Most bands become famous after releasing an album on a major label. Others win fans with the sweat of their brows by touring continually for years. A few others, thanks to the magic of Internet, stir up interest from fans from all around the world without having released even one album. It’s the case with the Montreal band Your Favorite Enemies. Showbizz.net spoke with Alex Foster, singer of this committed band.
Your Favorite Enemies was founded in 2006. In April 2007, they set up their own record label, Hopeful Tragedy Records. In June 2007, they released a self-produced 5 songs EP to answer the demand of their fans: “And If I Was To Die In The Morning… Would I Still Be Sleeping With You”.
The band offers a melodic alternative rock. Besides Foster, the band is comprised of Jeff Beaulieu (guitar), Sef (guitar), Ben Lemelin (bass), Miss Isabel (voice and keyboard) and Charles Allicy (drums).
Since, the Montreal musicians toured in Europe. Beaulieu took part in the latest edition of the MIDEM in Cannes and as for Foster, he met with their Japanese fans. YFE has also been named one of the 5 bands to watch out for in 2008 by Billboard.
In a phone interview, Foster is very nice and very talkative. We will discuss for almost an hour whereas most long distance interviews with artists do not go for more than 15 minutes. We deal with a man faithful to his beliefs and with a band that wouldn’t agree to anything to obtain fame and wealth.
Concerning the laudatory comments from the Billboard, Foster tells an anecdote that represents well the power of the medias. On the phone with his father, he had told him the good news. His father had simply answered, “It’s fun,” says the singer! Afterwards, the man read a paragraph in the Journal de Montréal on the same subject. He then called back, crazy as can be!
The EP
“We did our EP a little because of fans’ demands. We were already working on our album. People that were looking for our material were calling some retailers or distributors. There was a real craze. It was not only our friends calling,” says Foster.
He qualifies this EP as a “collage” and “an introduction to the band to please” the admirers. According to him, the sound of the EP is not the real YFE sound.
Thanks to the magic of Internet and MySpace, Your Favorite Enemies can count on the support of fans from the four corners of the world. If this band had gone through the normal distribution channels to deliver their 5 songs EP overseas, “it would have cost $45 in Australia and Japan. It’s absurd. We weren’t going to let such a thing happen. It’s improper and we felt a profound uneasiness,” recounts the singer.
Therefore, the band decided to offer this EP at the universal price of $10, shipping and handling included. From Montreal to Tokyo, everyone would pay the same amount to get it. The few profits made with the sales of the CD were reinvested in sending it to communities where the fans could not afford it.
YFE’s entourage thought the musicians had lost their mind but the experience proved to be fruitful. “In less than six months, we had sold more than 30,000 copies,” says Foster. Nonetheless, the five guys and the girl of the group became aware that their initiative required a lot of work. They had to see to the shipping with friends and members of their entourage! The task was big.
This year, the band would love to release two full-length albums: one will be released in the Spring and another would come out in Autumn. “We have our own studio. We are well organized. We will take the time that is necessary” to prepare the next album according to the musician.
The commitment towards the fans
According to Foster, the band cares first and foremost about their commitment to their audience and the respect of their fans. “At the beginning, we told ourselves that we would answer each person that would write us,” he says. The word of mouth made its way and the band broadened their audience.
“The music served as an introduction to the band,” the singer explains. To him, Your Favorite Enemies is not only a band, it’s like an entity with a social calling that notably supports several causes and organisms like Amnesty International.
On the band’s Internet blog, certain heavy themes like sexual abuses are addressed. Are also received testimonies of people who desire to confide. “People in the music industry are interested in the number of copies an album has sold. What we are interested in and consider a success is to enable the silence and isolation to be broken,” states Foster, who studied in social work.
“When the music will fade, something will remain,” adds the artist.
The fans of Your Favorite Enemies meet and organize events. They travel to see the band. Parents come with their kids to the concerts. “Everywhere we go, it’s like a big family reunion,” says Foster.
The singer recounts that he was talking with an older journalist who was comparing the phenomenon to that of the Deadheads, these fans of the Grateful Dead who would gather together as a community and follow the band on tour.
The music industry
According to him, bands are often “the flavor of the month” and a little like a “trinket” we offer as promotion in fast food restaurants. To survive, they will provide more than the customers ask for.
The band doesn’t have a manager as such. Nonetheless, they can count on a solid team to support them, among which are a lawyer and booking agencies for the shows. They notably deal with The Agency Group that counts in its ranks artists as diverse as Pink Floyd, Dio and Malajube without forgetting The Stills or Sum 41. The band also deals with an important English firm (Helter Skelter) for their shows in Europe and Japan.
“When a band experiences a form of success, some people want to take it as their own. We have to be alert and readjust the shot,” he says. “We are privileged. We work with people who love music and respect our approach.”
“In Quebec, Jeff knows Eduardo Da Costa (Marie-Chantal Toupin). He’s never asked us anything but told us that if we ever need it, (he’d be there),” adds Foster. For the singer, such helping hands are refreshing.
Some could promise the band to be the next big stars “in exchange for my soul and the grandchildren I might have one day,” recounts the singer. YFE prefers keeping its independence rather than sacrificing himself to the hotel of the majors.
For Foster, it is important to determine what success is for a band. Everyone has it’s own different perspectives. He wishes to not let himself be blinded or seduced by the bad sides of celebrity and the sacrosanct figures (album sales, tour incomes, etc.) the industry boasts.
In spite of his social sensibility and his standards, it’s sometimes necessary to play tough in the industry. “In a band, you need a (solid) shell but the fragile glass heart must stay intact and be protected. The entertainment universe, it’s a contact sport,” he states. “The industry is tough.”
The projects
On February 28th, the band will give a concert at the Petit Campus de Montréal as part of the global event Love Music Hate Racism, to counter racism and the rise of the extreme right. No prior edition had taken place in Montreal. University students thus decided to organize a show and approached Your Favorite Enemies to participate. The approach delights Foster. He is glad that students and not promoters carry it.
This show will give the kick-off to a big weekend that will enable the group and the fans to meet. The French magazine Rock One notably organized a contest open to the fans in certain European countries to enable one lucky winner to come to Montreal and spend the weekend with Your Favorite Enemies.
“Everyone who wants to be there is welcomed. It will be a huge happening. We know that people from Japan, Australia, England and Quebec will be there,” says the singer.
During the weekend, the group will film the music video for the song “Open Your Eyes”. They will also broadcast interviews and images on the Internet, and so much more.
YFE will partake in the next edition of the South by Southwest Festival in Texas in March. They will give a concert as part of the “M for Montreal” event. They will also play at a show organized by an independent record label. “We do not work with them but they invited us and we said yes,” explains Foster.
In the same month, they will also play as part of the Canadian Music Week in Toronto.
The band wants to further develop it’s website and offer more to their audience thanks to new technologies. Without falling into reality TV, Foster mentions the possibility of showing the band’s recording sessions on the Internet.
They also wish to give a series of concerts in China, country where human rights are overridden.
So many twists and turns for a band that doesn’t even have a full-length album on the market!