared to cram eight of their own musicians onto the stage, and that was Minneapolis’ NATL PARK SRVC, whose excellent album Magician comes out in just a matter of days. For 30 minutes, the indie rock septet blessed us with hits from their upcoming record, including hit singles “Smiling” and “Dizzy.” Adorned with trumpet, violin, lap steel, and backup vox, these songs sprawled out into exciting, danceable bits of indie rock that sounded like no other band on the weekend’s lineup. The group also doled out CD copies of their album early so attendees could get a sneak peek at the double album before it hit streaming services.
Thank You, I’m Sorry
Keeping the Minneapolis train going, Thank You, I’m Sorry took the stage at 6 pm for an absolutely triumphant set. Things began with a stripped-down rendition of “how many slugs can we throw against the wall until we question our own mortality,” which mounted into a gazy full-band wall of noise in the back half. After that crowd-pleasing classic, the band mostly played songs off their excellent sophomore album, Growing In Strange Places, which was released only a few weeks prior. There were fun little dance numbers (Chronically Online), fist-balling ragers (Head Climbing), and a solitary closing number where half the band walked into the crowd to spread a bouquet of flowers. A lovely, intimate, and affirming set from a band that just put out their best work yet.
Funeral Homes
Chalk this up under “band I never thought I’d be lucky enough to see live,” Funeral Homes is my under-the-radar choice for best shoegaze band currently working. Performing as a three-piece, the trio launched through hit after hit off Blue Heaven, their hazy masterpiece from last year. These songs hit like a truck, and bobbing my head along to “Double Vision” is something I have been wanting to do since this time last year. It’s not often you get to hear one of your favorite shoegaze albums of the year played directly in your face for 30 minutes, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Equipment
While their members have moved around a bit in recent years, Equipment may, for all intents and purposes, be a Bowling Green band. With Toledo just a short 20-some-minute drive up the road, it’s fair to say Equipment had home field advantage when they took the stage at Howard's at 7 pm. The fact that they dropped an excellent EP earlier this year and a killer album just weeks ago meant that this might as well have been a hometown album release celebration, and it certainly felt like it.
Perspective, A Lovely Hand To Hold
After a short pizza dinner break, we got back just in time to catch the career-spanning set of Perspective, A Lovely Hand To Hold, who made Fauxchella one of the stops on their farewell tour before putting the band to rest. The band took listeners through their discography backward, starting with some cuts off last year’s Phantasmagorialand and winding all the way back to crowd-pleasing classics like “Pepe Sylvia.” The band’s final show will take place at Fest 21 later this month, but I’m just glad I was able to see the New Hampshireites one last time before they put the project to bed—Perspective, Forever.
Carpool vs. Summerbruise
In what I consider my personal “Main Event” of Fauxchella Day 1, we had a battle set between Rochester’s Carpool and Indianapolis’ Summerbruise. If you’ve read this blog even a little, you’ll know I have a storied history with each of these groups and loving their music. Between Erotic Nightmare Summer and The View Never Changes, these two bands have made some of the best collections of emo music this side of 2020, and to see them both on stage together was practically too much for my heart to bear. For an hour straight, the bands took turns ripping through their hits, trading blows, and swapping insults. After raging at each other and with the crowd for nearly an hour, the two bands squashed their beef, joining forces for a group cover of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff,” which electrified the whole room. Two titans at the height of their power.
Ben Quad
Ben Quad released the emo album of the year in 2022, and you could really tell as hordes of fans packed in so they could scream every word and note back at them. Pits were opened, fingers were pointed, and guitars were tapped. Performing against a backdrop of Dumb & Dumber clips, the band ripped through the high points of I’m Scared That’s All There Is, as well as their hardcore one-off “You’re Part of It” and songs off their freshly-released two-piece single. If you haven’t been riding the Ben Quad train, this set could have convinced even the most cold-hearted emo hater to jump on board.
Charmer
I first saw Charmer at Fauxchella III back in 2019, and that set converted me into a lifelong fan. To see the band live again in the same spot four and a half years later only affirmed that they are masters of their domain. We were treated to songs off both their LPs, plus sneak peeks at a couple of upcoming tracks. The cherry on top came when they played “Topanga Lawrence” with live horn accompaniment courtesy of DIY Emo stalwart J-Fudge. A transcendent way to end day 1.
Brown Maple
A band that feels primed to be the next Equipment, Brown Maple kicked off day 2 with a rockin’ cover of Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night,” which made me feel like I was living in an unreleased copy of Punk Goes Pop. Despite some grogginess from the day before, the band quickly whipped the crowd up into a frenzy with their tap-happy riffage, pulling mainly from last year’s EP and recent singles. By the end of the set, a group of fans had stormed the stage, commandeering the mic, getting the day off to a great start in the process.
Kerosene Heights
Kerosene Height’s first official album, Southeast Of Somewhere, has been a mainstay on my weekly charts and regular listening ever since it was first released at the beginning of the summer. I don’t even really have a great video to share because I spent the entire set up front screaming along to every word, and I guess that’s an endorsement enough on its own.
Smoke Detector vs. Gwuak!
Early on in day 2, we had our second battle set of the festival as the twinkly Smoke Detector went head to head with the tap-happy Gwuak. Each two-piece commanded their half of the stage, bouncing through hits from their recent records, but the room truly came alive when Smoke Detector pulled out the big guns: a cover of Natasha Bedingfield’s “Unwritten.”
Aren’t We Amphibians
Scheduled up next were Aren’t We Amphibians, who were traveling up from San Diego and just dropped a fantastic little EP, which I was excited to see live. On Friday, their van broke down, stranding the group somewhere in Arizona. But fear not! The DIY community is a vast support network. By the next day, the group had met their Go Fund Me goal and were back on the road to kick off a tour with Equipment… but they would sadly miss their Fauxchella set. This was a bummer until the spirit of DIY camaraderie provided a miracle of a fill-in band in the form of…
MooseCreek Park
I wouldn’t have known about MooseCreek Park if it wasn’t for Swim Into The Sound’s very own Brandon Cortez, who reviewed the band’s new album for this site back when it dropped in July. Thanks to Brandon’s glowing review, I felt like I was in early on the frantically-tapping New Jersey weedmo group. I was ready to witness the frantic tapping of “Ok Dylan” and belt out the chorus of “Pieces,” and while I was sad to miss AWA, swapping them with MooseCreek wound up being a more-than-suitable consolation prize.
Dad Bod
Yet even more Minneapolis representation, let’s talk about Dad Bod. I hope we’re all in agreement that “Rot” is one of the greatest songs of the 2010s because that’s a given to me. Hearing that song live was an absolute revelation; even though I still want to hear the band blow that instrumental at the end into a wandering outro, but I’ll take it. Aside from that, the band’s live presence created a crushing and engaging wall of sound, all backed by School of Rock’s invigorating middle act.
Brewster
On from the sad stuff to the yee-haw stuff, Brewster brought the country-fried excellence for a twangy alt-country sway that made me miss the sweet tea back in North Carolina. Interestingly enough, the band is based in Jersey, which is funny since the record feels like an easy recommendation for anyone who used to like Pinegrove. If that’s not enough for you, Brewster also manages to drawl things out into a My Morning Jacket or even Drive-by Truckers-esque bramble, which I always appreciate.
Okay, rapid-speed through the rest of Day 2 because whew…
Riley!
Incredible to witness live. Their energy and proficiency know no bounds. The new stuff sounds great 👀
Cheem
Felt like I was witnessing history watching this band play these songs live. People packed in to shake their asses to “Smooth Brain,” as they should.
Newgrounds Death Rugby
One of my biggest surprises of Fauxchella was how incredible NGDR sounds live. The perfect balance of dancing and moshpitting.
Short Fictions
Also having just put out an awesome album, the Short Fictions set was half new, half tried-and-true oldies.
Oldsoul
Yeah, there was a Macarena in the pit. You read that right. They started with “High On Yourself,” and I belted along with every word.
Michael Cera Palin
I’ve been waiting about five years to finally see this band live. They have two EPs, a single, a song on a comp, and a goofy cover of “Soak Up The Sun.” Every song is incredible. I know every molecule to these songs, and part of me couldn’t even believe I was taking them in live. They played the obligatory cover, but everyone knows it’s way better to scream along to “GodDAMN, I need a cigarette!”
Next, I watched Camping in Alaska and Dikembe respectfully, tiredly, and excitedly, from the sidelines. Good, because the next day started early with a last-minute solo acoustic house show at 10 am from…
Equipment
Celebrating the five-year anniversary of their (loosely) disowned first album, Ruthless Sun, Nick Zander from Equipment led a basement full of about two dozen fans through a full-album playthrough early on Sunday morning. We huddled up with our coffees and sang along with this rudimentary form of Quippy as Zander padded the time between songs with color commentary and easter eggs. A few lyrics were forgotten, and a few other, newer songs were slipped into the mix, but this felt like a beautiful moment of homecoming and celebrating the album that got the band to their new album, which is the culmination of years worth of touring, songwriting, and turn-grinding. A special thing to be a part of.
Mango Tree
Two of the members of Mango Tree had just gotten married weeks earlier, but they put off their honeymoon just to play a hometown show surrounded by friends, and lemme tell you, it was worth it. The second time I teared up on Sunday alone, this alt-folk punk set was intimate, therapeutic, and love-filled. A brilliant high note to start the day out on.
Hummus Vacuum
AKA Rivers Cuomo
Yes, that’s the name of the band, yes we brought them hummus, yes they have a song about getting your foreskin taken. Any more questions?
See Through Person
I’m not in the business of betting on the success of a band; I just write about shit that rips. However, if I were to be making bets on who’s preparing to have a big 2024, it’s See Through Person. The Florida-Michigan transplants only have six songs released across two EPs, but not only do they all rip, but the kids came out for this set, making for a sweaty 2 pm prelude to the final battle set of the festival…
Ben Quad vs. Arcadia Grey
Going into this, I thought for sure this was going to be a clean sweep. Then I saw how many people packed in for Arcadia Grey’s set the night before, and I wasn’t so sure. The set began with a kidnapping and ended in a kiss. I love happy endings, especially when a Modern Baseball cover comes before the finale.
Honey Creek
Easycore is back, and we have Honey Creek to thank for that. I definitively fucked up my voice during this set, screaming along to every word of the band’s just-released Self Preservation. Plus, I always respect a band adopting a uniform, and the all-white get-ups were a nice touch that tied everything together.
Innerlove.
Another country counterpoint to Fauxchella’s typically-emo-leaning lineup, Innerlove brought the twangy goodness as they played hit after hit off their summery Roscoe. A prime example of the Emo To Alt-Country Pipeline, Innerlove specalize in songs about drinking (negative) and bad decisions (also negative). Luckily, the songs are so fun to sing along to live that you almost forget all that. Bonus points for having the hardest, loudest drummer of the whole weekend.
Excuse Me, Who Are You?
Earlier this year, I spent about 1k words waxing poetic about the awesome four-track EP from Excuse Me, Who Are You?, so if you want to know my specific thoughts on this band, go read that. In what might have been the most hardcore set of day 3, EMWAY ripped the roof off Howard’s as hordes of fans screamed along to every anguished turn of the band’s screamo set. Fists were swung, pits were opened, and minds were blown.
Swiss Army Wife
Look, I’ve lived in the Midwest, up in the mountains, and down south, but in my heart of hearts, I’ll always be a Pacific Northwest boy from Portland, Oregon. The same goes for Swiss Army Wife, a tall-as-hell emo crew who flew out from my home state just to give the Midwest a taste of their fucked-up dance-punk.
Palette Knife
I’ve been a fan of Palette Knife since their first album, but their music sounded almost too precise and too acute to be real. I’m happy to report that, when playing live, these guys can bang out every riff you hear on the record and make them sound even more full of life. It probably helped that a few dozen fans crammed up against the side stage to help scream along to every lyric and thrash along to every breakdown, but wow, sometimes seeing is believing.
Khaki Cuffs
In one of the most novel arrangements of Fauxchella, Khaki Cuffs’ set found bandleader Brody Hamilton behind the kit as a standalone mic allowed the crowd (and a couple guest stars) to take up vocal duties as the guitars and bass played along with Hamilton’s live percussion. This was my first time seeing Khaki Cuffs live, and it was fun to see these songs in such a novel way.
At this point, I was drained and practically dead on my feet from three straight days of music festing. The breathtaking Jetty Bones played Fauxchella VI out with their confessional brand of indie rock, and the next day, we were all back to our normal lives. In my case, we were waking up early to check out of our Air Bnb and settling in for a 12-plus hour drive back to North Carolina. We were drained physically, emotionally, and financially, but infinitely satiated by three days of meeting friends and taking in incredible set after incredible set. I felt blessed to see so many of these bands in their best form and watch a countless number of my own favorite emo songs played directly into my face. I may have gotten sick as hell and spent the next three days sleeping off COVID, but Fauxchella VI was everything I ever would have wanted and then some. Thanks to everyone involved, every band that played, and every friend that said ‘hi,’ you make this all worth it, and I can’t wait to do it all again someday.
