With 2022 debut album Remnants of the Vessel, LA trio Faetooth revealed a blend of ethereal cleans and harmonies, building to crushing guitar riffs and harrowing screams while combining shoegaze, doom and sludge.
Before that, their 2019 EP …An Invocation wore its punker influence with pride. Bassist Jenna Garcia explains: “In our primordial phase, grunge and riot grrrl artists like Babes in Toyland, Hole and L7 were critical to our being a band.”
Their sophomore LP, Labyrinthine, expands their thematic and cinematic vision. “It’s an ingress and egress from the middle to any realm – Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory,” Garcia says. “It’s a personal journey into the depths of the psyche. The minotaur at the centre can stand for the self, desires or personal struggles.”
Guitarist Ari May offers a hint at their inspiration: “I was antiquing a lot, collecting iron keys and distorted old photos, and looking at imagery of abandoned historical places, like overgrown graveyards. That stuck with me – the idea of being abandoned inside yourself.”
While they were both drawn to music at a young age, neither were sure if it was the right path. “I got my first bass when I was 11, a cherry Ibanez,” Garcia sayd. “I never had lessons – I didn’t even know you had to tune the thing! God bless my parents… it probably sounded awful!”
May adds: “I was 14 and heavily into classic rock like Jimi Hendrix and The Grateful Dead. I didn’t take it too seriously; it was just a skill I wanted to learn.”
When they met at a house show in high school, they started to dream big. “I now had friends in bands and realized this was something I could do,” Garcia recalls.
Faetooth’s hypnotic live performances – with the pair often performing in trance-like states – owes a debt to their unlikely emo and pop-punk influences. “I’m a huge My Chemical Romance fan,” says Garcia. “I love Mikey Way’s bass playing, but I was also fixated on Lyn-Z of Minor Self Indulgence.
“It was powerful seeing a woman on bass. She was an amazing performer, doing back-bends and crowdsurfing, wearing cool outfits. I was like, ‘I don’t care what it is – if I can do that, put a bass in my hand!’”
Garcia and May play custom-shop Dunables: a silver flake Gnarwhal bass, and a green R2 baritone. Garcia says: “Sasha Dunable has created this instrument for heavy music, but it doesn’t have to be in doom and sludge. You see people in hardcore playing them. When you’re in a lower tuning like drop A/B Standard, you want something reliable and stable.”
May reports: “Before getting my Dunable, I never felt like a guitar was mine. I started out on a gold 50th anniversary Squier Strat, but I was like, ‘There are a million of these!’ I have a Danelectro ‘67 Hornet and another baritone with humbuckers that I used for Remnants – but the sound wasn’t there yet.”
Garcia’s current ’board consists of two EarthQuaker pedals, an always-on Blumes bass overdrive and a Hizumitas fuzz. “The Blumes gives you that addition oomph,” she says. “You can have the nice low rumble without the growl, or you can add a little sizzle.
“My fun one is my Hizumitas – it just goes crazy. I’ve gone through an array of fuzz pedals; who hasn’t? But being a three-piece, you want the sound to meld so it doesn’t become an incoherent ball of noise.”
In contrast, May confesses they “collect a ton of pedals and it’s hard for me to commit.” But for now they prefer EarthQuakers. The LP features a Palisades overdrive for clean tone, then layers of heavy guitar use an Acapulco Gold pushing a Does It Doom Doomsaw. Live, they use a Cloven Hoof, Afterneath reverb, and a Hizumitas “when it’s crazy chaos time.”
On their last tour, they both used an ABY splitter for two 4x12 cabs each, powered with Hiwatt Custom 100s.
While doom metal is seen as a niche, Faetooth’s “fairy doom” identity has exposed them to a wider audience.
“We have a really amazing range of people coming to our shows, young and old,” Garcia says. “It really warms my heart when trans fans, and fans in general, tell us that our music helped them navigate something difficult in their life.”
The band loved their first time playing Europe. “There were so many amazing people and beautiful historical places,” May says.
Garcia adds: “Our first stop was Mystic Festival in Poland. It was crazy to see people singing our songs – it was just gnarly.”
- Labyrinthine is out now via The Flenser.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
