Q&A: FAKE DAD IS READY TO BRING THEIR Raw Energy to SXSW 2025
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
FAKE DAD IS CHANNELING RAW EMOTION INTO THEIR MUSIC, finding solace and strength in their art amidst the challenges of 2025. With a blend of rage and joy, they're crafting a sound that explores the messy realities of human experience. Their upcoming music, drawing inspiration from artists who use rock and roll as a transformative mask, promises to push their sound further, blending their electronic roots with a grittier, guitar-driven edge.
In this interview, Fake Dad delves into their creative process, revealing the influences behind their evolving sound, which now flirts with dance-punk and echoes the energy of Yeah Yeah Yeahs and IDLES. They also share their recent listening obsessions, from Doechii and Amyl and the Sniffers to emerging bands like Honeyglaze and Lambrini Girls. Before they bring their powerful energy to our SXSW showcase later this week, we get a glimpse into the heart of Fake Dad, a band that finds catharsis and connection in the raw honesty of their music.
LUNA: How’s 2025 been treating you so far?
FAKE DAD: With what’s been going in LA (and the US in general), we’ve been kind of fighting to stay sane lately. But honestly having each other and music (getting to do what we love together) has been what has kept us going every day. We’re so grateful to have the space to channel all of this pent-up rage, frustration, etc. into this project. Mostly, we’re just so excited about the recent opportunities that have been coming our way. We’ve been grinding and working at this for years, so it’s been pretty cool to finally see some of the goals we set for ourselves a while back start coming into fruition.
LUNA: Tell us about the current music you’re working on. Any common themes or musical inspirations?
FAKE DAD: The newer music we’ve started working on is still drawing from the well of influences that resulted in Holly Wholesome and the Slut Machine. We love artists and bands who try on rock and roll as sort of a mask, to pretend to be someone cooler or stronger than they think they are, and maybe find that the world sees more truth in the character than they’d expect.
We’ve been using it to do that, and to explore the dichotomy between rage and joy—trying to dig into the more “messy” human emotions with the compassion reserved for the tamer, more “evolved” ones.
LUNA: How have you seen your sound evolve with more recent music?
FAKE DAD: Some of these new songs bring Fake Dad’s slightly more electronic roots into play with this grittier, guitar-focused sound we’ve discovered in the past couple years. I think we’ve fallen a bit more into the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Le Tigre, and IDLES realm of indie rock that flirts with dance and electronic music. Some of the new Fake Dad is kind of dance-punk, which we’re really stoked about.
LUNA: Who have you been listening to lately?
FAKE DAD: Let’s see, I feel like this changes every week but we’ve both been obsessed with Doechii for the past few months as well as Amyl and the Sniffers, Mannequin Pussy, and Fontaines DC. Also, been really into some more emerging bands (or at least newer to us) like Honeyglaze, the Bug Club, Lambrini Girls, and Model/Actriz. Oh and love Oklou’s new album.
LUNA: You'll be returning for this year's SX - what are you most excited about for your sets this year?
FAKE DAD: We’re both so excited to be bringing our full band set to SXSW this year! We’ll have our amazing guitarist and good bud Mike Costello joining us as well as the super cool and wildly talented Becca Webster (of the incredible band, Kid Sistr) on drums.
We have a SUPER fun set planned and we’ll be playing a bunch of the new songs off our upcoming EP, Holly Wholesome and the Slut Machine which comes out on Friday, March 14th (eeep! so soon!)
LUNA: What can attendees expect from your sets?
FAKE DAD: They can expect to have a good ole time. Move around. Maybe scream and sweat a little. But above all, get all up in your feelings and loosen the fuck up! We’ll have no one standing around with crossed arms or scrolling through their phones. And if they are, Andrea will literally come find you and literally scream in your face. So you might want to avoid that or maybe you don’t, which is also totally fine.
LUNA: What’s on your Austin to do list this time?
FAKE DAD: Eat a lot of great BBQ and Tex-Mex—but this year, somehow spend no money doing it. Go back to this one vintage synth store we visited last time. The guy there spent like 30 minutes helping us find the exact AC adapter we broke and needed for a show later that day. Figure out the name of that synth store I was just talking about. Go to a ranch or a rodeo (idk is that actually a thing in Austin? lol)
