Sometimes in music one thing leads to another and six degrees of separation later you find you’ve been afflicted with lust at first listen to a band you didn’t intentionally go to check out in the first place.  Welcome to my life about two years ago when Mae and The Honorary Title showcased with Far-Less in Los Angeles.  Aside from a great set of bands I’d heard of before, I ended up digging Far-Less’ sound, and fell in love with them all over again when actually listening to each of the lyrics on my way over the canyon and through the hills, home.

The band’s gone through a lot, and is no longer officially still together, but the amicable split is still leaving FL supporters everywhere a little inclined to hope that maybe one day a reunion show of some sort will become a reality.

Since most of us want everything stronger, better, faster- now- Far-Less is introducing “A Toast To Bad Taste” on vinyl and the limited edition 12 inch is going faster than your prom date.  Obviously since music fans and fiends can’t ever get enough of auditory tricks and treats, I caught up with Jordan Powers (guitar and vocals) to see what’s up in the postpartum Far-Less realm (and more urgently, where to snag the limited edition vinyl post haste!)

LN:  Alright, where’d the name Far-less come from?

JP:  We have a friend named Brian Farless and somehow we ended up using his name and making it two words.  Maybe that was it?  I can’t really remember haha.

LN:  You guys had a bit of a band member switch up last tour- what’s the deal?

JP:  Before the last tour a couple of the members left the band.  We sort of had to scramble to find replacements, some of whom didn’t really work out or want to be touring so they left as well in the middle of the tour leaving us without bass and keys.  Fortunately Mike Schey from the Honorary Title and the Format and Robert from MAE were happy to help us on bass and keys and later in the tour our friend Josh King from House of Fools joined us to finish on bass.  It was a pretty big mess, but ended up working out

LN:  Christmas just passed did you plan on giving out snuggies, shamwows, or shakeweights to your loved ones?

JP:  Well, my mom and dad already have shakeweights and my grandparents have snuggies, so I just ended up buying everyone used books and vinyl records.  I could use a snuggie though if anyone feels so inclined :)  I have a shakeweight attached to my body somewhere I think.

LN:  Main musical influences as a band?

JP:  We all listen to a lot of rock stuff…the pumpkins, radiohead, pink floyd, soundgarden, etc.  Riding around in the van listening to music was always a shot in the dark.  Anything from Manson to Wu Tang to Willie to Coast to Coast….

LN:  The lyrics on “A Toast To Bad Taste” are all pretty dark- who’s responsible for writing the lyrics, or is it a team effort?

JP:  Brandon Welch wrote them all.

LN:  Nintendo NES, Sega, Wii, or PS3

JP:  NES and Sega for me cause I can’t afford anything new.

LN:  You’re stranded on a desert island- which 3 CDs do you bring? Or do you just talk to Wilson to keep yourselves sane?

JP:  Good question.  I would probably talk to myself most of the time, but if I had three albums hmmm…..Sunny Day Real Estate “The Rising Tide,” Grandaddy “Sumday,” (mainly cause I am wearing those albums out right now) and maybe some Skynyrd or Grateful Dead or something to make me feel happy from time to time.

LN:  What’s up next for FL in twenty-eleven?

JP:  We are releasing Toast on vinyl.

LN:  There’s a non officially released FL song floating around- “Green”- can we find it anywhere aside from facebook or myspace?

JP:  Not sure.

LN:  What would you do for a klondike bar?

JP:  I like the swirly soft serve from McDonalds way better, so pretty much anything for that.

LN:  Any pre-show vices/rituals?

JP:  I always drank before shows in far-less.  still do in House of Fools.  not a lot though…well…most of the time haha

LN:  Craziest show/tour story you can recall?

JP:  That’s’ a hard one that I have tried to answer several times.  i think we could write a book about that stuff, so maybe I’ll just do that.  $15 at Barnes and Noble…or in reality…probably not.

LN:  Where can we swoop up your limited edition “A Toast To Bad Taste” Vinyl!?

JP:  Over at www.bigcartel.com

(Click HERE for direct link!)

If you have listened to the fifteen tracks that make up the effortlessly poetic CD- you know that the vinyl will only intensify the unintentional darkness of the album.  (If you haven’t, head over to www.myspace.com/farless to check them out.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect two hundred dollars.)  The perfectly poignant “So Glad” is one of my many faves off this particular album, and you can check out more about the song by checking out the backstory piece from FL’s Brandon Welch here!  Go forth and listen, and find out why “we all belong down here.”