Fuck the Facts is one of the most prolific grind-based bands in Canada’s big, weird extreme music scene, and, in this writer’s humble opinion, one of the most underrated. Despite a long stint on powerhouse indie metal label Relapse and a discography that’d make Agathocles blush, this Ottawa-based experimental grindcore outfit still exists on the fringes. They like it out there, where they’re free of any constraints that may prevent them from churning out scathing new releases at a dizzying pace and exemplifying the hell out of the DIY ethos. We spoke to guitarist, composer, recording engineer, label boss, and all-around architect of bastardized grindcore Topon Das about the band’s latest aural transgression, the Abandoned EP, and how he found time to record it during his busy schedule of kicking ass, taking names, and being a badass dad.Abandoned is out now via Noise Salvation. Listen to the EP in full below:Noisey: The new EP kills (big surprise there). You put it out digitally and on limited cassette via your own label, Noise Salvation. You've been independent for a good few years now after your last Relapse release. Have you found that you're happier working from a more DIY, personal approach?Topon Das: We’ve always handled almost every aspect of the band in a DIY fashion; it’s just kind of always been that way. But now that our contract with Relapse has ended, it’s a lot more obvious. There’s no money to be made with Fuck The Facts, so the people that are actually good at booking, press, management, etc. don’t want to work with us and/or we can’t afford to pay them. In this case, it just makes sense for us to do it all ourselves, at least we know it’ll be getting done, and somewhat properly.I have nothing but good things to say about our experience with Relapse. 90s Relapse Records was one of my biggest influences growing up, and was crucial in getting me into this kind of music. To have put out three albums on that label is a huge accomplishment for me. We’re still good friends with a lot of the staff, and there was never any pressure whatsoever while we were on the label. We were always able to put out the albums we wanted, and tour as much or as little as we could. Even while under contract, we still self-released EPs, and they were always cool with that. Anything that helped bring attention to the band helped move the records we put out with them.In the end, it all came down to us being a small fish in a big pond. When the contract ended, they didn’t want to continue with us, and even I felt like we had done as much as we could with them. We would never be one of their bigger bands, and we would never make them money. At the end of the day for them it’s a business. They have bills and employees to pay. It’s awesome that they are continually taking a chance on young unknown bands and are getting them out there. There’s definitely a lot of people that only know us because of Relapse. They gave us a chance, threw us against the wall, but it didn’t stick. I still appreciate the effort and the support we continually get from them.I’m not saying that we’ll never signed with a label again, but the list of labels that might want to sign us and that we would want to sign with, is pretty slim. We’ll see with time what happens, but we have no problem putting out our own records, and now, with the creation of Noise Salvation, I feel like it’s something we can keep expanding on.The production on 'Abandoned' is so perfect—it really captures the frenetic immediacy of the songs themselves, and that tone is so dirty. There are some really interesting clean guitar parts in there, too. How did you approach the recording and mixing/mastering process for this one?
Thank you. These 3 songs were originally written back in 2009-2010 for our last album with Relapse Records, Die Miserable. They were cut from the record because we didn’t feel they fit with the flow of the album. The music for Abandoned was recorded back in 2011 at our home studio with the intention of releasing it as a bonus of some sort alongside Die Miserable, but we just never got around to completing it. So basically, these songs sat on a hard drive while we toured for Die Miserable and just sort of got forgotten. It was always in the back on my mind to complete them, so when we finished our tour in April we had decided to take the rest of the year easy from touring so that I could actually finally wrap up this EP, a split 10”, and our next full length album. In July of this year, we finally recorded the vocals for these three songs, and I mixed and mastered the EP in August.This is all done at our own recording studio, Apartment 2. It’s a small studio that we started in 2010 when we recorded Die Miserable. Everything we’ve done since then has been recorded there, and other bands such as Alaskan, Biipiigwan, The Great Sabatini, The Sun Through A Telescope, and many others have also recorded albums there. It started just as a place for us to create our own music, but over time it’s also become my day job.What goes through your head when you listen to Abandoned? What was your headspace like when you were recording?
It wasn’t the ideal circumstances to get this EP completed, but I’m definitely happy with the end result, and mostly with finally having it out there. It’s tough for me, because I’m working on it myself, and even though I want to get it done, there’s no pressure and I can start to feel like I have this endless amount of time. It’s great, because I don’t have the stress or pressure of looking at a clock and opening my wallet, but I have to reach a point when I just stop myself and say, “Okay, this is fucking done," export the master, upload it and don’t listen to it again for a month. Once I go back and listen to it, usually any of the minor things that I though were a problem are not even noticeable to my ears anymore, and even if they are, oh well. It’s done and out, time to move onto the next recording. That’s a big thing that I’m trying to change in my approach to working on my own releases. We’ve had way too many recordings that have taken a year or more to finally release, so when it’s finally out, we’ve already moved on from that as a band. Even now we’re not writing, because we want to clean off our plate before we get into anything new.It seems as though you have been keeping even busier than usual with FTF and a new project, Merdarahta. I'd love to know what's going on there. What I've heard is fantastic—so bleak.
I reached a point where I needed change and I had to reach out musically in other ways. Honestly, I really thought Fuck The Facts was going to be it for me for life. If you would of asked me 5 years ago if I would start a new project, I would have said ,“No way!” I started Fuck The Facts as an escape from having a pile of different projects. It was my sanctuary where all ideas and musical expression was welcome. Even now, it’s hard for me to work outside of it. A part of me feels bad when I do stuff outside of FTF, and I constantly question myself and wonder if I’m doing the right thing, but in the end, I had to do something. I was becoming a very angry and miserable person, feeling trapped and disappointed with everything around me. There were things happening that were out of my control, and I was doing everything in my power to try and not let go of what I had been building up over the past decade. So far, I haven’t been able to let go, but I have loosened my grip, and this has brought me into creating Merdarahta as well as performing as a solo artist.Merdarahta started as a B-side of a Fuck The Facts release, but ended up turning into a new project, and yes, the first recordings were four-fifths of Fuck The Facts along with our friend Leigh Newton from The Sun Through A Telescope. Since then it’s become more of a collaborative effort to include members of bands like Winters In Osaka, Black Oak Decline, and even some ex-FTF members.The recordings are based mainly off of improvisation sessions, and it’s really what I see as the opposite of FTF in many ways. It’s a lot more about creating an atmosphere and mood than it is about “riffs.” At the base of it, it’s noise, but there are still many musical elements involved. Once we brought it to a live setting that’s when the doom element started to creep in. Just like FTF, it’s an ever-changing beast, but it definitely has it’s own persona. The project is still in its early stages, but I think similarly to how FTF has sort of developed a “sound” over the years, the same will happen with Merdarahta. I have a lot of different ideas and releases already lined-up for Merdarahta, so we’ll have to see where it takes us, but I definitely want to keep it dark and more on the experimental side of things.What's going on with Time Kills Everything, your project with the Culted dudes? Are there any plans to record anything new?
Nothing new happening there, but I’m pretty sure if I wrote to Matt and Mike and said, “Let’s do a new TKE recording!” they would be on board. I still see those guys whenever I’m in Winnipeg, and we’re in touch regularly on-line. I would at least like to re-release the two recordings we did, and maybe record a new song or two. Perhaps this is something that’ll happen down the road on Noise Salvation.On a more personal note, how has parenthood changed your perspective on touring and on being in a band in general?
Huge life changes it general, and all for the better. As you can probably gather from my ranting, I really poured myself into this band and really put all things aside to make it work. It’s great to be passionate and I definitely still am, but it got to a point of being unhealthy mentally, physically and emotionally. Watching my daughter grow up has put so many things into perspective that I was too blind to see before. The first couple of years weren’t much of a change, but now that she’s 4 years old and I see her growing up in front of me, I can’t help but feel silly about some of the shit I used to worry or even care about. Anyone that’s been doing this underground band thing for any length of time knows there’s a lot of bullshit and just plain stupidity that you have to deal with regularly. I love making music and it’ll always be a huge part of my life, but what's even more important to me now is just being a good dad. I grew up with amazing support from my parents, and I want to do the same for my daughter. I don’t want her to grow up remembering me as the dad who was never there or who was always too busy and preoccupied. The most important thing to me now is that she grows up loved, happy, and feeling like she can accomplish anything she puts her mind to. So now, when the promoter from Country X keeps ignoring my messages or the pressing plant has a delay with our new record, I just say, “Let’s go play at the park.”What are your plans for the next few months?
New recordings from The Great Sabatini, Black Tower, Unfun, Outrage AD, and Beyond Impact, are all underway as well as a new Merdarahta release and the next Fuck The Facts full-length album. FTF also has a new split 10” with our buddies from Quebec City, Fistfuck, that’s just about to get sent to the presses. That’ll be the next Noise Salvation release.Fuck the Facts only has one show lined up on December 13th in Trois-Rivieres, QC, but we’re starting to look at our touring plans for 2015. Most likely it won’t be much until our new album is released, so in the meantime I’m just playing a few solo shows in the region to keep myself playing live. I have more than enough to keep me busy, and it’s actually been really nice to take a break from the road.What are a few records you really dug this year?
The new The Great Sabatini album 'Dog Years' is really good (I didn’t record it, so I can say that), Accursed Spawn's Putrid EP, Ash and Elm's self-titled, Street Meat's Taco Night, Major Entertainer Mike H's Opening Act 7", Bleak's self-titled, and a biased thumbs up for the new Alaskan album, Despair, Erosion, Loss. I recorded it, but the song writing is incredible. This is a band more people need to know about. Also, I recorded a band called Collisions In Grey And Red this summer and it’s probably my favorite release of 2014, but it’s not out yet, so I’ll have to keep it for my 2015 list.Kim Kelly is grinding it out on Twitter.
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Thank you. These 3 songs were originally written back in 2009-2010 for our last album with Relapse Records, Die Miserable. They were cut from the record because we didn’t feel they fit with the flow of the album. The music for Abandoned was recorded back in 2011 at our home studio with the intention of releasing it as a bonus of some sort alongside Die Miserable, but we just never got around to completing it. So basically, these songs sat on a hard drive while we toured for Die Miserable and just sort of got forgotten. It was always in the back on my mind to complete them, so when we finished our tour in April we had decided to take the rest of the year easy from touring so that I could actually finally wrap up this EP, a split 10”, and our next full length album. In July of this year, we finally recorded the vocals for these three songs, and I mixed and mastered the EP in August.
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It wasn’t the ideal circumstances to get this EP completed, but I’m definitely happy with the end result, and mostly with finally having it out there. It’s tough for me, because I’m working on it myself, and even though I want to get it done, there’s no pressure and I can start to feel like I have this endless amount of time. It’s great, because I don’t have the stress or pressure of looking at a clock and opening my wallet, but I have to reach a point when I just stop myself and say, “Okay, this is fucking done," export the master, upload it and don’t listen to it again for a month. Once I go back and listen to it, usually any of the minor things that I though were a problem are not even noticeable to my ears anymore, and even if they are, oh well. It’s done and out, time to move onto the next recording. That’s a big thing that I’m trying to change in my approach to working on my own releases. We’ve had way too many recordings that have taken a year or more to finally release, so when it’s finally out, we’ve already moved on from that as a band. Even now we’re not writing, because we want to clean off our plate before we get into anything new.
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I reached a point where I needed change and I had to reach out musically in other ways. Honestly, I really thought Fuck The Facts was going to be it for me for life. If you would of asked me 5 years ago if I would start a new project, I would have said ,“No way!” I started Fuck The Facts as an escape from having a pile of different projects. It was my sanctuary where all ideas and musical expression was welcome. Even now, it’s hard for me to work outside of it. A part of me feels bad when I do stuff outside of FTF, and I constantly question myself and wonder if I’m doing the right thing, but in the end, I had to do something. I was becoming a very angry and miserable person, feeling trapped and disappointed with everything around me. There were things happening that were out of my control, and I was doing everything in my power to try and not let go of what I had been building up over the past decade. So far, I haven’t been able to let go, but I have loosened my grip, and this has brought me into creating Merdarahta as well as performing as a solo artist.Merdarahta started as a B-side of a Fuck The Facts release, but ended up turning into a new project, and yes, the first recordings were four-fifths of Fuck The Facts along with our friend Leigh Newton from The Sun Through A Telescope. Since then it’s become more of a collaborative effort to include members of bands like Winters In Osaka, Black Oak Decline, and even some ex-FTF members.
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Nothing new happening there, but I’m pretty sure if I wrote to Matt and Mike and said, “Let’s do a new TKE recording!” they would be on board. I still see those guys whenever I’m in Winnipeg, and we’re in touch regularly on-line. I would at least like to re-release the two recordings we did, and maybe record a new song or two. Perhaps this is something that’ll happen down the road on Noise Salvation.On a more personal note, how has parenthood changed your perspective on touring and on being in a band in general?
Huge life changes it general, and all for the better. As you can probably gather from my ranting, I really poured myself into this band and really put all things aside to make it work. It’s great to be passionate and I definitely still am, but it got to a point of being unhealthy mentally, physically and emotionally. Watching my daughter grow up has put so many things into perspective that I was too blind to see before. The first couple of years weren’t much of a change, but now that she’s 4 years old and I see her growing up in front of me, I can’t help but feel silly about some of the shit I used to worry or even care about. Anyone that’s been doing this underground band thing for any length of time knows there’s a lot of bullshit and just plain stupidity that you have to deal with regularly. I love making music and it’ll always be a huge part of my life, but what's even more important to me now is just being a good dad. I grew up with amazing support from my parents, and I want to do the same for my daughter. I don’t want her to grow up remembering me as the dad who was never there or who was always too busy and preoccupied. The most important thing to me now is that she grows up loved, happy, and feeling like she can accomplish anything she puts her mind to. So now, when the promoter from Country X keeps ignoring my messages or the pressing plant has a delay with our new record, I just say, “Let’s go play at the park.”What are your plans for the next few months?
New recordings from The Great Sabatini, Black Tower, Unfun, Outrage AD, and Beyond Impact, are all underway as well as a new Merdarahta release and the next Fuck The Facts full-length album. FTF also has a new split 10” with our buddies from Quebec City, Fistfuck, that’s just about to get sent to the presses. That’ll be the next Noise Salvation release.Fuck the Facts only has one show lined up on December 13th in Trois-Rivieres, QC, but we’re starting to look at our touring plans for 2015. Most likely it won’t be much until our new album is released, so in the meantime I’m just playing a few solo shows in the region to keep myself playing live. I have more than enough to keep me busy, and it’s actually been really nice to take a break from the road.What are a few records you really dug this year?
The new The Great Sabatini album 'Dog Years' is really good (I didn’t record it, so I can say that), Accursed Spawn's Putrid EP, Ash and Elm's self-titled, Street Meat's Taco Night, Major Entertainer Mike H's Opening Act 7", Bleak's self-titled, and a biased thumbs up for the new Alaskan album, Despair, Erosion, Loss. I recorded it, but the song writing is incredible. This is a band more people need to know about. Also, I recorded a band called Collisions In Grey And Red this summer and it’s probably my favorite release of 2014, but it’s not out yet, so I’ll have to keep it for my 2015 list.Kim Kelly is grinding it out on Twitter.