Editor’s Note: There is a band emerging on the scene that is composed of De La Torre, Mr. Big, The Winery Dogs, Smash Mouth, along with an incredible drummer that has toured with the who’s who of musicians/recording artists in Randy Cooke, and that is The Fell. The Fell recently released their single and music video for “Footprints”, and let me tell you, it’s going to put rock-n-roll back in the mainstream pop charts once again, to me, that’s where it belongs. It was a fun conversation with “young Jack Sparrow” aka Anthony De La Torre, who recently joined The Fell and Mike Krompass(Smash Mouth). Without further delay, here is my conversation with Anthony De La Torre and Mike Krompass of The Fell.
M.T.C.: How’s it going today?
Mike: Good man, it’s great to be talking with you!
M.T.C.: My question is for Anthony, you just joined the band as the new frontman for The Fell, how did that come about?
Anthony: Mike and I had worked several years ago on another project, and we had such great chemistry, such a great vibe, and we got along so well, so about eight days ago, Mike called me and asked if I was willing to do this project with him, and I couldn’t say yes quick enough, I was super stoked to get the opportunity to work with him. Two days later, I flew out to Nashville and we recorded.
Mike: We are halfway through the album now.
Anthony: Halfway through the album, eight days later.
M.T.C.: Compare your chemistry to the periodic table of elements in school, what elements would you say?
Anthony: *laughs* Here’s the problem, I didn’t really pay attention in school.
Mike: It would be like hydrogen and oxygen.
M.T.C.: Why hydrogen and oxygen?
Anthony: I’m not going to answer that so I don’t sound like an idiot. *laughs*
Mike: I thought we were going to get all pornographic for a second there. *laughs*
M.T.C.: What does the writing process for a song by The Fell look like?
Mike: We don’t have any rules, so it’s kind of like if anybody has an idea, it’s all on the table. When we were making the record, that’s how we did it, and one day one would come up with a riff, and then Billy would come in the room and we would just jam out, and other days I would work up an idea of a little demo that I had, we’ve just kind of done it that way.
M.T.C.: A little bit ago, you guys mentioned previous projects, what previous projects did you guys work on together?
Anthony: I have another band called De La Torre, he had written our first single “Ruins” and we worked on a couple of tracks together.
“Ruins” by De La Torre
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AE4pb92vsDsM.T.C.: You guys released the music video and single for “Footprints”, as of very recently, what can fans expect from that song and what is the song talking about?
Anthony: The video is just reality. I took footage of myself flying out to Nashville, showing up to the studio and seeing Mike again for the first time in three years, and all of the shots are real. The song is about feeling kind of stuck where you’re at in your life and wanting to hit the restart button, and just the frustration and the power that comes with that.
Mike: All of the shots of him on the mic were actually real recording shots, we just kind of amalgamated it into that.
Anthony: We didn’t just record then shoot the video, it was all done simultaneously.
Mike: It was kind of cool for us watching it back, the only parts that we kind of added after that were Randy played along because he was in L.A., and Billy is in L.A. right now, so they recorded themselves and sent that over and did some guitar shots of me playing, all of the vocals was all Anthony live, just shots of him recording the record.
“Footprints” The Fell
M.T.C.: I interviewed Billy Sheehan recently, tell me what is it like working with him?
Mike: He is a god on the bass, it’s interesting because for me I grew up listening to Mr. Big records, and he was a major influence on me, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Steve Vai, all of that shit, it had an affect on my guitar playing, so to sit there and look at someone that you grew up admiring and you go, “oh, wow, I’m in a band with him, crap”, it’s really cool. But, he is so humble and so down to earth and so friendly, it’s always ever since day one of meeting him and saying, “hey, let’s start a band”, he’s always been very brotherly, it’s cool, it’s a great bunch of guys and we all get along really well, it’s going to be a lot of fun on the road.
M.T.C.: What can fans expect from a concert from The Fell?
Anthony: Me naked, Billy will be donning a Vikings helmet, it’s in the small print of his contract. *laughs*
Mike: Randy will definitely be naked.
Anthony: That wasn’t in his contract, he’s just doing that on his own. No, I think it’s just going to be four dudes freaking jamming out every night just having fun. I think that’s how this whole band started. It’s just getting into a studio, jamming for two hours and recording it and just rocking out and having fun.
Mike: The other amazing part is that it really does feel like the band is just starting, we haven’t really played except for a small performance, so this will really be all of us getting in to rehearse and working it out and getting in to playing real shows, so it’s like day one. As soon as that video came out, it was us starting again.
M.T.C.: Kind of going back to the “Footprints” single, what do you guys do to motivate yourselves when you feel like there’s writer’s block or whatnot?
Mike: Eat.
Anthony: Watch Spongebob.
Mike: Listen to Justin Bieber records.
Anthony: You can draw inspiration from so many different places. You do need to walk away sometimes when you keep hitting your head against the wall and when you’re not sure what the next move is, or how you should approach it differently, if you’re unhappy with something, sometimes you just gotta walk away and come back with fresh eyes.
Mike: Luckily, it’s been really productive when we get in there and we do what we need to do.
Anthony: With these guys, it doesn’t happen, they’re just ridiculously talented, Mike is a phenomenal producer, that’s why we’re eight days into it and halfway done with the record.
M.T.C.: Any idea on when the record is going to be released?
Anthony: We’re hoping to have it out by February.
M.T.C.: Any working titles or anything?
Anthony: Matty is one of the possible names for it. That’s something that we’re heavily considering right now. *laughs*
M.T.C.: I’m flattered if that actually happens!
Mike: Anything is a possibility.
M.T.C.: In the three years, what have you guys learned as musicians? What is one thing that you have learned?
Anthony: For me, I have learned that I am not in control of everything as I like for it to be, and that’s life. Sometimes in life, you just have to go with the flow and if things don’t go according to plan, you just gotta be water and flow. Don’t become stagnant, just keep going with what’s happening and learn to adapt and evolve with your current situation, that’s really the only way to enjoy life. Things are always going to pop up that you don’t expect, so you just gotta go with it.
Mike: Keeping an open mind to different possibilities and I don’t think I could say what he said any better. Just keep an open mind and keep changing and keep evolving, don’t get locked down to one style or one way or one anything. Keep going.
M.T.C.: If Donald Trump is moshing to your concert, how do you react?
Anthony: I just let him be. Be like, “that’s right, even Donald Trump rocks out to our music”.
Mike: If he’s rocking out and not casting his opinions or screaming at anyone in the band, it’s cool.
M.T.C.: If you could make a song with one pop star living or dead, who would it be and what would the song title be?
Mike: I’m torn between Paul McCartney and Dave Grohl. I think I would like a new record with Dave Grohl, I think that would be f****** awesome. The song title would be “F*** It”.
M.T.C.: Anything else you guys want to add in regards to The Fell.
Anthony: Yes, you can find us at www.thefellmusic.com, it has links to all of our socials there. We’re super stoked to keep releasing some new music and to have that record out by February.
M.T.C.: Thank you so much and good luck with continuing the recording process!
Mike: Thanks for having us!
And there you have it! Special thanks to Natalie for setting this up and to Anthony and Mike for taking time out of their busy schedule to give us time in this little corner of the web. You can find The Fell at the following locations:
The Fell also has a run of September dates coming up, please check their official website for tickets and further information:
Wednesday, September 6th- Basement East in Nashville, Tennessee
Friday, September 8th- Diesel Concert Lounge in Chesterfield, Michigan
Saturday, September 9th- Anthology in Rochester, New York
Sunday, September 10th- Evening Star Concert Hall in Niagara Falls, New York
Monday, September 11th- The Rockpile West in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, September 12th- The Brass Monkey in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
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