PHOTO BY GLEN E. FRIEDMAN
FAKE NAMES F
ake Names, the debut fulllength from new punk supergroup Fake Names, comes out May 8 via Epitaph Records. Summer jams rarely, if ever, are this bright and vibrant, seething with a political edge that will stoke any rage fires you’ve kept alight since 2016 (or before). This is a masterclass in how old legends can write excellent new noise that’s as resonant as their past, and shines a bright light on their future.
The story of Fake Names clearly begins and ends with two individuals. There’s a central connection that goes back decades, to the inception of D.C. post-hardcore. Michael Hampton (Embrace, S.O.A., One Last Wish) and Brian Baker (Minor Threat, Dag Nasty, Bad Religion) are likely to share the blame/credit for a whole host of emotional hardcore bands over the past four-plus decades, and your favorite band probably lists one of Hampton’s or Baker’s bands as an inspiration. Their friendship has persisted over the years, but it was rekindled one day when Hampton was inspired to write a Dag Nasty riff. “I write a lot of music for T.V. and com-
30 NEW NOISE
INTERVIEW WITH GUITARIST MICHAEL HAMPTON BY NICHOLAS SENIOR
mercials,â€? Hampton shares. “And I “I'm glad you had that impression,â€? of music while still being its own thing. just wanted to try to write a song like he smiles. “Because that's sort of our Rounded out by the vocal talents of I used to write. So, I tried to write a impression too, that everything went Dennis LyxzĂŠn (Refused) and the sulDag Nasty song, and it just hap- pretty quickly. It was an easy thing to try basslines of Johnny Temple (Girls pened to be a week where Brian do, and it's just been a joy to do com- Against Boys), Fake Names have came over and visited, and he was pared to other bands that we've been clearly cemented a name for themlike, ‘oh great, you want to start a in, as kids which are fraught and emo- selves on this self-titled statement. The band?’ That's actually the first song tional and filled with teenage drama. fact that this happened at all is a mion the record. Brian and I just re- I haven't really been in a band for 20 nor miracle, according to Hampton. corded it quickly in my bedroom. We years, so it's a different world for me wrote three others at the same time. to be an adult and in a band.â€? “I'm sort of amazed that anyone gives It didn’t feel punk, necessarily. It a shit about this stuff at all,â€? he laughs. didn’t feel hardcore, but it felt like a Was there excitement or nerves, or just “From the ’80s, it's been a long time. comfortable amalgamation of stuff a midlife crisis thing with this band? And the fact that we've done this we had listened to then and now. So, record as middle aged men, and you hear Cheap Trick or The Beat- “Probably yes to [all] of those things,â€? people are still enjoying it and asking les or whatever, but it's basically the he laughs. “But I think for Brian too, about it is pretty mind blowing.â€? kind of music that we were [going obviously it's different for him befor], mid-tempo kind of stuff. It just cause he's been a professional rock With apologies, Hampton is incorcame out the way it did because I musician in Bad Religion for 25 years rect here – what’s amazing is that can't really write a Dag Nasty song.â€? now. But there was a time in the ’80s Fake Names have managed to when we were done with hardcore. write something more impressive Behind two living legends grind- We were done with punk, and we than their collective pedigree. This ing out tunes in a Brooklyn abode, wanted to do different things, and is a record that stands tall against there’s a homeliness, a comfort that so it's a little bit weird too, to sort of any punk record you compare it radiates from every musical pore come full circle and realize that just to. Thankfully, if you’re not in the of Fake Names. Don’t mistake that because it wasn't our music any- business of needless comparisons, for laziness, but it’s as if Hampton more necessarily, that it didn't stop, just sit back and enjoy punk royalty and Baker have honed-in on their that it kept going.â€? killing it as middle aged maestros. đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł đ&#x;’Ł strengths and play to them masterfully throughout this debut. That Fake Names encapsulates so much ease was a relief to Hampton. of the best parts of different eras
