Although Naples, Florida is just four short hours from Gainesville—the birthplace of bands like Against Me! and Hot Water Music—the area isn't commonly considered to be a punk Mecca; and with good reason. "Naples is a really thriving vacation spot, so the whole city revolves around people who come here for three months of the year," explains Fake Problems frontman Chris Farren. "So it's a strange environment, but I think it's a good environment creatively because it's very… nice."
Originally formed as a solo vehicle for Farren's songs, in the past few years Fake Problems has evolved from a project into a bonafide rock band—which features bassist Derek Perry, guitarist Casey Lee and drummer Sean Stevenson—and has already logged more miles in the van than most acts years their elder. "In September we started touring for two weeks out of every month and then that started increasing to three," Farren explains. In addition to blowing the minds of kids from around the world at The Fest in Gainesville, Fake Problems recently returned from a six-week full U.S. tour and is planning to stay on the road for most of 2007.
The CDEP Spurs & Spokes/Bull > Matador compiles the band's first 7-inch (which was initially released on Sabot Productions in August) alongside four re-recorded songs from the band's out-of-print debut CD—and despite the fact that some of these songs were written years ago, there's a remarkable amount of variance from song to song. "Motion Of The Ocean" carelessly careens like an existentialist hoe-down gone terribly awry; "Oh! You're Silver Heart" is a heartfelt alt-country ballad reminiscent of Whiskeytown; and "Cannonball" is reminiscent of Against Me!'s early material.
"In my lyrics I definitely like to say what I feel, but I don't like to alienate people or create a niche so that you can only listen to our music if you share our beliefs," Farren explains. However, whether Farren is imagining his grief-ridden mother at his own funeral or singing about sleeping on the floor of an apartment listening to the lullaby of police sirens, there's a universality to Fake Problems' music that transcends genre tags and buzzwords—which, when you think about it, is the way music is supposed to be.
"I don't like to complain that much," says Farren when asked about the band's curious moniker. "I don't like to trouble people with trivial things, so I just write 'em down and play guitar to 'em." Fake Problems recently recorded their first proper full-length album with Rob McGregor (Hot Water Music, Grabass Charlestons), which is set for release in Spring 2007 on Sabot Productions. However until then, these eight songs—as well as the band's energetic live set, which is probably coming to your town sometime soon—will have to be enough to tide you over.
