The Faim 

Josh Raven - Lead Vocals

Stephen Beerkens - Bass/Keyboard

Sean Tighe - Drums and Percussion

Sam Tye - Guitar/Bass

The Faim came into existence as naturally as their music. The Australian group met while in high school in Perth, emerging from an assignment completed in their music class. Soon the friends were penning their own songs, inspired by bands like Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco and Metallica, and each brought in an array of musical influences, from indie rock to jazz to pop-punk. Since the beginning, the idea has always been to keep things as organic and sincere as possible, always ensuring that each song The Faim makes reflects who they are human beings.

The band, originally called Small Town Heroes, played their first show at Stephen's 18th birthday party and then began searching out local venues around Perth. They regularly handed out flyers and posters outside Perth Arena and recorded 30-second covers of favorite tracks to post online. The hustle and creativity was important in the isolated community's small music scene and the four musicians were dedicated and willing to sacrifice everything to follow this dream. "Making a name for yourself in Perth is 100 times harder," Josh notes. "That gave us this work ethic to try and really push ourselves. Every little effort added up. We've also been lucky, but I think because we work so hard we've created our own luck in many ways."

In the summer of 2016 the band, who had renamed themselves The Faim (French for "the hunger"), noticed that producer John Feldmann had posted a call on Instagram for unsigned bands with touring experience. Although The Faim had no touring experience, they messaged him anyway, sending a long missive about their deep dedication to music. The producer wrote back a few weeks later and everything instantly went from zero to a hundred. The band began writing new songs and ended up with 30 half-written ideas to bring to the studio in Los Angeles in the spring of 2017. There they wrote and recorded two songs per day, pushing the limits of genres and expectation, and enlisted the help of several co-writers, including Pete Wentz (Fall Out Boy), Mark Hoppus (Blink 182), Josh Dun (Twenty One Pilots) and Ashton Irwin (5 Seconds of Summer).

"Our goal before going into the studio was to find our sound," Stephen says. "That was a lot of trial and error. But once we hit the studio that's when the big work began. We were writing at this new level and we had these great co-writers who taught us so much. Every day we learned something new about ourselves as songwriters. The goal then became using our new abilities to express ourselves in the music."

"Sonically we wanted to go out of the box with every single song," Josh adds. "The writing process was about being in the moment - what melodies were standing out? What were we feeling at the time? Every song found its own identity. Every song reflected the day we made it. We really found our own sonic perspective. We ultimately realized that we just wanted to be four dudes making songs that feel good at the time."

"Saints Of The Sinners," co-written with Wentz, emphasizes that idea of writing in the moment. It sticks to the band's pop-punk roots while expanding into catchy, punched up pop and rock areas. "It was about what our journey was, coming out of nowhere and trying to take over the world as soon as we could," Josh says. "About listening to that rebellious voice in your head that tells you to go for what you want without any questions. To us, that was an important to have as message right off the bat."

Irwin joined the band in the studio for "Summer Is A Curse," an anthemic song about realizing that you have to follow your dreams - even if it requires a sacrifice. Overall, the dynamic, diverse songs reflect a band in constant evolution, revealing musicians willing to press boundaries and try new things.

"I'm absolutely stoked about how we've evolved as a band during this process," Stephen says. "Every single song is different. We didn't go into the studio thinking what we wanted things to sound like. We went into writing each track as its own identity and we ended up with this collection of songs where each expresses a different emotion and tell a different story. The progression of where we were a year ago to where we are now is amazing."

The songs have resonated with fans all over the world. The band has already accumulated almost four million streams on Spotify. By the end of 2018, The Faim will have toured extensively, performing at festivals like Download Festival, Slam Dunk Festival and Reading and Leeds and playing shows across Europe, Austrlia, and the United States. Each evening onstage the musicians aim to connect with every single person in the room. They work tirelessly to build a deeply personal fanbase, both in person and online, and the effort shows.

"Our message has always been to inspire people with music," Josh says. "We want to create a community of positive role models. It's not about a product for us. It's something real and genuine." Stephen adds, "You'll never get anything fake from us. Our hearts and souls are on our sleeves 100 percent of the time."

The Faim's early success is evidence of the importance of belief and hard work, and in what it means when you're willing to make sacrifices for your art. Now the band is standing at a precipice, waiting to see what comes next. "We are so surprised and delighted and astounded and all of the adjectives you can think of," Stephen says. "We're getting so many opportunities and it excites us so much. The best part is that this is only the beginning. The story is just starting. The work is yet to come. There's so much left to do and we can't wait."

Enigma Bar

Thursday Jan 17th, 2019

Doors 730pm-1130pm all ages curfew