Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Liz Fackelman - Vocals, Keyboard, Trombone
Joe Scala - Vocals, Drums
Frank DeFranco - Bass
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Fleeting? How long has the band been around?
Liz - Fleeting started off as a two piece in 2013, and welcomed Frank into the mix this past year. So while we've been around for about 2 years, the three of us have been playing in different bands for awhile now. Let's see if I can name everything...
Joe: The Best of the Worst, Marloneisha, In Angles and Invalids
Frank: Holy City Zoo, NGHTCRWLS and Adhesive Daisy
Liz: The Best of the Worst, The Do Rights and Soft Talk
So yeah! That comes to... 9 current bands + side projects? We’re just three busy bees.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
Liz - This band name has stuck from the beginning, and it's actually part of a lyric on the EP (if you can find it, I'll give you a dollar.) And to be honest, I can't remember which came first, the band name or the lyric... a classic chicken or the egg scenario. (That's a thing, right?) But at any rate, "fleeting" ecompasses the way I view life, fucking fleeting. We experience so much in a day, a month, a year, a lifetime. The ups, the downs, relationships, and our general existence is just a series of fleeting moments. I was going through some heavy shit when this band started up, and found myself reciting in my head "This is all just a fleeting moment in time.
All of this shit will come and go", and it turned into a coping mechanism. And the contrary applies, too. The extreme highs in life are, too, just fleeting moments. And before we know it, they've passed on as well.
Life is short. Life is fleeting. So work hard, make it your own, and follow what makes you feel complete. And that is the story behind “fleeting.”
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Liz - I'd say the bulk of the writing is split evenly between Joe and I. Either one of us will have written parts, full songs, or random lyrics we've been itching to use. We'll bring what we've been writing to practice, and from there Frank helps piece them together and write parts as well. So while the bulk of our music is written individually, the songs aren't complete until the three of us are working on them together.
We write about people, to be completely honest. People and time. I write about relationships, you know, your classic break up songs, my family members, and my students. And as of recent, I've been really into writing in a way where the is no hiding who or what I’m singing about. And I'm looking forward to making people squirm.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
Liz - Slingshot Dakota, Into It Over It, Weatherbox, Thundercat, Ben Folds Five
Joe - I’ve been listening to a lot of KNXWLEDGE and Jonwayne, both Stones Throw Records artists. Also definitely Weatherbox. Besides them, I’ve been jamming out a lot to a band called Early Worm. I just released a split they did on a label I run called Choke Artist. It’s really fun music in the vein of Say Anything, they have some really catchy songs.
Frank - A lot of records on the Exploding In Sound and Glory Kid labels. New Literature album rules, and so does Taylor Swift’s 1989. Just got both of the records in vinyl...
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Liz - Slingshot Dakota, hands down. Joe approached me about starting a two-piece band, and I'm pretty sure that inspiration has a lot to do with Slingshot's existence.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, etc …
Liz - The day before a show, I make sure to run through the set a couple times. And the day of, I cut back on the gallons of coffee I drink in a day. I should also start doing some vocal warm ups... totally failing as a music teacher by not following my own words of advice. But I do take
a few minutes to warm up on the trombone if I haven't played that day. While that goes on, you'll find Frank pacing around and Joe putting away his badge and uniform.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
Liz - I would have to say releasing our first EP. We recorded it with our good friend Joe Lanza in our practice space and his home, and we're so pleased with how it came out.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Liz - Slingshot Dakota would be fun. I've spoken to Carly recently, and she's cool as hell. We have similar views on music and how we approach it, and it would be rad to share a tour with another lady who shreds.
Joe - Mouse on The Keys has a piano and they shred. I don’t think we sound like them too much but they are really great. They are a jazzy/math rock trio from Japan made up of some killer musicians.
Frank - The Beatles
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Liz - Well, thank you Jordan and Kill The Music for interviewing us! And if you made it this far, thanks for reading this! You can listen to us at fleeting.bandcamp.com. Find us on facebook, and feel free say hi to us at a show, or on the internet!
OH! And I almost forgot. Choke Artist and Sniffling Indie Kids are artist collective/labels that we run out of NJ, so find those pages on social media and educate yourself on some new tunes. \m/ \m/