Featuring ex-members of Counting Crows, Onesidezero etc, Faint on Call releases 2nd track from their upcoming Sylvia Massy (Tool, Taylor Hawkins, Melvins etc) produced album
(SAN FRANCISCO, CA) - OCTOBER 28, 2022 - Faint On Call, a new supergroup featuring former members of notable groups including Counting Crows and Onesidezero, have released their 2nd single “Harpoon” on Spotify and Apple Music. What began as a collaboration between friends in early 2021 has now manifested into a nearly complete full length album, which was recorded and co-produced in Mexico with acclaimed producer Sylvia Massy.
Stream “Harpoon” on Spotify | Apple Music
Faint On Call Official Website | Instagram
Tobias Hawkins speaks further on the single; “Harpoon’s” lyrics were based on a great book I read recently , “The Heart of the Sea” by Nathaniel Philbrick. The first verse riff of arpeggios inspired the lyrics quickly—“take her by the wheel, feel her spokes of ten, so smooth to the palm" referring to the wheel of the ship's smoothness and its massive power. The song is about a terminally ill sea captain who doesn't have much time left. He decides to take himself out on one final sea voyage to die, inspired by the Viking tradition of a deceased body being set in a boat, lit on fire and cast out to sea in a blaze of glory. He is tanked up on pain meds and his journey becomes hallucinatory. As he begins to fade, in his mind he has harpooned the sunshine and is being pulled into blissful light.
Vocalist Tobias Hawkins is known for being the original drummer of legendary rock group Counting Crows, and over the years has also played with groups including Laundry (Tim Alexander from Primus) and The Girlfriend Experience. Bassist Cristian Hernandez, spent much of the early 2000’s touring in the notable rock group Onesidezero, before going behind the scenes and working professionally with LA producers David Bottrill and Ulrich Wild. Guitarist David Rodriguez is from the Bajio, Mexico region (along with Cristian Hernandez). Drummer Arthur McConnell recently joined the group, who has played with popular Bay Area groups like The New UP and Felsen and has professionally toured as a session drummer for over 2 decades.
The members and longtime friends are from both the United States and Mexico, with Hernandez and Rodriguez being from Celaya and Hawkins and McConnell being from Northern California and Boston respectively. They have a shared passion for 90’s alternative rock, the creativity of 80’s melodic groups and underground sounds including shoegaze and art rock. “Pearl” and the majority of the upcoming album was co-produced and engineered by both Sylvia Massy Massy and Cristian Hernandez in a small villa in Mexico over the past year. Faint On Call not only produces a wall of sound, but has dynamic and emotion both instrumentally and with Hawkin’s haunting, yet beautiful voice that pulls the listener to another level.
About Faint On Call:
Faint On Call is a band born in lockdown, a hybrid sound between 90's alternative shoegaze post grunge and late 80's melody driven rock. It’s that familiar feeling of having heard these songs before but not being able to pinpoint exactly where and when. The hooks and chunky hypnotic layers match perfectly with the heavy, yet hopeful, visual lyrics that could only have come from the dark downtimes of Covid 19 isolation.
The founding members, Tobias Hawkins, Cristian Hernandez and Arthur McConnell challenged each other’s songwriting abilities in a daily trudge through music apps and emails during 12 months over 2020 and 2021. Tobias: “I got a text one evening from my old pal Art, a drummer, asking if I would be willing to record some vocals on a track one of his friends had created. All I had to do was download an app onto my iPhone and join in the fun. I was frustrated with the shelter-in-place policy we were living in, because of the pandemic. It had meant the end of live performances and the end of work for me as a musician. So, I went with it, excited I would be making music again even if it was online.
Media Contact:
Bob Bradley
Bradley Public Relations & Marketing