FOLIO
This month, EU sat down with Chris Williams of Airport Factory to discuss the band’s past experiences and future aspirations.
Airport Factory began about six years ago as a solo side project/experiment in lo-fi home recording. For the past two and a half years, it has been a full band whose current incarnation includes Williams on keys, guitar, bass and vocals, Nick Osgood on guitar and bass and Mark Lynn on drums.
When asked how one might describe AF’s sound, Chris answered, “Well, I guess we’re just good old indie rock.”
But Airport Factory is certainly more than that. Their music is at once unique and familiar but not intentionally avant-garde. “We’re not pushing the envelope of rock…we’re pushing the envelope of more like Burt Bacharach,” explains Chris. Rocking out behind a piano will probably always elicit comparisons to Ben Folds and Billy Joel but Williams doesn’t mind at all.
With two DIY EP’s under his belt, Williams doubles as the band’s producer. The band’s new album, Fast Casual, has been in production since the summer and despite a few roadblocks along the way, is almost ready for release. On the previous recordings, Chris did all the tracking and mixing and was relieved to hand all the heavy lifting over to someone else. But after the tracks were laid down, the job of mixing fell right back in his lap. “I was really happy. I was stoked to get the control back in the end,” Chris adds.
While the DIY ethos works great for screen printing t-shirts and writing songs, successful bands these days must also spend time trying to sell themselves on the internet. Why hasn’t Airport Factory played more shows out of town? As Chris puts it, “I’d love to blame it on MySpace’s infuriating search engine, but it’s me. I’d rather be writing or practicing than be on the internet.”
Although the band hasn’t played a show since December, they have been practicing feverishly as of late and are looking to book several shows over the summer. Keep an eye out for dates and new music on their MySpace page (myspace.com/airportfactory) and be sure to check them out May 29th at Shantytown. –Jack Diablo
Follow FOLIO!