The Fake Friends have three main personality traits: a love for loud rock and roll, a healthy obsession with tinfoil-hat conspiracies, and a magnetic pull toward the neon glow of VLTs. That “high-roller on a budget” energy is baked into their debut LP, Let’s Not Overthink This (dropping February 13th via Stomp Records). It’s the sonic equivalent of a 10-meter swan dive into a pool of cheap beer.
The Standout Tracks
- “Sucker Born Every Minute”: An anthemic lead single where frontman Matt Savage skewers the “confident but clueless” type over a hook that’ll live in your head rent-free.
- “The Way She Goes”: A total mood shift. Savage wrestles with his own demons against a backdrop of jagged guitars and a beat that hits you right in the chest.
The Secret Sauce
What keeps the chaos organized? It’s the chemistry between Luca Santilli and Felix Crawford-Legault’s dueling guitars, the locked-in rhythm section of Michael Kamps and Michael Tomizzi, and the atmospheric layers provided by Bradley Cooper-Graham on keys.
The Big Mystery: The real conspiracy isn’t about aliens or the government—it’s how a band that refuses to take itself seriously managed to get “government-sanctioned” status. Journalists are baffled and auditors are stressed, but the band has a simpler request: Don’t overthink it. Just get in the van and enjoy the ride.
Pre-save or pre-order vinyl of our new LP Let’s Not Overthink This – out February 13th – here! https://orcd.co/lnot
What does your music say about you?
None of us have a proper/helpful/professional diagnosis for what’s wrong with us, we all self-medicate by playing half hour sets between 1 and 5 times a month and writing lyrics that are “tongue-in-cheek,” it is NOT working, but god dammit does it feel good.
Has your musical journey had a deliberate direction, or did it simply gradually evolve in whatever direction it found?
It’s definitely a pivot. Most of us started out in metal/hardcore bands – not our bassist Michael Kamps, who calls it “bad and scary” music – and have looped back around to this project. I think lots of people are surprised at how much softer and more accessible this band is than our past projects, but our live shows make it make sense. We’re still trying to get people to run the dancefloor all night, it’s just that instead of calling for people to “destroy this pit” or “make use of Canada’s health care system,” we just ask them to do a silly little dance instead.
What’s the worst show you’ve ever played?
We once played a show that was so cursed that the venue shut down unexpectedly and without notice the next day. We played the Vertigogo off of this mortal coil with our live set – guaranteed straight to hell, no purgatory no resurrection.
If you could go open a show for any artist, who would it be?
Viagra Boys is a white whale for us. Groovy scumbag energy is the air we breathe, and I think people who like their energy would either really like us or find us memorably annoying, which are both huge W’s.
What can we expect from you within the next 6 months? Any releases planned? Future gigs?
Our debut full length record Lets Not Overthink This comes out on February 13th via Stomp Records – it’s sick and even after listening to it 400 times for mixing notes we still like it. Once our singer’s broken heart heals and his sternum congeals, we’ll be playing some shows in Montreal to celebrate, including an outdoor show at POUZZA Fest with Buzzcocks on May 16th. After that, we’re looking to get rowdy in new cities. If anyone has a contact for us to play a half time set at a Brighton FC match, our drummer would really appreciate it.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Shania Twain please answer our calls, let’s write Come On Over Vol.2 together it’ll be so sick pleaaaaaase.
Answers by Felix
As a kid were you ever frightened of a monster under the bed or in the cupboard?
I was absolutely horrified that the Kool-Aid man was going to smash through the wall and abduct me. This is not a bit. I don’t sit with my back to the wall to this day.
Which fictional character do you wish was real?
Paul McCartney. I never figured out how they got so many people to pose for the Lonely Hearts Club.
Would you rather be the one in a movie who gets the hero/heroine or the baddie with all the good lines?
Sir this is an NA meeting, you can’t be talking about heroin and good lines. Meet me behind the Chuck-E-Cheese in an hour
What historical figure would you love to see in 21st century life?
T1000 Dick Cheney from Terminator 2. No more heart transplants, just unbridled war mongering. Then a T-800 hunter comes back and pops him again. Deep cut, you wouldn’t get it.
If you could ask your future self-one question, what would it be?
Did I ever learn my lesson?