FAQ: It’s much more than just sex

Gothtronic: FAQ is a electro/futurepop band from Switzerland. FAQ was previously known as Carpe Diem with which they achieved quite some success. Could you tell us something about that period of your life?
FAQ: We started in 1995 when we tried to use our spare time more useful than just watching tv all day and night, so with "seize the day" in mind, we found Carpe Diem. We did so, and in late 1996 we already recorded and released our first longplayer "Substitute" (later re-released as "Re-Substitute"). After supporting all kind of Indie, Electro, Gothic and Wave bands for about 3 years, we finally went on European tour together with Apoptygma Berzerk. After the tour we signed our first record-label deal on SPR and released "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy" in fall 2000 and re-released our debut record one year later and played on big festivals such as M'era Luna Festival in Germany. Then the problems with our band name became more and more serious and we finally had to change it. So we released (under the new band name FAQ) the record with the title "Carpe Diem" in 2003, which was quite confusing for a lot of fans and went on tour with De/Vision. The rest is history...

Gothtronic: FAQ had to drop the name Carpe Diem. Why was that and who was the pain in the ass responsible for this?
FAQ: We had to change it for political and legal reasons. It's of course not easy to change a bandname after 7 years but we finally found in "FAQ" a good replacement.

Gothtronic: Did changing the bandname mean a commercial or promotional risk ? Were you afraid people would not understand the change?
FAQ: Indeed, it was a risk because even if you communicate a new bandname it through homepage, newsletter, magazines etc. etc. you never reach everybody! So you have to accept, that some will never understand the change but it also gives an opportunity to reach new people which understand the new name as a new band. All in all, we did the right thing...ok, we didn't have the choice, but nevertheless, it was right!

Gothtronic: Are you happy with the new situation regarding the current band member line up of FAQ ?
FAQ: I'm very happy and the line-up is the best ever! I was looking for a band like this since I make music. Of course, we needed some time to find the direction we wanted to go and get close to each other. I know Thomas since many years and we always were in the same kind of music but Pille comes more from the Punk/Rock scene, so everything was very new for him. When he arrived, he couldn't even imagine, that a drummer and a bassist can be replaced by a computer... But after all, the line-up is great and I have the real "band-feeling" for the first time - this is how it should be!

Gothtronic: Could you tell something about each member’s individual involvement in FAQ?
FAQ: Thomas Daverio is responsible for the programming, electronics and composing. Together with him, I wrote, recorded, arranged and produced the record. While I'm doing the lyrics, vocals and 6-string-bass lines, he's doing the sound engineering and the technical stuff. Pille is playing the guitar lines which gives the songs the hand-made "human touch" we wanted.

Gothtronic: Do the FAQ members have regular day jobs? If so, what are those?
FAQ: Yeah, all (still) have "regular" jobs and working in the commercial or economy business. Life in Switzerland is expensive!!!

Gothtronic: How does a FAQ song come to life? Could you tell something about the creative process and studio recordings?
FAQ: It depends. For some of the songs I bring a lyrical idea and we try to give the words the right sound and sometimes, Thomas has a musical idea and i try to find the right words for it. We record everything in Thomas' own studio, which is a big advantage because we don't have the pressure of having everything recorded during 2 or 3 weeks. It, of course, can also be a disadvantage if you have too much time... We finally try to involve some guitar lines on the right parts.

Gothtronic: Things went fast uphill after the release of the one track promo ‘The World is Cold Enough’, weren’t they?
FAQ: That's right. The feedback for "The World is Cold Enough" was very positive and everyone was quite surprised about the new sound and style of FAQ. So, everyone was impatiently waiting for the longplayer. With Stephan Groth and Jenna Jameson on the record, we surprised most of the fans again...mainly positive and the worldwide media are suddenly very interested in the electro band from little Switzerland.

Gothtronic: I really like the way that FAQ uses a guitar in their electronic pop orientated tracks. It adds some necessary edge and power to it. This is not very common for a ‘futurepop band’. Was the choice to do this deliberate?
FAQ: I was bored by the idea of making “synthesizer music-only” for the next 10 years… hell no, let’s use everything given!!! we love Placebo, we love Underworld - so we do both! I don't think that we are a typical "futurepop band" i prefer "electronic progressive pop" it gives us much more space and freedom to do what we wanna do. We probably will add even more acoustic instruments in the near future...maybe not - we will see!

Gothtronic: How did you come up with the theme which ‘Is Pornography Art?’ is dealing with?
FAQ: It is based on a private discussion I had a long time before we started with the production for the new album. I was also very fascinated by the general question "what is art?" and "who has the right to decide, what is art and what is not" - "Pornography" seemed to be the right and even more complex subject in context with this question.

Gothtronic: How did you get into contact with Jenna Jameson?
FAQ: I know Jenna since quite a long time - long before we worked on the record - and since the beginning of the production for “Is Pornography Art?”, it was totally clear to me, that there is only one person in the world who can be on the cover for such a record: the woman who put the “star” into “pornstar”, the queen herself: Jenna Jameson. After I told her about the idea, she immediately agreed to involve herself in the record.

Gothtronic: Do you enjoy porn movies? Is art a thing for the mind and body? as well as sex ?
FAQ: Art can be everything and can be made by everyone! There probably are better or worse artists in this world but still, they are artists! One of the main reasons why Jenna was interested in this project was the way I treat the subject pornography. It’s much more than "just" perfoming sex! Much more… Above all, it is intimacy as well as for the body and the mind!

Gothtronic: How was the collaboration with Stephan Groth for ‘We Come In Pieces’ and ‘Heartbreaker’ ?
FAQ: It was great! Stephan and I are close friends since we did the APB "Welcome to Earth" tour together in 2000. I supported Apoptygma with my band Carpe Diem during the European leg and traveled through whole Europe and back together. It was a very intensive and important period of my life and the song "We come in pieces" is a dedication to all this. So I wanted to have Stephan's voice in the song and I was very happy that he found the time to do it and even made a remix for one of our songs. He's a real professional and working with him is very inspiring.

Gothtronic: Will we see FAQ live on a stage in The Netherlands in the near future? People would really dig this music over here.
FAQ: We are currently planning a European tour which will take place in autumn this year and we will make sure, that we come to The Netherlands as well. It's been a quite a while since we played there, about 4 years, so it's more than time to visit the "Oranjes" again....

© TekNoir, Gothtronic.com, 2005