To start us off, how did you form as a band? What is your history together?

Tim: Ally and I have been writing songs together since high school, when Ally was building a little following around her music and getting shoutouts from the literal Liam Payne of the literal One Direction. I’ve honestly been such a fan of Ally and her music for so long that it feels like such a blessing to be able to make songs with her. I think that writing together is how we became friends and, to this day, how we know what’s going on in each other’s lives.

Ally: Oh my god, stoopppp. Haha, I guess it’s a mutual admiration society then. Tim was a year above me at school so I was always watching along at all the music events, wishing I could play guitar like him. I actually don’t really remember when we became friends but at some point we were both in the worship band for school chapel (lol) and ended up making our own music together some time after that. It honestly just feels like this big blurry decade or so of experiences that have brought us to this point, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Tim: A couple years ago, after we’d both spent a bit of time living overseas and getting knocked on our asses by life, we began writing and demoing a bunch of songs in our bedrooms as a means of relatively self-contained catharsis. We slowly started inviting our closest friends to help us flesh out these songs, and a fairly cohesive (FINALLY) body of work started to take shape. However, after sitting on these songs for a while, it wasn’t until Jay (creative direction) and Jess (content, visual direction) became involved, that FVNERAL truly began taking shape. It sounds so cheesy, but we find our strength in working as a creative collective, rather than a merely musical project, which ultimately came together at the intersection of song, film and visual art.

What is your creation process like? Who takes on leadership? Or does no one? How does it all work!

Ally: I don’t know that there is a super defined process, to be honest! It kind of happens organically each time. In terms of writing songs, there’s definitely been times where we start off on the phone to each other having a cry or bitch about something and end up being like “well, let’s make a song about it later”. Other times one of us might send through a little snippet on a voice memo to the other to sit on for a little bit, and then we’ll flesh it out either separately or the next time we’re together. At some point, we end up with a basic demo in Ableton where we start layering bits and everyone adds in their ideas. We’ve always likened it to throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Over time all those layers get refined back as the song gets mixed and revised over and over. Half the time we end up deciding to change a lyric or add an extra vocal part late in the process. Our dear friend / co-producer / unwitting therapist Phan is literally the MVP and we love him for putting up with our shit :-)

Creating our visual work is a similarly chaotic, unstructured process. It usually starts with one person having an idea, us throwing it around over many texts, phone calls etc., someone else building on it, changing the concept a few times, and then eventually finding something that sticks. At that point we’ll usually start to sketch up a mood board or treatment that gives it a bit more shape, but oftentimes that evolves on the day of shooting anyway!

Tim, you wrote ‘GOODB(i)YE’ about not fitting within the gender-binary, a relatable message that needs more conversation! Can you elaborate on these feelings and what made you decide to express them in ‘GOODB(Ii)YE’?

Tim: Such a good question! So initially, in a very literal sense, this song describes thinking that I was falling in love with my housemate. In reality, this process was merely a vessel for understanding and accepting my own sexual identity. It’s a declaration of wanting to do away with the lie I clung to for so long. It speaks of a need to be honest and real with who we are and how, without this, we will continue to have a negative impact on those around us.

Although the idea of ‘coming out’ does stem from some deeply homophobic, hetero-patriarchal bullshit, the feeling of finally ‘coming out’ to myself was liberating. I really wish I could have experienced it sooner. I spent so much time fighting a war against myself, armed to the teeth with the idea of sin and the consequence of hell, the truly dangerous words of youth pastors ringing in my ears, and the burning desire to be somebody else. On a fairly unremarkable day, at the ripe age of 23, I was sitting on my bed after a therapy session I couldn’t afford, and started writing in my journal. A couple hours and a cold pizza later, I found myself with a pretty rough first draft of ‘GOODB(i)YE’. It felt like I had finally planted my white flag and declared the war against myself over. I should say that I’m not sure if the war ever really is over - the years of being fed all of the religious toxicity and those experiences of humiliation, and genuine danger, need just as many years to process - but this song is about taking the first small steps on the path to embracing the space in between definitions and categories, and working through it all.

What is so interesting - and which speaks directly to your question - is that in the time since writing and recording the song, I’ve really been on a journey of recognising my ever-increasing discomfort with understanding myself in relation to the gender-binary. It’s honestly a journey that I’m nowhere near finishing, but more and more it’s one that seems to bring so many beautiful people who also want to forge their own paths centred around healing, care, community and love. To bring this all back to ‘GOODB(i)YE’, I guess it might still be working some magic on me and slowly setting me free…

What is one thing that you want people to know about FVNERAL as a band?

Tim: It probably sounds naff, but we so badly want to build a community around the songs we make and to grow it far beyond the seven of us. I would love people to know that we are trying to create a space that can be a safe haven for everybody - the space we all wish we’d had growing up. It’s pretty fucking aspirational but I look up to the kind of community that BROCKHAMPTON were able to cultivate and dream of doing something similar.

Ally: Yeah, I similarly feel like that shared space is such a critical part of this project. Interestingly, aside from making music, we’re each pretty engaged on political issues and a bunch of us actually work in some kind of social impact industries in our day jobs. Naively, at one point in time, I felt that was really at odds with being a musician. I guess I felt like singing about my feelings and asking people to pay attention to me felt very self-indulgent when there’s such bigger issues going on in the world. Over time I’ve realised firstly that our personal stories are so deeply political, but also that holding shared space for our feelings is also a really valuable way to contribute to a more just and connected humanity. If FVNERAL can do that even in some small way, I’d be really proud.

What can we expect from FVNERAL in the future?

Tim: It’s actually the first time we’ve said this anywhere (probably gonna be news to our lovely publicists too, so still gonna keep it a little cryptic) but the next time we put out new music will be with a fuller body of work. We’ve got a bunch of songs in the bank and want to be releasing stuff every couple of months until our supply runs dry, so expect the tap to keep dripping for a while!

Also, as a project born during the pandemic we are quickly becoming long overdue to actually pick up some instruments and stand on a stage, so when the next bit of new music drops keep your eyes peeled for us rolling up to a city near you, spilling out of a Tarago :)

You can watch the video for GOODB(i)YE here.