Interview: Getting to to Know Fail the Enemy

UK metallers Fail the Enemy return with new music and a heavier, synth-driven sound. The band will release their new EP, Sandcastles, on Friday 9th October alongside their brand new single and video, Drowning Deep, landing on Friday 2nd October. In this interview, we get to know them a little better.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Thanks for having us! We are Fail the Enemy and we are a three piece alternative Rock/Metal band from Keighley, West Yorkshire. The earliest inception of the band was way back in 2015 but it really started to get towards where we are now in 2017. We write our music comes from a mixture of feelings and past experiences that we have been through and it’s very personal. There is so much emotion poured into it and we hope that it can resonate with anyone who listens.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

We play whatever comes to our minds when we are writing. We are mainly classed as Alternative Rock/Metal but we like to incorporate electronic and orchestral elements within our songs. Our mind sets and what we are listening to most around the time of writing can influence how the songs turn out. Although we want every song we write to sound different, we like to keep it coherent with each other.

3. What’s currently keeping you busy? A new album/EP/single release? A new video? Playing live, or planning ahead?

We have a brand new EP called ‘Sandcastles’ coming out on 9th October with a first look at a brand new song from the EP coming on 2nd October alongside a music video. We also have a few gigs coming up in the coming months including our headline show in our hometown on 7th November. We are in the process of organising a few more with some already in the works for early 2027.

4. What is about this current period that is particularly exciting for you?

The most exciting thing is that it really feels like everything we had envisioned for this upcoming chapter of the band is really coming to life. Sometimes everything you have planned seems so far away that you almost can’t see it happening. We have also been through a lot of challenges to get the band back up and running again after a 5 year hiatus so to be at this point with a brand new EP all finished and only a few weeks away from being released is somewhere, at one point, we didn’t think we’d be so it’s exciting to see all the hard work over the last couple of years paying off.

5. Tell me about the work that has gone into making it a reality and what it means to you.

The main thing we have found is we have a lot less time now than we did the first time round. We all now have full time jobs and bills to pay which wasn’t an issue before as we were younger then so having to manage writing, practicing and fitting in studio time has been hard work and has also taken its toll on us at times. Because of this, it feels like we have had to almost learn how to navigate being a band again but it’s all been worth it!

6. Making music and being creative can be a very positive experience and can be very good for the mind. In what way has making music had a positive impact on your mental health?

We use the band as an outlet. It has always been a way of dealing with our past and present struggles when talking has been the hardest. For all of us, listening to music is a release from reality and when you listen to a specific song and you can relate to the lyrics or the music makes you feel something, it can help you to heal even a small part of you. So when we hear a song come to life in the studio and it evokes those same feelings in us, but it’s us and our experiences that has gone into the song, it’s a really powerful thing and helps keep us going. It has also been a way for us to look back and see how we’ve grown. When we look back at these songs, we can reminisce about who we were compared to where we are at that time. It’s like audible memories to show how far we have come.

7. It can also be incredibly challenging, more so in the modern times. What have been some challenging aspects of making music and how have you overcome them?

For us the biggest challenge has been finding our sound after a few years away. We’ve been backwards and forwards so many times and some songs have had 5 or 6 completely different demos and styles before they have become what they are now. We have learnt to not rush things for the sake of it. We would rather take our time and leave it a bit longer before releasing something to make sure it’s 100% what we want rather than trying to write as much as we can and we end up with some stuff we’re not a fan of. It just seems like a waste.

8. How do you handle the online aspects of being in a band? Having to put out content constantly, promoting across several different social media platforms, and having your success measured in likes and follows?

That aspect of the band can be quite challenging. Knowing what content to post and then creating it can take a lot of time and thought. We feel like we do what we can and that our social media content is of a high standard but it is hard if you post something and it doesn’t do as well as you thought. We do share the responsibilities of posting or coming up with ideas to post between us which can make it easier. The main thing is trying to keep consistent so you come up on peoples feeds regularly but sometimes there are quiet periods where we really struggle with what to post.

9. How do you make this part of things enjoyable, and fulfilling, for yourself?

It’s about staying motivated. Once you’ve got the motivation, making content becomes easier and the quality of what you can create increases. It’s really satisfying when you start on making a video with one idea, and then the rest of the ideas start flowing and you make something cool that you’re proud of.

10. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support you?

Just keep listening, streaming and watching our music and come see us play live. It goes a long way to helping us build and establish ourselves. Also, we have a newly refurbished website that has everything FTE on it as well as our merch store so it would be great if you could check that out!

11. Outside of music, what do you like to do to relax?

We all love playing video games. When you can immerse yourself in another world as someone else for a bit can be a really nice escape from reality. We also like going on walks in nature. It’s so peaceful and can allow you to process everything.

12. Where can people find you?

We are most active on our Facebook and Instagram accounts but people can also check out our music on any streaming service of their choice. We also have a tik tok account.

Links

Website | Instagram | Facebook