Falling Behind play hardcore the way it probably should be played: fast, short, and without overthinking it. Songs that are over before you’ve fully processed that they started. Their second EP, Waste of Spit, dropped in January, and its six in-your-face tracks don’t overstay their welcome by a single second.
Rather than stick to a strict genre definition, they won me over by breaking up the blasts of Ceremony-style hardcore with hip-hop samples that shouldn’t work as well as they do. It leads to a final sound that feels like the soundtrack for a skate montage rather than a single band. That’s more or less exactly how the trio describes the process, and the result is an EP that sounds simultaneously indebted to its influences and unbothered by what anyone expects.
What have y’all been listening to lately?
Matt (bass/vocals): I’ve been listening to a lot of Tiger’s Jaw, which is funny.
Alex (drums): I’ve been big on a band called Sin Against Sin. They’re some really heavy hardcore from Connecticut and New York.
Tyler (vocals/guitar): We were just listening to Creed in the car. Big on Human Clay and Weathered. [laughs]
Who was the first musician or band that each of you remembers discovering on your own and making into a core part of your identity?
Tyler: The first band that got me into playing guitar was August Burns Red. Just old metalcore.
Matt: Mine would be the album The 80s Are Dead by Kids Like Us. Just a good time hardcore, and I was just a young warthog. It was recommended to me on my Zune. When you’d listen to an artist, it would recommend similar artists, and for some reason, Kids Like Us came up for a band that sounded nothing like them. I downloaded that album, and I still love it.
Alex: I think for me it probably would have been Trapped Under Ice. The “Believe” music video kind of reshaped my little brain.
What was the catalyst for y’all coming together and starting the band?
Tyler: Matt and I started Falling Behind with our old drummer, Ember, before she moved away. We played for a while, and once she moved, she said if you want to get Alex to play drums, go for it. And we did, and here we are. It was kind of organic. We just met up to mess around and play some music, and we wrote and recorded the whole first EP in like one night.
Matt: We did it live and then went back and re-recorded some of it, but the whole first EP was done in one night.
Waste of Spit has a surprising blend of heavy hardcore and soul, with hip-hop samples that feel really organic. What inspired that approach?
Matt: I picked most of the samples on this EP. As corny as it is, the image I have in my head is a skate compilation video to match the EP. Something that feels smooth and clean. That’s a lot of what I listen to. I also grew up loving Cold World, and they do similar things with hip-hop samples in their music.
When I did the layout for the track order and where the samples would land, that’s the exact cinematic skate montage.
Tyler: My little sibling skates, and I’ve always wanted them to use one of our songs when they get a part out. They’re into it, so I’m just waiting for that day.
How do y’all share songwriting responsibilities? Does someone bring a skeleton and you build around it, or does everyone carry their own piece?
Tyler: It’s very much a collaborative thing through and through, which is really nice. We all bring our own riffs. A few of the songs on Waste of Spit Matt wrote most of, and I just threw in some heavy hardcore breakdowns to piece it together, and it just melts really well.
What was the recording process like for getting the EP together?
Tyler: We recorded it at my friend Ryan’s house. He has a garage out back with a workshop underneath, and upstairs he converted it into a practice space, padded everything out. My buddy Dan came up and recorded the whole thing. We did all the music in one day, then recorded the vocals at our storage unit. We just busted it all out, and it was one of the most cohesive recording sessions I’ve ever been a part of.
Image credit: deft0ned.media
How did you approach Waste of Spit differently compared to re-recording your original EP?
Tyler: With Waste of Spit, our sound completely changed, and we became what we are now. It was a much better process because we were all into it and just more comfortable. The recording process was generally the same. We did the self-titled at Ryan’s house too, just his old house. He was in the kitchen frying chicken while we were doing it. It wasn’t soundproofed like the new space, so the sound isn’t as good, but it was still a fun day.
Matt: On the self-titled, we used click tracks, which I didn’t like. We did not use click tracks on Waste of Spit, so it’s way more organic. Alex is super locked in and knows the songs so well. He recorded his drums, I played scratch guitars in the same room, and after that, it was seamless. I honestly prefer recording like that because it feels more real, especially with this kind of hardcore. If you have a good drummer, just let them keep time and drive the song. It comes out feeling rougher on the edges without being all over the place.
What’s y’all’s read on the Asheville hardcore scene?
Matt: It’s been pretty welcoming overall. It’s really cool to see hardcore come into Asheville. When we first started getting traction, we were playing at this place in Sylva called Speedy’s. It’s a pizza restaurant, but all the bands around there are grind and hardcore. People saw us there and then came to shows in Asheville and recognized us.
The hardcore we play isn’t quite what’s in town right now. A lot of stuff locally is more metalcore, and we play more Ceremony-style hardcore, really short blasts. But overall it’s been really good and people seem to enjoy our music.
Alex: Crowds are way better than they used to be in the past ten years or so. A lot of younger kids starting bands again. Most of them are more metalcore-driven, but the amount of people that come out on a Tuesday is insane. It’s really cool to see.
Have y’all played much outside of Asheville, or has it been mostly regional?
Tyler: Mostly regional. We’ve played a few out-of-town shows and we want to do more. We played Johnson City once and got good reception from a bunch of kids showing up for a bleak-ass hardcore show in the middle of the week. We also played a house show in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Matt: That was really sick. You could see wildlife from the porch we played on. Deer were just looking at us while we played.
Who are some of your favorite local or North Carolina-specific bands or musicians?
Tyler: I want to shout out Normal American and Serrate.
Matt: Harsh Realm is probably the best heavy band in town.
Tyler: Secret Shame as well. Really awesome music, and they share members with Harsh Realm. There’s a good few bands coming out too: Shot With a Gun and Sydney’s Fatal Scream. I saw them like two weeks ago and they played a Emmure cover and I haven’t seen a crowd go that crazy for something from that era in a long time.
Alex: Also in the Charlotte/Spartanburg area there’s a band called Grave Hunter. Fucking awesome, Trapped Under Ice-style hardcore. They’re doing it good.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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