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By Matthew Swanson
Chicago, IL, USA
(credit: Andrew Youseff)
Film School has been making gorgeous sonic, visceral, atmospheric music for a decade now, and frankly, not enough people know about them. Now, this could be because even if the songs are quite good, which most all of theirs are, unless it’s short and catchy and formulaic, it’s not going to get the radio play. However, on the heels of each successive record getting more-and-more exposure and some more uplifting material on their next record, this could be the album that propels the band into more markets. Trust us when we say that you’ll want to be one of the cool people who said you were listening to Film School before they got huge . . .
We caught up with Greg Bertens (formerly Krayg Burton), lead singer and mastermind of the band, and he filled us in on their split from their label (Beggars Banquet), their upcoming record, their tour, and love pentagons, which are like a love triangles only cooler because they’re split five ways instead of a mere three.
Fission (2010)
Greg lets us know when the album will be released, what the title (Fission) means in relation to their experiences over the past years, and what it’s like to release an album in-house rather than through a record label (although he does fill us in that they have been getting a lot of interest from labels lately).
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He then tells us that having to do a lot of their own promotion through Facebook and Twitter has led to a better connection with their fans, which the band enjoys. We then discuss “Heart Full of Pentagons,” a more happy song than many in their past. Greg does say that this is, on the whole, a more uplifting record, but those who like the “somber” ones too won’t be disappointed. Later, he admits that the song’s title derived from a Facebook update of a friend who was dealing with a love pentagon (between five people) at the time, and this friend may or may not have been dealing with members of various bands at the time as some of the love interests . . .
After discussing the process of making the new record largely on their own, Greg then tells us that a fall tour is likely going to happen, and he enlightens us on what the number one way is that the band has gained a following.
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Greg then says what he likes about the music scene in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and elsewhere. Finally, he talks about the future of improvisational and experimental music and what to expect when you go to a Film School show!
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All opinions expressed by Matthew Swanson are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of Stay Thirsty Media, Inc.
