This week on Kaleidoscope, Juliet Fromholt hosted a live studio session with Cincinnati power pop band Tooth Lures a Fang. The four-piece performed several original songs live on the show, including songs from their latest album, Fake Control. They also spoke with Juliet about writing and recording the album, which was released in April on Lo-Fi City Recordings, and about their upcoming performances in Southwest Ohio. Tooth Lures a Fang features lead singer and guitarist Zach Starkie, bassist Nic Pater, drummer John Kathman, and guitarist Katy Evers.
According to Zach, finding the right lineup of musicians for Tooth Lures a Fang took time—and some trial-and-error. After the breakup of a previous band, he began scouting players to help record a new batch of songs he had written. Nic, a friend and former bandmate, was the first to join. The duo recorded the first Tooth Lures a Fangs EP, Two Floors of Hang, in 2013. Unlike the band’s subsequent releases, the EP was recorded with a drum machine. According to Zach, the decision to forgo a live drummer was made out of necessity: “We went through a bunch of other drummers before we found John,” Zach said. “John is our eighth drummer,” Nic added. John recorded the drums on the Fake Control. Finally, Zach recruited Katy Evers to add guitar layers to the band’s live performances. Katy joined the Tooth Lures a Fang as they finished recording Fake Control, and contributed guitar parts to several songs.
The band talked about recording Fake Control, which was engineered, mixed, and mastered by band member Nic Pater. According to Zach, the 13 songs on the album were selected from a stock of 25 songs originally written for the record. This narrowing process sets the record apart from the band’s previous releases, he said.
“For the first two albums, we wrote songs until we had 11 songs, then we recorded those 11 songs. Then we wrote 10 more songs and recorded those 10 songs. This time, we had less time to live with individual songs because we were changing so much, so we weren’t really rehashing previous demos. By the end of a two month period, we had a bunch of these demos recorded, and it felt fresh coming back and listening to them. So it wasn’t like ‘I want [song] this to make the album because I like my part.’ It was more like, ‘This doesn’t work,’ or, ‘this works.’ Things felt pretty clear.”
Fake Control is available now on Bandcamp, or on all major streaming platforms. The band has several upcoming performances in Southwest Ohio, including September 16th at Cincinnati Oktoberfest, September 23rd at The Southgate House Revival, and October 21th at Motr Pub. More information about the band, including tour dates and release information, can be found on Instagram, Tik Tok, or Facebook.
