We are the Fury

FLARE.com caught up with Jeremy Lublin, the lead singer of We Are The Fury, as he was unloading equipment for yet another gig. Since May 22nd, the date the album (Venus) was released, the five member band out of Toledo, Ohio has been touring non-stop. Lublin spoke openly about his band’s hard-to-define sound, their Bowie-inspired style, and what fans can expect from the upcoming summer tour.

Flare: In April, Rolling Stone named We Are The Fury their “Artists to Watch”. What does that feel like?

Jeremy Lublin: : It was crazy; especially since we were touring in a van and our CD hadn’t even come out yet. Rolling Stone is a magazine that we grew up reading and they’re pretty defining on rock ‘n roll, so it was really an honour.

F: Did it add any pressure to the CD release?

JL:: I don’t think so – it was just a cool thing that provided some validation and showed that we are being appreciated by the press. We always knew that our fans appreciated us, but to have Rolling Stone put their two cents in was cool.

F: You mentioned that you don’t listen to new bands – why is that?

JL: I do listen to some new bands, but I haven’t found a lot of new bands that I really like. I think that the music scene is a bit stale right now – at least with a lot of the bigger bands. It seems like there are three different types of sounds and if you don’t fit into those three, then you’re not anything – at least that’s what the media has you believe. There’s the emo-pop stuff that’s big, then there’s the mainstream radio rock stuff, and then there’s the hipster indie bands. I get bored of listening to that same stuff over and over again. We’re obviously more influenced by more classic rock, so we have a sense of rawness amongst the others, I think.

F: So, to find music you like and can relate to, do you have to go back to music that was made before there was any pressure to fit into one of those categories?

JL: Not necessarily. Sometimes it’s just digging deeper into yourself. Maybe it’s the music industry, or because of the internet, but bands are so inundated with what’s going on [with sales and marketing] that they all sound the same. From my perspective, the problem with the hipster scene is that the songs are boring, even though the style is good. Then as far as the emo-pop stuff – it has a lot of energy, but it all sounds the same. And as for main stream radio rock – it’s pretty cheesy. I like some aspects of all of it, but I think I feel more commonality with classic bands.

F: One website said that if early 70s glam and late 70s post-punk had a love-child – it would be We Are The Fury. Is that a fair statement?

JL: We definitely draw a lot of inspiration from those genres, but to just combine those two when describing us is limiting. For people to try and describe a band is really difficult and that does make some sense, but I feel like saying that – and only saying that – limits our description. Each band is different, and music is sometimes too unconventional to categorize. Being described as 70s glam mixed with late 70s post-punk, doesn’t summarize our entire sound.

F: It doesn’t really describe your unique style either. Do you have a style icon?

JL: Well, going back to the 70s glam stuff, probably Bowie and T-Rex are the more obvious acts that we draw from. But we also take into account what type of people we are and what would be unique to us. We aren’t just trying to create a throwback band, but we borrow bits and pieces from stuff that we like and mix it with who we are. On stage we’re more extravagant and a bit over-the-top.

F: So, for those people that are going to see you this summer, what can they expect from the show?

JL: A lot of energy and a great f*cking time.