Everyone is Out to Get Us: A Chat with Brandon Welch of Far-Less

Discography:

Broken Hearts Unite (Silent Uproar Records, 2003)

Turn to the Bright EP (Tooth & Nail, 2004)

Everyone is Out to Get Us (Tooth & Nail, 2006)

A Toast to Bad Taste (Tooth & Nail, 2007)

Far-Less are a punk band from Marion, in southwestern Virginia. They never had a stable lineup, in fact frontman Brandon Welch isn't even on their first demo EP from 2001. But they had a devoted fanbase and were able to raise the profile of punk in the state during their all too brief tenure. In 2008 or so I interviewed original bassist Joseph Powers for my book and he was working in a Barnes & Noble music department. The band's story was interesting and a bit harrowing but it was theirs. Brandon Welch graciously stepped up to the plate to talk about their story, the good and the bad and everything in between.

Pete Crigler: What got you interested in music?

Brandon Welch: I have been a fan of music since I was very young. My mom loved rock n roll and REM was always playing in our house. At daycare my friend PJ and I would sit by the boombox all day instead of playing with other kids. We were way into it all. I knew by the time I was 10 that music would be my life’s passion.  I started my first band at age 12 and never stopped.

Pete: How did the band come together and what was the regional scene around you like at the time?

Brandon: There was one band in my hometown besides my band but they were older. Echo 3 was their name and they practiced across the street from my high school girlfriend's house. I would go watch them sometimes. I still talk to those guys but they were the only other band in my town and they were way better than us.
I saw Bloodjinn play at a rec center about 30 mins from my home town when I was like 16 and that was when I realized there was an actual scene in SWVA. It just wasn’t in Pulaski where I lived. That Bloodjinn show and a basement show on New Years that year started a bunch of things for me. I found out about upcoming gigs and met local musicians and befriended the guys in Couchboy.
I don’t know exactly how FL started. My band Purity played some shows with them early on and we became quick friends. They were called Super Team at first (fyi) and it was Jordan, Joseph, Ray, and Jake. They were together for a year or so before they lost jake and asked me to join.
Jordan was the main singer at that point but asked me to take his place as he stepped into being full time guitarist for the band. Far-Less was a Christian band when I joined and I tried to get into that and even write like that for a while but it just wasn’t me. By the time we were working on Broken Hearts Unite I had started writing my own lyrics and was moving onto different lyrical themes from the original intent of the band.

Pete: Tell me about the Emerge EP and developing your sound.

Brandon: I wasn’t around for that. I can tell you that 311 and incubus type stuff was a musical influence on them. The lyrics were almost all Christian themed. Jordan and Jo and Ray started FL. Jordan sang and wrote the guitar stuff. I remember hearing that EP and thinking like “damn, these dudes are gonna be huge.”  I was so happy when they asked me to join. I didn’t care they were religious. I just wanted to be a part of that energy. It was special. It was magic.

Pete: What was it like making Broken Hearts Unite?

Brandon: Making BHU was a mostly organic thing. We had regular scheduled practices that were also writing sessions. Sometimes Jordan would come to my house or we’d meet up and a friends house and hash things out on acoustic. Everyone was involved. I remember one very heated practice where we all ended up outside at the Powers’ home. Rayland demanded that we start writing more aggressive material or he would leave. That was a crazy day! It worked out though as you can hear.

Pete: How did Mark come to join?

Brandon: Mark and Jordan attended Young Life camp together and I guess they had a real bond. Once we started talking about adding another player Jordan was keen on giving Mark a chance to try out. He flew to Va and jammed with us and partied with us and that was that. We loved him!

Pete: How did the band come to sign with Tooth & Nail? 

Brandon: I believe that Scott Harkey from Silent Uproar Records had a lot to do with that. He was probably our biggest fan and greatest ally from early on. He handed out cd’s at shows and fests until John Frazier from t&n got ahold of it. The importance of those dudes should not go unrecognized. They gave us a real shot at our Rock n Roll dreams.

Pete: What was it like making Turn to the Bright and Everyone is Out to Get Us?

Brandon: Two completely different experiences. For Turn to the Bright we were full on excited and just ready to attack. We did a bunch of the writing in our usual way at practice and stuff but our friend Helen Cason and her family allowed us to use a cabin they had on some land to set up and jam in for a few days. That was awesome. I think we wrote “Mountain Song” there. That was a cool vibe.
We tracked it with Jamie King who was the only producer we had ever worked with. Working with Jamie is tons of fun and a highlight of my musical journey. ALL HAIL SWIFT!
In contrast, by the time we were making Everyone… I had foolishly moved to NC, some 5 hours away. Making it hard for everyone. I would come in like once a month and work with the guys. It took us a year or so to write it and I think that is mostly because of the distance and touring schedules. I was keeping a handheld recorder with me at all times too. (A gift from Josh Nibert) I was recording so many conversations with friends about conspiracies and stuff. Building ideas for the albums concept which I had never really done before.
We tracked that album in a mansion in Georgia with Andy Reily and Lee March. Lee had become a close friend of ours and is still a friend of mine. He played bass for Minus.Driver who are still one of my all time fave bands. I believe the band emptied the liquor bar by the end of like day 4. The homeowner wasn’t pleased.

Pete: What was it like touring the country; do you feel the band made a lot of strides? 

Brandon: Touring was a roller coaster! It was our dream come true and a nightmare too. I am forever thankful for the opportunity and experiences. We made some forever friends and we saw so many good bands and cool things. But it is an incredibly unhealthy way of life. Particularly when you are living on $5 a day. At some point we won a bunch of Taco Bell bucks and that helped fuel us for a little while!

Pete: What was 'success' like and how did the band react to it?

Brandon: I’m not sure how to answer that hahaha. I don’t consider our story a success story by rock n roll means. We did make it out of our hometown scene. We worked incredibly hard for what little we had. We made some albums and did some tours. We made some fans and we made little to no money. We ended up in debt. It made for some bitterness and hard choices later on.

Pete: What was it like bringing Todd in and making A Toast to Bad Taste?

Brandon: It was a pretty seemless thing. Todd and the group got on so well. We were always cutting up and having fun. He made us laugh and brought some new fire to the group. He’s a trip.\

We got to live in LA for a little bit while we recorded “toast”. The label hooked us up with a little apartment and we felt like rock stars for a bit. So that was cool.

We recorded with Mike Green and the experience was positive overall. He is a fantastic producer and very knowledgeable. We were very confident with the material and the direction we were moving in sonically.

I have this memory of leaving a barcade and this minivan covered in Christian bumper stickers rolls by. It slows down and the driver looks at me and yells “Jim Morrison is dead! Kurt Cobain is dead! Jesus is alive!”  Then he peels out.  That’s an odd memory of that trip that has always stayed with me.

Pete: What was the dynamic like after bringing Elizabeth in?

Brandon: I’d rather not discuss Elizabeth and I believe the other members would agree with that.

Pete: Was that a difficult touring situation for that album?

Brandon: We really only did 2 tours for Toast. Keep in mind that we lost a big chunk of our audience after we mellowed out a bit. We did one short run with He is Legend and a U.S. tour with Mae. Halfway through the Mae tour while we were out west our fill in bassist Jared Draughn and our keys player decided they were going to leave. No discussion, no argument, just “we are going home.” That was incredibly fucked up. They left us halfway across the country without 2 members!
We were fortunate in some ways, though. Members from Mae and The Honorary Title came to our rescue nightly and filled in those empty slots.

Pete: How did Joe, Todd and Mark (and later Elizabeth) all depart and when was the decision made to throw in the towel?

Brandon: Joe and Mark left just prior to the Mae tour. In retrospect, we were really bad about handling thing like adults. Like with our drummer Ray. We were young and dumb and ambitious. I don’t recall any real sitdown discussion or anything. Joseph wanted to focus on school and Mark wanted to go back to Arkansas and get his life together. They may have emailed us. I was smoking so much herb at the time. I don’t exactly recall how it happened.
Music was becoming a little harder to justify in terms of sacrifice because we made no income. No one was paying rent with music. As unromantic as that sounds it was a reality that these young men were facing and they made choices that they had to in order to secure a future for themselves. Actually, that was quite mature!
Todd leaving was more messy. Like with Ray. It was emotional and sudden and I’ve always wondered if it were handled in the proper manner. It’s water under the bridge now.
Bitsy was gone once she left us out on the road. We never really saw her after that.

Pete: What happened with the Headache EP?

Brandon: I believe that Tooth & Nail opted to let us go rather than release it. It was a self-recorded and produced (by Hackler) EP and we had a blast writing it. It’s floating around online. I still have versions of it on my soundcloud page.

Pete: Do you have any regrets about ending the band?

Brandon: In the past I have personally had regrets, yes. Those days are gone. Today, I am beyond grateful for what we had and so thankful that I am still friends with those guys. I thank the Most High God on the regular for that band and those guys. Jordan changed my life by asking me to join FL. That dude has a piece of my heart forever because of it.

Pete: Tell me about House of Fools.

Brandon: They are a band from NC that we buddied up with early on. Very close real life friends of us all. Jordan joined them after we split up and went on to make some great music.

Pete: What have you been up to and do you keep in touch with everyone?

Brandon: Jordan is in multiple projects: HOF, The Finns, BAL, and Planet of the Sun (w/me and hackler). He and Hackler have produced some albums as well.
Joseph put out an EP called Float the Mountain. 
Todd has released an EP as SUMU and does visual art. 
Mark is playing 90’s covers with some buddies from Arkansas.
I’m working on a project. God willing I’m bringing in a very special person to track drums. As long as Covid doesn’t mess us up.
The Lessers (Far-Less alumnus) have had our ups and downs but for the most part we are a brotherhood. We keep in touch.

Pete: Where do you think the band's place is in the history of Virginia music?

Brandon: I have never really thought about that! We got way more love in NC then we got in Va. We got lots of love at home for sure, but outside of our zone in SWVA we never really turned any heads. I would be honored to even be considered as a part of Virginia’s musical history.

Pete: What do you hope the band's legacy will be?

Brandon: We worked hard and did things our way. We refused to conform to any scene or to any one genre. Our legacy is the music that we leave behind and I am very proud of it.