Mr. Substitute had the pleasure of interviewing Buffalo’s Fernway. Together they discussed their recent tour, their formation, their album “Autocrave”, and so much more! Check it out below!
Interview by: Mr. Substitute
As always the most important question anyone can ask is: how are you all doing today?
We’re doing great! We just got back from the first wave of our debut record ‘Autocrave’ release shows! Cannot wait to hit some more shows in September, October, and more in the future TBA!
How’s the tour going? What are some of the tougher challenges the tour brings to Fernway and what is the most fun thing about it?
The shows were all super great! So the largest issue we ran into on this tour was that our van broke down on the first drive going to NYC even after we had it just repaired. We had to fly our vocalist back home to Buffalo from New Jersey to grab his personal vehicle to make this happen. We had to miss our first day of the run and on our way to North Carolina his Alternator went and we were stranded for a day in Suffolk, Virginia. We had to miss two shows sadly because of this but we were able to play some awesome shows for some wonderful people and that’s what means the most to us.
The most fun thing about this tour was being able to just play. We were so worried that we weren’t going to be able to make any dates happen so us playing live for new friends was the thing that was driving us and brought a spring to our step every day.
How did this current form of Fernway come to be? How did you guys meet and who started Fernway?
Fernway was created in 2017 by 5 unique musical minds looking to redefine the sonic landscape of traditional rock.
The band’s vocalist (RJ) and the band’s drummer (Tanner) are actually both brothers! Our Bass player Alec Dube was actually our drummer’s old teacher. Jonah played in a band (Rescue Dawn) with RJ, and Tanner for years before Fernway. Our lead guitarist Brett was also playing in the local scene alongside the other members of Fernway but just in a different project.
What musical influence(s) went into Autocrave? Did a sound kind of naturally occur or were you all always aiming for a specific sound?
The band’s influences are definitely drawn from artists like the 1975, The Band Camino, Bad Suns, Coin, and The Maine.
The sound was completely natural for us and flowed out of us and we could not be happier with how this record came out.
Alright, who wrote the lyrics for the album? How were things divvied up as far as how each song was written? Is it more of a collaborative effort or more individual members bring certain songs or ideas to the table and everyone fleshes it out?
The lyrics were written out of collaboration between all members of the band. The songs were written separately mainly between RJ, Brett, and Jonah on their own times. A member will bring a song to the table and the band will flesh them out in our vocalist’s studio!
“XXIII” is one of my favorite tracks off this album but in preparing for this interview I wondered to myself if 23 to the singer is just passing or if 23 was years ago (like for myself) but the nostalgia is still strong for that specific age?
So the number 23 is a representation of a person in time and place that was once a familiar metaphorically and physically speaking friend that has tiptoed around the rabbithole that we buried ourselves into. That the number was happy to see us confine ourselves in our own grave.
Do you feel like Autocrave tells one continuous story or is it more told in vignettes? To me, what makes a great album is sort of marrying these two concepts of having individual songs carry a continuous theme throughout the album, and Autocrave does exactly that, but I was wondering how you all personally view the album.
It is told in vignettes. While being in small segments of different emotions, the concept of the record touches base on how human communications are being destroyed because of the digital age we live in. Technology can be a very beneficial thing for us but with pros comes a whole new list of cons.
What’s next for Fernway? I know you all are on tour, but is there anything else Fernway fans to look forward to?
The band is looking forward to playing as many shows as we can off of this record and are already in the process of writing the next line of music.
Now, I used to do interviews “back-in-the-day” (lol it was last year but it feels like ages ago) and my favorite part was halfway through the interview I would ask very random questions not related to what we were previously discussing. The first one actually comes from my significant other who wanted me to ask what motivational quotes do you ALL live by? (It would be cool to get 5 different answers for this and the next question but it’s up to yall)
Brett: “We’ll find our way compass free” and “If I’m not dead, I’m still kicking.”
RJ: “We control what the past creates.” “The worst has already happened” “Things will always get really hard before the next milestone is met.”
My not-so-random question is a simple but very important and telling one: what is everyone in the band’s desert island album? Any album in existence, can’t be an individually crafted playlist, any format. To me, the answer to this is very telling about a musician.
RJ: “Djesse Vol. 3” by Jacob Collier
Jonah: “Mind Over Matter” by Young The Giant
Alec Dube: “Act V: “Hymns with the devil in confessional” by The Dear Hunter Brett: “Little Hell” by City and Colour
Tanner: “I like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” by The 1975
Music Shelf With Mustard 