Q&A: Fury Things
Sound & Vision Fury Things are masters of disguise. Lurking just behind the mild mannered exterior of these three friendly young gentlemen is a sonic bomb waiting to go off. Mixing the sweet pop hooks of bands like Sugar and Japandroids with the noise-rock pyrotechnics of 90’s shredders like Archers of Loaf, and then stacking it all on top of a massive pile of amps and drums—they must be seen to be believed. Watching their most recent set at the Kitty Cat Klub felt something like having bubbles blown at you by a jet engine. The Wake caught up with them afterwards to discuss their road-dog dreams and how they’re actually more similar to mixtape rappers than you might think. The Wake: When did you guys start making music together? How did that come about? Kyle Werstein (Guitar/Vocals): About 6 months ago, almost to the day. Devon and I were playing in different bands and we played on the same bill at the Acadia. He wanted to play bass for my old band, but at the time we already had a bassist. We kept in touch on Facebook, and I met Andrew on Facebook too on like a Minnesota Music Facebook group. One day I was like, “I have these demos, let’s start working on them,” and he said, “I have a practice space,” and then we started playing. Devon Torrey Bryant (Bass/Vocals): We went there with one song to try out and I think we played it like— 8 times. It kinda just sounded good the first time we played it, it was “Hard to Breathe” on the first EP, and we didn’t change anything about it. After the first
time it sounded awesome we looked at each other and were like, “Well, should we play it again?” … It was pretty organic. We didn’t have many expectations. I moved here from Chicago not long ago, where I was in a bunch of bands, and I wasn’t really looking to be in a band again. But I did want to play with Kyle because I thought he was cool, and in the middle of playing that first song I thought, “Oh fuck, I’m in a band again.” W: You guys have a practice space that seems to figure strongly into your band’s sound. Could you talk about it? K: It’s in Northeast Minneapolis. D: It’s pretty funky. It is an old acrylic fabrication warehouse. Parts of it must still be used for some kind of warehouse stuff, but it’s hard to tell what’s really going on in there. K: On Saturdays there are like—gang parties. We get there and there are bouncers trying to charge us cover to get into our own practice space. There are a million Ford Explorers and Land Rovers in the parking lot. D: Then there’s this weird mix of gang looking kids and suburbanites, like 15 year old white kids. K: This always happens after we play a show, and we’re super sweaty and tired and we have to get up at 6:00 in the morning for work. I have to shoulder through a crowd with my 80 pound amplifier like, “Just move!” But it’s special because it’s the first place we ever practiced together and it has a very particular vibe to it. Really cool. D: I like the sound of the room too. That’s part of what made it sound so good the first time we played.
By Zach McCormick
ZACH MCCORMICK
16.
february 25 - march 10