Interview with Feign; Guitarist Trevor Phillips Discusses the Band and New Album ‘The New World Order’

Unsigned Houston, TX noisemakers, Feign, are set to release their new album, The New World Order, on December 18th, 2015. Super-intrigued by this band (which is currently a duo consisting of vocalist Devin Sockwell and guitarist Trevor Phillips) and their down-tempo, super heavy hardcore music, we caught up with Phillips to better acquaint ourselves, and you, with the rising act that is Feign!

For those not familiar with your band can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Phillips: We are a down-tempo band from Houston, TX. We began between 2011-12 and have released one EP titled “False Hope” in 2012, and on December 18th we will be releasing our first full-length album “The New World Order”. We are hoping to soon bring something new to the genre. We want to give the listener a more extensive feel for “heavy” besides the usual 0-1-0 the genre tends to bring.

Your new disc ‘insert title’ has just been released. Now that it is complete how do you feel about it, and what has been the response so far?
Phillips: “The New World Order” is in our opinion, a few notches up both in writing quality, as well as production. So far, we seem to be opening a few eyes and gaining more listeners for the band, as well as the genre as a whole. So it seems to be doing well so far! That’s the goal.

What is your writing process like?
Phillips: In all honesty, our typical process involves myself (Trevor Phillips) sitting down and writing lyrics (as well as Devin) when I am in a hard time. Grief seems to fuel my ideas as far as both lyrics and guitar riffs go. I tend to write most of everything myself, and have a couple of leads here and there during recording worked with by our producer, Robby Joyner. I usually just come up with ideas in my head when I’m at work (or wherever it may be) and remember them. Also I come up with ideas when just jamming on my guitar at home, although sometimes I actually use my iPhone to rough record any ideas I want to make sure I don’t want to forget.

You guys are an extremely heavy band, how does it make you feel when that power and energy you channeled in the studio comes to life in front of a crowd?
Phillips: The most exciting part about our shows is the crowd’s reaction. We love the low end. We love seeing how active and excited the crowd tends to get when we play. Although, sometimes it backfires and people begin to actually form a huge circle in front of the stage.

When you write do you do so with the live setting in mind or do you write a song just for the song’s sake?
Phillips: When we write, we keep live performance in mind so that we don’t add too much production or whatever it may be. We also like to make sure our music is significantly fun for the crowd in a live setting.

Along those same lines do you take advantage of technology and email riffs and parts back and forth, or do you get together in a room in a more traditional sense and write together?
Phillips: The few times anybody else has helped me in the writing process, we were in a room together jamming. Unfortunately, I’ve never really had significant help with writing for this band so far.

Check out song “Neverest” here.

What is the story behind the name of the new record?
Phillips: “The New World Order” is the soundtrack to a rebellion against oppression.

Do you receive a lot of support from your local scene and fans in general?
Phillips: Locally, Feign does not receive significant support. We bring heads in the door at shows, but Houston’s scene as a whole hasn’t really been there for the past few years now. As for the rest of our fan base, we receive a good bit of attention and support from people all over the world.

Do you have any touring plans in support of the new recording?
Phillips: Once this band gets its lineup back (hopefully soon after album release), our first plan will be to hit the road.

What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far?
Phillips: So far, the most memorable moment of being in this band is the tremendous amount of fun and support we had playing our first show on a good stage and sound system, The White Rabbit in San Antonio. People were moshing with 2×4’s and trash cans! We would love to get to play more shows with bands we look up to, as well as on stages that are fun to play on.