RED FANG: TOTAL FEST XII

We all know Red Fang from the LARP-inspired, beer can mountain, blow-coffee-out-your-nose hilarity of the Prehistoric Dog video which is creeping up on a million views. And the other videos. And the tour blog which is one of the best going. I mean, honestly. We’re not particularly religious around here… but fuckin’ thank god to Whitey McConnaughy, the internet and uh, these guys’ own on-screen awesomeness for breaking Red Fang to the broader world. It took and somehow made being in a band a viable endeavor for dudes like John Sherman, Bryan Giles, David Sullivan, Aaron Beam and Chris Coyle. And, honestly, we can think of no better group of dudes, nor a more seriously raucous band to be on the radar of the broader world.

Let’s turn on the way-back machine for a minute, if you will: Red Fang wasn’t always a band. True story. Before they were, Bryan and David played in Last of the Juanitas, which was a bleak, mathy, heavy, sort of metal/sort of punk band from the desert. Lana from that band admits they listened a lot to Black Flag’s Process of Weeding Out. On their worst day, the Juanitas were better than that era of 'Flag, but it makes a fair amount of sense really. Bryan’s kind of like the punk/metal version of Jerry Garcia. His shit weaves, but is a little bit more paranoia-heavy compared with the generally good-vibedness of Jerry. David was in the incredible, intricate, technical Shiny Beast. Download some of it from the internet. John was also in some killer North Carolina bands like All Night and Bad Wizard, and even did a little time on the drum stool for Trumans Water. Aaron was in the awesome band Lachrymator. What’s all this besides an inventory? Well, actually it’s a list of awesome, and thoroughly under-appreciated bands that worked shitty jobs at cardboard box factories, put out records, toured a bunch, and ultimately reached the same conclusion: this shit ain’t working. I mean, that’s probably a little melodramatic, but I think it’s roughly the truth.

And that brings us to the main thrust of this here: Red Fang is working, and for that we’re so goddamn happy. It’s a full-time + job for these dudes, we’re positive. They work super hard at it, and it totally shows. That they have time for Total Fest to us is exactly the kind of thing that keeps us completely positive that we’re doing it for the right reasons. Obviously Red Fang’s in it for the right reasons. They continue to make awesome records, and have a good time with fans, and are super approachable dudes, and ultimately rip like fuck. We’re not even sure if those are cohesive thoughts. But, let it be known that Total Fest loves Red Fang, and we’re ultra proud that -with the support of KBGA 89.9 FM- we’ve got ‘em coming out August 2013.