www.facebook.com/foreverknightsli
Sounds like: Rock/Punk
From: New York
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name "Forever Knights" and is there any meaning behind it?
Scarlette: Since we were kids we’ve been making music. Even before starting Complicated Arrangement in 2012, we participated in school talent shows and school chorus. We started out doing our own things; Geonny was into R&B and I was into rap, going by Planet 946 since I was a pre-teen. We developed our own sound through years of borderline plagiarism, as all young bands do. But we finally started coming into our own around 2016. While still making 2016’s Indecisive, we were already hammering away at some songs for the next album, which was to be titled Rebirth. Through all lineup changes, tensions between the other members grew hotter and hotter. We had motherfuckers hiding in their bathrooms to hide from practice. Why? Because he never practiced the material. We had a drummer who learned THREE of the songs over the course of the year we were together.
Enough was enough. Geonny and I kicked everyone out and decided to be a duo. Now we get our drums on Fiverr, and have session musicians fill in whatever gaps we may have. The name Forever Knights came from Ben 10: Alien Force. We’ve been trying not to take ourselves so seriously. If we think of a name, title, anything; we may use it just because it’s catchy. In this case, we named the band after something from one of our childhood favorite shows. “Keep it simple, stupid” and all that jazz. We followed the same conventions in naming our upcoming debut record, The Chilidog Blunder. It was funny so we said fuck it.
2. What do you want people to take away from your music?
John: Essentially what Scar and I want people to take away from it all is the emotional connection. Whenever we make music together or Individually, we always focus on whether if this can make people laugh, cry, etc. No matter what, I think that’s always important not just for marketable reason, so in essence we want to be effective, not famous.
3. How would you describe your sound to the average listener?
Geonny: Acid trip. That’s it.
Scarlette: sounds about right. But not like pink Floyd trip. More like "what the fuck is going on right now".
4. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Geonny: You know Scar and I talk about this often and honestly if I had a top three it would be: Simple Plan, Green Day and Bowling For Soup.
Scarlette: Bowling for Soup, Bowling for Soup and Bowling for Soup again. Also Limp Bizkit. I’m weird and I need to be around other weirdos. Nah but, while that is true, I want to tour with any artist who’s friendly and encourages us to step outside of our comfort zone. Artists as passionate about the craft as we are.
5. How has Covid affected what you do?
Scarlette: More time for self-reflection. Self-reflection leads to self-awareness, which leads to, at least in my case, artistic expression. I was forced to take deeper looks into myself and that led to a lot of changes in my songwriting. That led to a lot of the tracks from Rebirth and Indecisive being scrapped and reworked. These reworked versions include songs like Bad Intentions, 14th & 8th, Forever, among others. But none got more changes than 7 Minutes in Heaven which started out as Vampire Dominatrix Girlfriend. All these changes to songwriting and aesthetic, as well as getting much further in my transition, taking Estrogen, moving to Florida…a hard reboot of our band was necessary.
6. What’s your take on the current state of Punk?
Scarlette: Punk grew up and became other things. Nowadays it’s called emo rap, alternative pop, even modern mainstream artists such as Lil Nas X and Post Malone exist in a punk headspace. Punk is no longer a sound. The movement is still very much alive, but in completely different forms that challenge the norms and promote shameless self-expression. You can’t keep “fighting the machine” if you refuse to change it up. Then you become a sad old-head gatekeeping prick who went from challenging authority to claiming authority. Fuck whoever’s like that, seriously.
7. What’s the current music scene like locally there in New York?
Scarlette: Dead. It’s all cover bands and abusers. The only notable acts I can think of are In Loving Memory, Carve a Path, Cherry Pop, Vicious Summer and The Muckrakers, with the last one being the only ray of hope for it recovering. Our home scene was doomed because it’s all tourists and rich assholes that can afford to live there. All the kids who love music can’t make it out because who the hell has time or $10 for cover charges when they can’t afford instant ramen.My advice to the brilliant musicians trying to make it; get the fuck out of New York and return when you have enough kids with well off parents listening to your shit. I feel horrible for all the music lovers who can’t experience the rich culture New York once had, and I also hate that the classist economy of the state excludes more than it can include. To clarify, this is NOT an insult to the bands and artists from New York. It’s my take on the poisonous scene they are forced to push through just to get one and a half recognition points for playing their fucking hearts out.If you are part of the New York scene, PLEASE support local musicians in any way you can. Word of mouth and shares on Facebook count too. Also, check out the annual Munoz Stock event. I truly believe it is the best of the best when it comes to what the scene COULD offer.
Geonny:Ha! What Scene?
8. What’s your take on the royalties that streaming services pay out to artists?
As of right now I know that royalties aren’t paying much unless you’re a household name which honestly sucks. However I’ve been saying this for a long time but I genuinely believe that streaming royalties is the future of musicians getting a stable income. It may not be what it can be right now but it will be what it can be if that makes sense.
9. What's next for Forever Knights?
Geonny: Chinese chicken and rice. GameCube and Northern lights. That is all.
Scarlette: Our next single is a cover of Dragostea Din Tei by O-Zone. I grew up in the early days of shareable internet content, and was really into Numa Numa as a kid. The song was such a bussy bop that it stuck with me my whole life since. I’ve been wanting to cover it since before I knew what a cover was. I reached out to Gary Brolsma to be in the video…but never heard back. We're gearing up to release our debut album The Chilidog Blunder. We already have multiple singles recorded for after the album as well, including a reggaeton metalcore fusion track with upcoming artist OG Kanka. Shits about to get weird.
10. Any shoutouts?
Geonny: Anyone who’s not a fucking asshole….And the cock shiner with the pink hair that’s in the band.
Scarlette: All the bands mentioned in question 7, our producer Ryan D’Amico, Buffy, Pops, my fiancee Serenity, Shanon and Kyler, Sam Aronoff, Nicole Trinchero and OG Kanka. Shout out to Geonny, he’s been with me since the beginning and has always been there for me. Has always believed in me. Has always been the one to make me believe in myself. And honestly, shout out to me. The last few years were fucking torture, especially losing our very close friend Smidgie. I’m alive and that’s enough. I’m enough. And so is everybody else. So shout out to the readers as well. Love yourself, you are enough. But nobody deserves more of a shout out than the GameCube. No cap.
