Today we’re bringing you three songs from You’re Only Here Because You Have to Be, the debut full length from Vegas punk band Fredward. The album will be available digitally this Wednesday, Aug. 3, via Bandcamp as well as in person at 11th Street Records.
You’re Only Here Because You Have to Be represents the culmination of over 20 years of musical experience between its members, as the band describes: “All four of us have played in four or five different bands in town over the last 20 years. (Ugh, makes us sound old!) Artie and Beau were heavily involved in the Vegas punk rock/hardcore scene (especially in the late 90s and early 00s). Most notably, they were in a hardcore band called Faceplant which toured with Civic Minded 5. They also played in a band called Back Stabbath. Fish played drums in multiple bands across multiple genres, such as Solo the King, & Seconds to Spare. Ham played in Hello, Astro, Hemlock, and like Soul Asylum or something… no joke. All of us grew up listening to basically the same things: a LOT of Fugazi, Quicksand and Helmet, to name a few. Those bands have definitely influenced the shape of our sound.”
The album was recorded in Las Vegas with the help of producer Dave Holdredge. “We were very fortunate to record with Dave, who has recorded many amazing albums, including Mercy Music’s When I Die I’m Taking You With Me” the band explains. “We did the bulk of our recording at Vegas View recording in Henderson, National Southwestern Recording inside 11th Street Records, and a bunch at Dave’s house. It’s easy to record when you’re with your best friends. You get to focus on what you want everything to sound like, without the stress that can really mess with the process of making a great record. Fish even caught a fever while we were tracking drums…. and still did his job! :)”
In order to get the record on par with their own expectations, Fredward had to reprioritize their live show schedule. “Two of the guys in Fredward are *hands down* THEE dopest fathers in town, and Fish has like four jobs or something” explains the band. “So with all that comes scheduling issues, naturally. We’ve been a band for 6 years, and we’ve played hundreds of shows. We sat down at one point and decided that what we ultimately wanted out of this, was a fucking amazing record! So instead of playing a lot more shows we kinda just started focusing on the logistics of making that work, first and foremost. We spent a little over a year working on this record! Which was great because we were able to become hyper-focused on our sound. Dave really put this record into shape, and we couldn’t be more proud!”
So with the finished product in hand, expect lots more Fredward to come. “As of right now we are planning an all-ages release show at 11th Street Records on Aug. 20th. Now that the record is done, we want to focus on a lot more live shows… so expect those for sure!”
For more details on the release show, keep your eye on Fredward’s Facebook page.
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