First Person Shooter
By wavelength ~ Posted Monday, December 3rd 2007Purveyors of: AK47s and 909s and Nintendo DSs
First Person Shooter are sort of intimidating. Their fast-moving, punk-tinged pop snarls and growls, and their image matches the sound. The band is split into two teams: Red Team (Christina on synths and Nikkole on guitar and mike) and Blue Team (Ryan on guitar and Mike and Darren on bass). Their performances are missions, their songs are levels, and their instruments are weapons. Allana Mayer lacked the elite combat training necessary to sit down with the band, but creatively rearranged their emailed answers to make it look like she did.
In five sentences or less can we get a history of the band?
player two: First Person Shooter formed in may 2005 after player three (Ryan) answered the ad I placed on Myspace which read: “Me and red guitar need a band.” For the first 40 missions or so the band was a straight-shooting garage rock post-punk band with two guitars and two singers (Ryan and I), [plus a] bass player and a drummer (okay, actually it was more like about 10 bass players and 3 drummers). It was mostly good times, though we never really got along all that well. The whole thing seemed kind of analog for a band called First Person Shooter, and Ryan had just bought this big fancy drum machine, so back in December of 2006 we broke up the band and started over again with a new bass player (Darren) and a synth player/drum machine operator (Christina). Since then it’s been wicked – some great missions, a new website, tons of new levels, a new EP, and even a Wavelength gig!
player four: My last band, Edith Keeler Must Die, broke up last year. My old drummer heard that FPS was looking for a new bassist and recommended me. I dug the people and the tunes so I enlisted.
What's all this 2.0 stuff? Who's original and who are the new players?
P2: FPS 2.0 is just the way we refer to the current electronic phase of the band, post real drummer.
Ryan (player three) and I are the original founding members of the band. When we decided to move to electronic drums we recruited a couple of new players – Darren (player four) came to us on high recommendation from his previous band EKMD and Christina (player one) was the first and only person we considered for the 909 operator.
What's the story behind "discovering the 909"? Were you having a problem with drummers who weren't robotic enough for you?
player three: Yes, actually.
P2: Ryan and I were in an alley downtown last summer, smoking, waiting to go onstage. I can’t even remember which mission it would have been. But he was super stoked about the Roland MC909 that he’d just found at Long & McQuade and what it could do for our band – basically allow us to move to an entirely electronic, pre-programmed drum format. We were keen on the idea mainly because when we write songs we do it on the computer, and our demos always lost something in the translation to a live drummer and his kit.
player one: It's about the sound; real drums can't give us the feel that we're looking for. Real drums are awesome, but they just don't deliver the goods we want. Too bad drummers don't come in robot form – we'd be all over that.
P4: I had been working in my own home studio on electronic rock type music for years so joining FPS and learning to play live with the 909 as drummer was a rather smooth transition for me. I prefer the speed and limitless sound options available with electronic drums to a real drummer that talks back.
What's standard procedure for your "missions"?
P3: We mostly play songs. Mostly.
P2: Spend the day wishing one of us had a car, then tear across town after work to the jam space for the feats of strength. Lots of “hurry up and wait.” Load in, sound check, and then as much smoking and drinking as time/money will allow before we go on.
What should the audience expect from your Wavelength performance? I'm hoping it's bloodshed.
P4: Drunkenness and bloodshed.
P2: Maximum body count! And several new levels!
P3: I get abrasions on my strumming arm; sometimes it kinda bleeds.
P1: They can expect loud guitars, funky bass lines, really fast drums, and piercing synths.
Will you give the audience guns? Will you have guns? Can I have a gun?
P1: The audience never gets guns.
P3: Sorry, I don't have that many guns.
P2: I’m leery of arming an audience comprised mainly of Stillepost-ers and other assorted hipster types. I just think it would be an unwise move on our part.
P4: No, no, no.
And, finally: favourite first-person-shooter of all time, and whatever game it is that's sapping away all your waking hours currently.
P1: Duck Hunt, because I don't suck at it. As for what I'm currently into, I seem to like Brain Age 2. It's addictive.
P2: My favourite first person shooter game of all time would probably be Doom – classic and awesome. Currently I’m all about my Nintendo DS. Legend of Zelda is super cool, but Brain Age has an addiction factor of +10. Just ask player one.
P3: Postal 2. There's just something about pissing on a dude begging for his life. Currently I'm playing Oblivion: it's really really really addictive, but I don't have a lot of free time so I'm not gonna get sucked in. I'm not gonna get sucked in. I live in the real world and I don't own a sword and I'm not gonna get sucked in.
P4: My fave is Goldeneye. Right now the only game I'm playing is the "How am I gonna pay rent next month" game.
By Allana Mayer