Famous Last Words Interview with vocalist JT Tollas. January 29, 2016.
– What’s new in the world of Famous Last Words?
JT: Our latest news is our signing with Revival Recordings. We are extremely excited to be with such a great and passionate label. Our first release on the label was an acoustic track titled, “I’ll Be Home Soon” which is part of the Revival Recordings acoustic compilation, “It’s All Acoustic”. We also recently finished tracking our latest album with Taylor Larson, so we have a lot coming up this year.
– How was it recording ‘I’ll Be Home Soon’ for the Revival Records “It’s All Acoustic” compilation?
JT: It was fun recording the track. It’s actually a song I wrote years ago and tracked with a buddy of mine in Texas, but it was never officially released. When we were trying to decide what song of ours to redo as an acoustic, we remembered this song. We showed it to Revival and they really liked it, so we re-tracked the song and changed it up a bit. We are all really happy with how it turned out.
– How do you build a song up from nothing to become something?
JT: All of our full length albums are concept records, so each song is just a piece of the story. I usually try to figure out some sort of story outline before anything. Once I figure out what each song is going to be about, I figure out how I want the overall vibe of the song to be. After I figure that out, we will write the instrumentals, and the vocals last. But it all starts out as a fairly specific vision.
– Do you have any tours coming up in the near future?
JT: We are keeping our fingers crossed for Vans Warped Tour. So if you would like to see us on warped 2016 vote here! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/znh9zzl
– What would be some of your main musical influences today?
JT: We don’t really have any specific musical influences. For me I’m constantly taking in inspiration from music, and the music I listen to depends on the mood I am in. So I really can’t pick just one artist, or genre for that matter.
– Do you use mostly Facebook now as a primary website source for the band?
JT: Yes we are constantly updating our Facebook page. We also have Twitter and Instagram as well!
Famous Last Words on Instagram: famouslastwordsband
Famous Last Words on Twitter: FLW_music
– How important are music videos in the industry today? How do they compare to videos from 20 years ago?
JT: I feel that music videos are incredibly important these days. I think they really have always been important, but with YouTube and Vimeo and all of these streaming sites that people have access to now, which they didn’t have access to 20 years ago, they are even more essential. It’s an incredibly captivating way to showcase your song, and they are a lot of fun to shoot!
– Where do you see music in general going in 100 years from now?
JT: We work very hard to put out music that is special. It is our hope that people connect to the music as much as we do, and with that we hope it leaves a long lasting impression. Whether it means people remember our music in 100 years or not, I’d like to think that we had a small part in keeping the art in music alive.