American Fangs have recently released their second full-length record, ‘Dirty Legs’, and it’s gloriously noisy, as expected. We had a chat with the Texans about playing live, their experience of Download back in June, and how ‘Dirty Legs’ can be compared to the best rager weekend of your life.
Hey guys, how’s it going with you? Last time I spoke to you you’d just released your ‘Pomona’ EP. What’s been going on since then (aside from releasing your new album)?
Man o man, since the Pomona EP we’ve gone through the gambit. Peaks and valleys. But through it all we are still here, still friends, and still basking in our passion for music.
You’ve just released your second full-length, ‘Dirty Legs’. It’s a completely kickass record. How would you describe it to someone who hasn’t heard it yet?
‘Dirty Legs’ is like that rager weekend that’s needed after a long, gruelling working week where you have every intention of going hard, going fast, and putting your manners on pause cuz you just need to turn up and blow off some steam.
If you had to choose one song off the record (difficult, I know) to give someone who’d never heard you before a good taster of what American Fangs are about, which would it be?
‘We Stand Apart’, 100%. This is the very last song we wrote for this album and I think it captures everything this band was about when we got started back in ’07/’08 and what we are still about in mid 2015…no excuses, straight forward rock ‘n’ roll with a punk attitude.
Have you had much of a chance to play the new record live yet? If so, how does it feel?
We’ve definitely enjoyed our opportunities to play the tunes from ‘Dirty Legs’ live. Funny enough, we’ve found about 80% of the set being songs from it. We’d forgotten how much we enjoy going fast!
Now that the album’s out, what are your plans for the rest of 2015?
We are just floating wherever the wind blows us to be honest. Mainly working on some regional Texas and Louisiana gigs but also have some broader scope things trying to creep into our horizon. All in all, if there’s a demand for us to play somewhere…ya boyz will show up and leave our sweat on stage.
I caught your set at Download in June. It was great. How was playing at Download for you?
Download was real dope, yet a blur. We flew into town Monday and caught our buds Young Guns’ London headliner, dealt with hangovers Tuesday, played our first ever London headliner Wednesday, headlined a gig in Corby with new mates ACODA Thursday, rolled into Download Friday, and flew out Saturday morning. What a whirlwind! Slipknot though!!!
You’ve played some pretty great festivals, and supported some pretty big bands. What are your American Fangs live highlights so far?
Our short run with Deftones always comes to mind when I put my mind into nostalgia mode. All of us grew up idolising that band and then boom, we are opening for them in front of thousands of people throughout Texas. They’re some of the nicest, most down to earth folks. Post show hangs with BBQ, beers, and wonky porn vids will never be forgotten!
Have you got any plans to come back to the UK? (We hope so)
We’d love to get our asses outta Texas and land back on UK shores to do another string of dates. We don’t have any definite plans at the moment but if any came our way we’d lock ’em in in a heartbeat. The UK, no lie, is the most enjoyable turf we’ve had the pleasure of touring! Tell Biffy Clyro to holler at us!
LAIS MW