“Why the fuck not” INTERVIEW: Fair Ohs

I recently arranged an interview with the brilliant Fair Ohs who have recently released a new 7″ single. Here’s what happened.

RHT: First off, who thought of the name? and was it actually, originally Thee Fair Ohs, as I have seen it on some sites?
The name was originally just Pharoahs, then we changed it to Thee Mighty Pharoahs in reference to Billy Childish and then we went through about 15 different permutations of the name – Thee Fair Ohs being the main one – before settling on just Fair Ohs.

Why cover Brigitte Bardot for the Eden Rock 7″‘s b-side? Does the band have some kind of 60s french model fetish? She was very hot
She was hot, but also a total racist, which is basically the perfect combination… amirite? Im so right. La Madrague, the Bardot song we covered, is actually about where she lived – and i think still lives – in the south of France, and since Eden Rock is about somewhere not that far away from there we thought the songs would be well matched. And who doesn’t have a 60s French model fetish? i think that’s a trick question.

Seriously though, has 60s pop, maybe french pop in particular, been an inspiration? You do get a sense of upbeat, a happy tone and especially the beach in the music.
Matt is a huge old garage rock fan and that’s had a big impact on how we sound. Things like the Nuggets compilation and the Pebbles box set are some of the things that first brought us together as a band, so there’s definitely a big influence there. Plus I’m big into 60s French girl-pop because i grew up in France and lots of those songs are about the beach and sunshine, like La Madrague, so yeah its had an impact. But the positivity in the music is something that comes more from hardcore punk. We decided early on that we were gonna be a really posi band and take influence from things like Bad Brains and Gorilla Biscuits and make music to dance to, not feel sorry for yourself to.

You’ve done a few singles on various labels, is there one you would like to commit to?
Not until we do an album!

What about the album plans then? Is it something you want to do in the near future or further off?
Yeah, we’ve got a split single with Cold Pumas, Women and Friendo coming out at the end of the summer and after that we want to hunker down and push out our baby album, for serious.

Would you consider changing the style in anyway, or experimenting with a different style as you made the album or after? that song “i’m your woman, i’m your wife” sounds a bit more lo fi and scuzzy than other songs
That song is actually off our first tape, we started out as a garage rock/hardcore punk band and that mutated into what we do now. We’re definitely gonna mess around with alot more stuff, we’ve got new songs that take a lot from Indian classical and Bollywood music and Brazillian Tropicalia and Bossa Nova. We’re all into totally different stuff so its all going to filter into the sound in one way or another.

You did a split release with Spectrals and a split cassette recording of a gig with Male Bonding, are they bands you really get on with, are there others that you like to gig or go on tour with?
Those bands are definitely friends and we’re all part of a little community of homeboys and girls who are all making fun music and playing gigs with each other. We play all the time with our friends’ bands and release split singles and tapes with them. The list of bands is pretty huge, but not hard to figure out – just look at all of our joint split releases and gigs we play and definitely have a look at the Paradise Vendors Inc compilation.

What’s your greatest challenge been as a band so far?
Matt’s annoying iPhone game he does on tour. its challenging in many many ways. And that sound Joe makes with his mouth. its fucking horrible.

Will you play down south anytime soon? we’re all in the hampshire area and as far as i know you haven’t played around here
Yeah sure, why the fuck not.

GET ON THAT SOUTHERN PROMOTERS, YEAH!

Downloads:
“I’m Your Woman, I’m Your Wife”
“Hey Lizzy”

The magnificent Eden Rock 7″ is available now via Sleep All Day Records.