The Fall Of Troy On Their Return To Australia…

Joining Cali legends Dance Gavin Dance on the Australian run are The Fall of Troy, a musical force that has been pushing the boundaries of math rock since their formation in 2002. Hailing from Mukilteo, Washington, the band first made waves with their 2005 album Doppelgänger, which showcased their signature blend of technical proficiency and energy. Over the years, The Fall of Troy has continued to evolve, exploring new territory and challenging the very notions of time and structure. With each new release, they have cemented their place as one of the most innovative and daring bands in the world of math rock. It has been eighteen years since their last Adelaide show and Thomas Erak and Andrew Forsman are both looking forward to coming back as they explain to Rob Lyon

When Fall of Troy were announced as part of the Dance Gavin Dance tour, I couldn’t believe it. I was there in Melbourne last year thinking this might not ever happen again especially being eighteen years since the last Australian tour, do you start to get a bit worried that as each year rolls past, it may not happen?
Andrew: It’s been way too long since we’ve been to Adelaide, we’ll say.

Thomas: Yeah, I don’t think I get worried that it won’t happen, I guess I just don’t think about it, really, but I’m very grateful that it is happening.

Do you have some pretty wild memories of that Soundwave tour that you came out on?
Thomas: It was just really eye‑opening to be somewhere we’d never been before, and on such a big festival, and whatnot, stuff like that. And how well we were received was pretty exciting.

Andrew: We had some friends in Adelaide, too. There were friends we had in Adelaide which made it especially fun to go there, and they took us to the bars they normally went to, and yeah, Adelaide especially, I had a good time.

The friendship with the Dance Gavin Dance guys, does that go back a fair way?
Thomas: Yeah, I would say so. We’ve been close acquaintances for a number of years, and more recently have been getting to know each other quite a bit better, being that we went on a leg of their US tour and stuff. But yeah, we’ve been in the same kind of circles for a really long time.

Celebrating twenty years of Doppelgänger, is that celebration continuing with this Australian tour as well?
Thomas: No, but the setlist will be Doppelgänger heavy, for sure.

What is it about that album that keeps resonating with fans?
Thomas: I think it’s different for everybody. Whether you were kind of there when it blew up, or Guitar Hero, or whatever, or being a younger person now and being exposed to it, how people connect to it may be different. But I think the album kind of speaks for itself in the way that it connects to people, whatever that is it’s unique.

Andrew: I think we were so young and hungry, and hadn’t really been kicked in the teeth too much by life yet, and so we were willing to take some big risks. It speaks to the time in our life and how excited we were to be doing music at that point.

When you reflect on that milestone yourselves, how does it sit with you now? Has your relationship with that album changed at all?
Andrew: I still love it.

Thomas: Yeah, I still love it too, but sometimes the narratives or the meaning of the songs tend to grow as you grow as a person, which is kind of interesting and cool, I guess.

Andrew: It’s still challenging to play in a way that feels like Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountain, there’s always more rock to push up the mountain of that album, and I’m grateful for that.

When you’ve got an album as solid as that, does that make it harder having such a high benchmark for anything else?
Thomas: I think it sets a good precedent, personally.

Andrew: I’m the same, and even if we never live up to it, we still have that one. Most people don’t even get one, so I’m stoked to get at least one.

From when the album came out, were there any particular moments that still stand out for you?
Thomas: There’s just so many for me, I can’t really pinpoint any. Our whole world kind of… I mean, getting on Guitar Hero was definitely a big one. That took us to a place I don’t know our band would have gotten to if we wouldn’t have gotten the luck to get onto that video game at that time, particularly.

Andrew: During that time period, we played a lot of cities for the first time, and that’s always really exciting. First time playing New York City, or Chicago, or stuff like that, these legendary places we had never done before.

Fast forward to now, are there plans for a new album or new music next year?
Thomas: Yeah, definitely. We’re working on it. We all live in different places now, so it’s a little bit trickier, but we’re taking the time to get moving on it. I’ve been writing pretty consistently when I’m at home. It’s just a matter of us getting together and getting into the actual studio and getting the songs to come together. We’re definitely looking forward to making a new album as soon as we can. We’ve got demos.

Sonically, is there a particular direction you’re looking to push toward, or does that come later once you’re all in the rehearsal space?
Thomas: A little bit of A, a little bit of B. More than anything, we’re just looking to be us, be The Fall of Troy. I’ve always felt like we’re kind of the oddball, but that also puts us at an advantage a lot of the time. We can do a lot of different types of things, and I just want to continue to do that, but also stay true to what makes us us, and expand upon what we’ve done already in the past.

Is there any pressure at all approaching a new album?
Thomas: Just because we haven’t made one in so long, like, I think it’s just personal pressure on myself. I don’t really feel any outside pressure on me or anything like that. It’s just that I want to make songs that impress me and impress my band, you know, more than anything.

Andrew: Yeah, there’s no contracts or anything, so, you know, it’s like, it’s just on us, self‑imposed which actually reminds me of the beginning when we were first writing, the pressure was all internal. We were like, we want to be the toughest, the coolest, all that stuff and now I think we’re like, we want to be the most us we can be.

Thomas: Yeah, exactly.

You are the toughest and the best, aren’t you?
Andrew: Thank you. Yeah, sure, I’ll take it.

Thomas: Some may say!

At this stage of your career, are your influences and sources of music inspiration still important in terms of getting you inspired and shaping the music?
Andrew: I was just going to say we have the stuff that we loved when we were young, and I think that still weighs on us, or contributes.

Thomas: Will always be part of it, you know?

Andrew: Totally. But I think we also, when we find somebody new, a new group that really makes us feel the same stuff we felt when we were sixteen, I think that’s really exciting and so a group like Loathe, or I’ll say Static Dress is really another band that I find interesting. Like, those bands, when I find those, it almost is more exciting, because when we were younger, there was so much of that, because we were at a time in our lives where we were being exposed to all this stuff. So now, when we find these new things that are exciting in that way, it feels more rare, and so it means a bit more oh, Callous Daoboys, that’s another great one, where I’m like, I would have loved that band when I was sixteen, and I love them now, maybe more, because it feels rarer for me.

Are there any sort of Aussie bands in there that are influential?
Thomas: Closure in Moscow.

Yeah, love those guys.
Thomas: Yeah, big time. Big time!

Andrew: I don’t know that we’re all super deep into it, but I’m sure we all like King Gizzard. Our bass player is a big fan of Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. There’s a band called Big Scary that I loved for a long time, they’re Australian. I like Courtney Barnett, I think there are some Australian bands … maybe less in the heavy world, and more in the kind of indie world.

Beyond the tour, what’s next for you guys? Is it time to knuckle down next year and get the album done, or do you have a few other tricks up your sleeve?
Thomas: Manipulator turns twenty next year, too, so we’re going to celebrate that, and try to find time to buckle down and write and finish writing and record this new album.

Andrew: Yeah. Yeah, those are the two goals. Play some anniversary shows and finish an album.

Are there any Aussie experience that’s on the must‑do list when you come down?
Andrew: One of my biggest things when I go to other countries is I like to eat ice cream bars, because you can’t get foreign ice cream bars in the States, they’re difficult to ship, and so it’s one of the last things that are local to a place. Japan has great ones, but obviously I’m going to eat a Golden Gaytime when I’m in Australia, and I’m gonna love it. That’s going to be a highlight for me.

You’ve got to go for the Polar Pie!
Andrew: Okay, okay, I’ll do it. Okay, great. I’ve never heard of it, I’m sure it’ll be delicious. Yeah, Polar Pie.

And how about yourself, Thomas?
Thomas: I don’t know, I mean, I just enjoy taking in the cities, and being that we’re going to be with Dance Gavin Dance and at some bigger venues, I’m just looking for exploring that kind of side of things. I’d assume we’re going to be around more stuff than we usually are playing club shows. But we’ll see. I’m definitely excited to see the Closure guys in Melbourne. I’m really one of those guys that’s just along for the ride, and whatever presents itself that I’m interested in, I’m going to dive into. I don’t know if there’s anything specifically… Nutella, I do like Nutella. I could probably get that at my local grocery store, but I probably wouldn’t, you know? It’s like a when‑in‑Rome kind of thing for me.

Interview By Rob Lyon

Catch Fall Of Troy on tour with Dance Gavin Dance on the following dates, tickets from Destroy All Lines…