San Francisco’s FACING NEW YORK formed in 2004 when ex-members of ex-bands became ex-friends and formed the group on January 1st, viewing this symbolic birth date as a good omen for the year and those to come. The band begun as a five-piece: Eric Frederic on vocals and guitar, Rene Carranza on keyboard, Matt Fazzi on guitar and vocals, Omar Cuellar on drums, and Brandon Canchola on bass. The eager young band rushed through rehearsals and met the mid January recording dates that Frederic had already booked to record a 6 song EP that documented this aggressive approach to making records. By March, the band was already on a 5-week west coast tour of small clubs, house parties, record stores, and anywhere else the five-piece behemoth could set up and play.
That summer, FACING NEW YORK made it onto a slew of West Coast Warped Tour dates where they met the band Amity, whom FACING NEW YORK would later release a 6 song split with. The band supported the release of the EP with West Coast touring, including a stint with indie-darlings, Cursive.
FACING NEW YORK then began work on what would be their first full length record, making music while on tour with computer demos that would be worked out at home in late Fall. Unfortunately as the year came to an end, so did singer Eric Frederic's voice. Diagnosed with an extremely developed case of vocal nodules, he had to have them surgically removed and spent 2 months not speaking a word in recovery. This surely was creative fodder for the self-titled record that they recorded in Spring of 2005. Mostly college dropouts, the record also interrogated the uncertainty of post-academic life and displayed a movement towards more ambitious arrangements and textures reminiscent of Yes and King Crimson. Soon after, FACING NEW YORK set out on a U.S. tour to bring them to New York City for CMJ 2005 and closed the year with more West Coast dates, including a support slot for Subtle.
The following year saw the band touring with the legendary Japanese punk band, Eastern Youth, in the US and Japan, as well as a stint with Taking Back Sunday and a much-heralded SXSW performance. That summer, FACING NEW YORK chose to continue touring despite more hospitalizations for singer, Eric Frederic. While having a major operation on his stomach, the band would proceed with Matt Fazzi in command of lead vocals until Fredric’s recovery. Scaled back to a 4 piece after the departure of Rene Carranza, the band got back on the road and toured the US with the likes of Tera Melos, Cursive and Subtle as well as a European Tour with RxBandits.
Over the course of 2007 the band worked on new material and were ready to head back into the studio when Matt Fazzi informed the band that he would be joining seminal emo-punk band Taking Back Sunday. Although he expressed a deep desire to continue contributing to the group, all sides agreed that it would not be practical so FACING NEW YORK saw Fazzi off with two final headlining dates as a four-piece in Los Angeles and San Francisco. A few months later, Frederic, Canchola and Cuellar would commence recording of their new record, Get Hot.
This album marks another milestone for the band. The record deals with mid 20s confusion, masculinity, and love and often deploys humor as a means of handling or purposely circumventing the issue. Trading longer pieces for fragmented, minimal arrangements was meant to convey the disconnectedness of floating between adolescence and adulthood. With obvious influence from everyone from Afrobeat originator Fela Kuti to minimalist Steve Reich, the record is full of surprises, grim predictions, and even a bit of self-aware silliness. Get Hot summarizes these musical and extra musical influences by reminding listeners to do your life's work. Do work that makes you burst with joy. Do your work ‘til you can't stand up. Do work. Get Hot.
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