At summer camp in Connecticut we were surrounded by rich kids wanting to be hippies; keeping it pure and beautiful..we felt like the odd ones out." So says the fakes guitarist/songwriter Jase McCormick of the origins of the Australian Shoegaze/dreampop/country/electro band’s name. "You’d have these kids smoking pot then deodorizing their room with $150 cologne whilst we ere earning about 23 cents an hour. "
Looking back on that period in the projects history; Jason reflects that "My e-mail writing skills were a lot better than my song writing ones because we had labels such as RCA and record mogul Brian Malouf(Michael Jackson producer) assigning A+R people to check us out-which didn’t involve much effort on their part as we were more of a studio project and not a real band so it was pretty near impossible trying to get a live show out of us ."
It was not until 2003 and relocation back to Australia that a new batch of songs were written and a permanent line up was finally put together. It was at this time that drummer Dave Cox; bassist Peter Bouwman and cellist Caz Gannell; with singer Juliarna Cleal and guitarist Jase McCormick became the fakes.
In the course of preparing to record their demos; the fakes hooked up with producer Robbie Rowlands (frente; 1200 techniques; the Morning after Girls; )and things began progressing at a faster rate.The fakes debut Ep Storm in a teacup was recorded and released through MGM distribution.
Sales of the Ep were modest but respectable for a new band with no publicity or management behind them as they set about putting in the hours live around Melbourne’s better known venues. The band was gelling and the shows; whilst conservative and understated started getting the band more attention. "No other band was really doing what we were; which was that 1990's influenced shoegaze sound."
The band returned to the studio to record the follow up ’Little Deaths" which was sonically a leap forward; full of angelic vocals and layered;reverb soaked guitar lines. The CD got some good reviews and the Ep was sent out to radio.Several labels in the states were keen to release the Ep on the back of Sigur Ros’ success; whom the fakes had recieved comparisons.
Work finally began on a debut album. Over the next year the band played shows to increasingly growing audiences whilst expanding their sound; coming across as more Slowdive than Mazzy Star. With more driving drums and bass; and noisier guitar; the band was morphing into a more contemporary sounding unit; at times being compared to Alternative favorites such as Blonde Redhead, Camera Obscure; and Trespassers William. There was also a nod to 60’s band Love; who had heavily influenced San Francisco’s tripped out psychedelic sound. The band worked on the album throughout 2007-2008 with mixing finally beginning in February 2008.
hey there. thanks for the friendship, your music is wonderful. when are you going to be playing around Melbourne again, we would love to see you live. Good luck with finding a new drummer too ;)
Your new album is beautiful! Just uploaded several tracks to the station and they've already aired with plenty more air time to come. Wish you all the very best!
![エロマティックミル [elomaticmill]](http://c1.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/97/s_c64765fa6bb7475a80a7095d698581c0.jpg)
I Know You Are Smiling Because You Are Asleep by The Fakes
