An Interview with Sam Tye of The Faim

Splice Media Group had a chance to talk with Sam Tye, guitarist of the Australian pop–rock band The Faim. They are currently on tour with Hands Like Houses, Emarosa, Devour the Day and Arlington as well as a recently announced world tour starting in 2019. Hailing from Perth, Australia, they have traveled quite the distance to show the United States who they are.

How long have all known each other? When did you all decide to write music and form a band together?

“We’ve all known each other for different amounts of time. Stephen and Josh went to high school together so have known each other for the longest, then Josh and I played sports together at the age of 14, after that we met Sean and I think as a whole we’ve known each other for about five years now.

As cliché as it sounds, the decision to form a band happened in high school music class with Josh and Stephen, they were kind of like “why not?”. They just started jamming which led to writing then recording and they fell in love with it. After that they realized they needed a drummer and found Sean from his YouTube channel where he did drum covers, and then after that I got in as the guitarist.”

 

Who are your biggest musical influences and how did you use their inspiration to write the music for your band?

“I think subconsciously there are artists that we grew up on who influence us without even knowing it and I think that can be heard in our music. What we really want in our music (and we say this all the time) is diversity; we don’t want to be pigeon-holed and I think the diversity of our influences translates into our writing. So, to list some artists that influence us we’d have to say: Twenty One Pilots, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Coldplay, U2, Frank Sinatra, and The 1975, to name a few.”

Writing songs that you like and believe fans would like takes a lot of time and energy. Could you briefly describe your song-writing process?

“Generally, we start a song with either a melody or a concept, sometimes both and then it grows from that. It’s important to us that there is a strong notion of what the songs are about so it can connect to our listeners and us. But I don’t think there is ever a set way of writing a song. We definitely like to embrace the energy in the studio on the day and channel that into the work.”

Music is forever evolving. How have you guys evolved with your music since becoming a band?

“We’ve only been a band for a short amount of time in the scheme of things and I think as we’ve grown a bit older, our music tastes have evolved, which in hand has evolved our own music. I think something we discovered during the few years of being a band is to form an identity sonically without trapping ourselves into a genre. We really want the music we write to be diverse and evolve as we and our listeners evolve.”

 

What was your biggest challenge as a band and how did you overcome that challenge?

“I think we’re always coming across new challenges to overcome as a band, so I don’t think we could name just one. Anyone who starts a band, especially in Perth, knows the struggle of trying to gain success in the music industry. For us it has been a fairly fast-paced progression, but we know that’s generally not the case.”

What is the most memorable show you guys have played to date?

“This is hard! We’ve played so many that have been memorable for different reasons. But I think we have to go with Reading & Leeds festival 2018 in the U.K., because it was one of the biggest crowds we’ve played to and they were so energetic. We also hadn’t played a show for a month, so we were all fresh and excited to get back on the road.”

If you could collaborate with any other musician or band (past or present) who would it be?

“There are honestly so many, but we would have to say Chris Martin from Coldplay. Coldplay have been a huge inspiration for us and I think it would be awesome to write with someone as versed in songwriting as Chris Martin. We would also like to work with Max Martin, looking back on all the hits we grew up on he was usually the person behind the curtain, so I think it would be pretty cool to jump into that world if it was a possibility.”

For those who haven’t heard your band yet, where can they go to listen/buy your music?

“Pretty much everywhere you can think of! Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube, it’s all there!”

Anyone you would like to acknowledge? Thanks for your time!

“We definitely would like to thank our fans who follow our journey, download our music and come to our shows, without you we couldn’t do what we do, so thank you! We also want to thank our label BMG, there is no “I” in team and you’re the real MVP. Thank you for having us! Love, The Faim”

Thank you, Sam, for the great interview!

Be sure to catch The Faim on tour now and listen to their E.P. Summer is a Curse out now!

 

The Faim: