PropertyOfZack was lucky enough to have the chance to interview Matt Fazzi (Happy Body Slow Brain, ex-Taking Back Sunday, ex-Facing New York). In the interview we discuss his new album, future touring plans, and his departure from Taking Back Sunday and their musical differences. Check it out, it’s a great read!

So, at the end of March it was announced that you would be leaving Taking Back Sunday and that their original lineup would rejoin and reconvene. Where exactly did that leave you in terms of moving forward?
Well, I kind of found out when everyone else did. They had given me a call saying that they were letting me go. And then I posted my little goodbye to the fans on TakingBackSunday.com. In like literally the first minute or two minutes they had posted a new band picture. So that’s when I kind of found out that they were going in that direction. Then I pretty much decided on the spot that the side-project that I had been working on for the last few years, basically as a back burner type of thing, would become my main focus. I always intended to make a record it was just something that kind of had to chill because other bands were in the priority first.

Its been said that things in Taking Back Sunday were rocky for a while, but was the switch a more than a surprise?
I don’t really know, man. I can’t speak for anyone else, but it was surprising for me. I guess, I don’t know. It’s hard to say what their real motivation was because I didn’t know that that was the plan. Musically we were a little bit on different pages because I wanted to keep pushing the band forward and to do something musically different because I felt that there was a chance of just getting stuck in too much of a formula and a comfort zone. The band just wasn’t doing anything fulfilling enough. I felt that things were getting a little too safe and I think that maybe where some of the differences came in. But I was pretty stunned about their decision to do that and it was pretty sudden, you know what I mean? I didn’t expect to not be in the band anymore.

Can you tell us a little more about Happy Body Slow Brain and the other members in the band?
Like I mentioned earlier, Happy Body Slow Brain has been a project of mine since about I guess 2006 or 2007. Originally it started as an electronic band. I wanted it to be mostly keyboards. So I was trying to go for that sort of thing. Then it totally over time just started morphing. Like I kept writing music for it and I really wasn’t sure what kind of sound I wanted until like more recently. And somewhere along the way, my friend Isaac, who had been playing guitar with us on tour with Taking Back Sunday, he was just really into the music and he expressed interest in being a part of it and I didn’t want it to be me. I wanted it to be at least a duo. I’m not sure I can make the comparison, but to like a Lennon McCarthy thing. I wanted someone to bounce my ideas off of. I didn’t want the band to be just me. I don’t mind writing, but I like having the filter of other people collaborating with me because I don’t think anyone is capable of doing everything great. It’s nice to lean on someone else if there’s certain things that they might have more strength in doing. That’s kind of how Isaac got into it. We’d been trying out drummers for days. The drum parts that I wrote, the drum parts that Isaac wrote are super intricate and really group based and very, very difficult. So we’ve tried a good four or five other drummers who really just couldn’t bring to life the drum parts in the right way. Then we got this guy, Eduardo, who was touring with a friend of ours in Gavin Castleton that we took out briefly on our fall tour last fall before we met up with the All-American Rejects. So he just kind of fell in our laps and he’s a phenomenal drummer and a super humble guy and he’s never been in a rock band before, which I think is pretty neat too.

Three video updates were posted in early May. What kind of progress have you made since in demoing and recording?
We did those little teaser videos while I was in San Jose to rehearse. We actually just made a record out in Michigan over the last…it took us a little over two weeks to record out there. I just got back a few days ago. We did, I think about 18 songs. The record will probably have about 13 or 14 on it. It’s just about to be mixed. We hope to have it mixed and mastered maybe in the next two weeks. But we’ll kind of see what’s going on. We’re doing it with this guy Mark Hudson, who’s been touring and doing sound with Taking Back Sunday for 8 out of the last 10 years. So Mark was actually around when shit hit the fans the first time. It’s very interested. I can’t believe he’s been with the band for so long. He’s been there since the first break-up.
POZ: And the second too.
Matt: Yeah, so he’s about to go out with them again when they do these dates they have coming up. But it was a lot of fun dude. It was the best experience I’ve ever had making a record. It was the most fun, the most relaxed and light and easy recording I’ve ever done. After the Taking Back Sunday thing went down I had already had a huge collection of songs. We had enough songs make a double album. So I just kind of picked my favorite 15 or 16 and put a lot of work into trying to finish them and to get them into a really good place so when we went into the studio we could just kind of breeze through everything. We got our rehearsals out of the way and went in really well prepared.

So would you guys like all 18 songs to be on the record?
No, definitely not. When I say 18 songs it’s more like 15 or 16 with two or three instrumental pieces that we have. So, not everything will be on the record. I think probably there will be three or four tracks that will be just extras that will be for something else down the line. We talked about doing maybe doing a split and using those extra songs for something like that. I’m not really sure. They’ll find a home. We wanted to have some options just in case something didn’t turn out as good as we were hoping.

Was the writing process completely different from New Again or Facing New York?
Yeah, mostly because it was mainly me. Me and then Isaac contributed too. Isaac did a couple songs that he contributed most of the music for and then I would just do lyrics and melody. But overall most of the record has been mainly like my little baby. It was really cool to just do exactly what I wanted to do and to make the record I wanted to make. I tried to fit in as many elements of my favorite bands and my favorite music into my own band as possible. It’s kind of cool to start from scratch with no expectations from anybody because then we can do exactly what we want. If people like it, they like it. They don’t, they don’t. I think the most rewarding thing is just having the opportunity to make the record that I really, really wanted to make. It’s the reflection of my musical personality.

When would you like to have it out by?
I’d like to get it out as soon as possible to be honest, dude. Once the record’s finished we’re gonna see what we can do as far as maybe trying to scare up a little label interest a little bit of booking agent interest. I don’t really care about a label that much right now, I’m more interested in trying to get a booking agent so we can just start playing a lot of shows. I think touring is the most important thing and I’m not really sure where labels stand in the future of music in general, so it may not even be a route that we want to go. We’ll see what kind of options we can get. In the worst case scenario, if no one’s interested we’ll put out the record ourselves in, I’m thinking no longer than two or three months from now. And if it seems like nothings going on we might just throw out the whole thing for free. We’ve got some ideas for what we might do. It really just depends on what we can make happen. For now we are completely DIY and any love that we can get in terms of spreading the music or spreading the band name would help and we would always appreciate it.

So you guys would definitely like to start getting out and doing some touring soon over the summer?
I mean, yeah. If we could start touring next week I’d be pumped, you know? But it’s just one of those things. Booking agents are the hardest thing to come by, but I’m hoping that my stint with Taking Back Sunday and just the friends that I’ve made along the way might hopefully nudge us in the right direction.

Obviously you’ve experienced a lot from Taking Back Sunday from a new album to Bamboozle to blink-182, but is it sort of weird to have your own baby project coming to life?
Dude it’s the coolest thing ever because…The Taking Back Sunday experience was really great. I learned a lot, but at the same time there was a lot of artistically frustrating elements about the whole thing. Mainly just when you’re on a major label and you’re with a band that’s as big as Taking Back Sunday there’s a certain level of expectation as far as like CD sales or sound of the band. We could never have turned around and made a Radiohead type record or something. And that’s understandable to a degree, but it doesn’t please me as a musician. I just want to make good music. I want to make strong, unique, and artistic music. I’m not interested in working within the confides of what some dude who runs the label wants just so that he can make some bucks. I don’t care about that stuff. I want to have an impact and make good music. 

So should we expect any new updates in the next following weeks?
Probably in the next two weeks. Hopefully if we can get started on mixing this week. In a perfect world I plan, regardless of a label or not, taking maybe three songs and putting them up for free if you sign up for our mailing list on HappyBodySlowBrain.com. I’m thinking that that will be the next step. It just really all depends on how quickly we can get everything mixed. Even our unmixed stuff sounds really great and I’m really proud of it already.

Thanks so much for your time, is there anything else you’d like to add?
Just that people can go check out our website and our little teaser videos and to follow us on twitter and all that silly stuff, tumblr. We’re on Facebook as well. But I think spreading the word would be the greatest thing.