The Farewell Folks Release Self-Titled Debut Album 

Indie-Rock band The Farewell Folks release a self-titled debut album ten years in the making.

All it took were two Craigslist ads to bring a group of talented musicians, once strangers, together with a little bit of luck, chance and perfect harmony. This November the five-person group released their self-titled debut album; something ten years in the making. While their name and album might both be titled The Farewell Folks, these musicians-turned-friends are far from saying farewell. Composed of Leo Song, Trent Hopton, James Peter Watkins, Emma Magirescu and Sean Alexander Witzke, the indie-rock group spent over a decade perfecting the self-described one-in-a-lifetime release. The Farewell Folks’ frontman and original Craigslist poster, Leo Song, spoke with Splash about The Farewell Folks, both the album and the band.

Tell me how the band came together. 

Late Fall 2010, I put up an ad on craigslist with my demos, looking for help filling them out. I ended up getting just 2 responses who ended up making the first iteration of the band. Trent and James were both multi-instrumentalists. Trent was (imo) the artistic conscience of the band. That is, he always knew when what we were doing was trash or at least, tacky. Looking back, I’d say he was mostly, usually right. James was attending audio school and ended up being the technical brains responsible for capturing it all and more. He and I had great chemistry. He could gesture with his hands what he wanted me to do on guitar and I’d do it. I could give him a vague reference of an effect and he would nail it first try. 

About a year in, we posted another ad looking for a female singer to join us. Emma came across the ad, showed the demos to her then-boyfriend. She was actually unsure about checking us out but at his nudge, she did. For the first while, I was very anxious that she was going to bail because what we were making wasn’t interesting enough for her ears. 

Sean was the last addition, about two years in. We had gone through several drummers and no one fit. If you listen to our stuff, it’s not exactly what a drummer dreams of playing. However, Sean was also a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, able to appreciate what a song needed. At first, I was very hesitant about him because I knew him from the church I used to attend, so not a great cultural fit. But we needed somebody and he was keen. Ultimately, he ended up being the thrust in finishing the record. 

We got lucky in many ways. 

I love to learn how band names originate. Can you tell me the story behind The Farewell Folks as a name? 

Farewell is a beautiful way to say goodbye. It’s sweet-spirited. It’s a nice word to look at. Before starting The Folks, I had a list of names and TFF was one of them. The essence was “we are people on our way out.” You don’t get to keep the moments you want to stay in. Everything is riddled with farewells. Death being the final, as far we can know. It’s melancholy and melodramatic. Such is the record. The redemptive quality is that while we are impermanent, we can leave things that aren’t. By that, I mean music or art. The works we accomplish outlive us. 

Congrats on the recent release of the album. What has the response been so far? 

Thank you! We are very happy to have it out. I think anyone making anything and receiving any response is tremendously lucky. That’s not all praise, mind you. The ending of the record is particularly alienating. That is, if you were struggling to make it there, we probably lose you once it’s over. But, there is a “type”. I’ve heard from a fair few calling the album their favourite ‘thing’ in a long time. You hear the “how are you not famous?” trope, which is very kind and well-appreciated, but terribly misguided. We expected a polarized response and that’s what we’re getting. In any case, we understand. 

Tell me a little bit about the album. It certainly tells a story. Can you tell us about this self-described “Breakup Album with God“?  

I wrote the songs on the album over the course of five years. It was a period in my life when I had left the church and was, at least informally, excommunicated. Because frankly, I lean black sheep. The album tells the story of someone wanting something they can’t have. I think the pursuit of “the Divine” is the purest version of this conundrum. The music–the big parts–I think correctly evoke the big feelings around this. We want Nirvana but cannot attain it. We want love but we end up alone. We are for prosperity but seemingly always without it. 

What was the process like of making the album? How long did it take? 

Excessive. Expensive. Idealistic. Dumb. Right. 

How would you classify and describe your music? 

If music had its own Ancestry.com, it would be some offshoot in the indie rock family. There’s a lot being referenced throughout. Lyrically, the closest thing I can think of is Brand New’s Devil and God record or the psalter. Just a weird lyrical milieu to be in. The crescendos are in the post-rock vein (We love Sigur Ros). Tonally and sonically, we borrow from a lot of 60s+ production, too much to list. There’s emo and pop punk in there for sure. Some dream pop. Some pop pop. We mumble and sing but also do big anthem gangs. We use a couple hip hop tricks. There’s some semblance of what you’d hear in a church. I’m sure there’s a textbook classification but I don’t know what it is. Muggleblood indie? I’ll go with plain ol’ dark indie-rock. 

Now that the album is out, what is next for The Farewell Folks? Will you be going on tour?  

There is definitely an anthemic angle in this record that plays well with an audience and we want to perform, so I’ll say yes while also not knowing what my holiday plans are. Right now, our focus is on new material. I have a second record written that is less esoteric, less in my head, more in the world. Still dark and “on-brand” but more digestible, maybe even fun. I think if we lose anyone in track 8, maybe we win them back in LP2. Maybe. 

If you could imagine the future of The Farewell Folks in five years, what does success look like? Can you paint that picture for us?  

SNL, Late Night, Madison Square Garden, world tour, win the hearts of the people, make rich, messy break up and call it hiatus, go broke, make up, reiterate, re-peak, philanthropy. Wake up. And all that in just five years! We are much better musicians than we were when we recorded this album. We’re more technically capable. We’re better songwriters and performers. We’re just more mature. Our eyes are on a sophomore. If we can keep making music we’re happy with, then we’re winning. If we ever make a record/track and put it out because “that’s what we have,” that’s when we kick the can. But I think we’re making fans doing what we do.