Photo by Alexander Whiteway and Zenzile Skylark
Richmond, VA, indie-pop outfit My Darling Fury first started out with a robust line-up: two guitarists, an upright bassist, a drummer, and a loop-using vocalist. Both of their guitarists left the band amicably for other life commitments, leaving the core members with tough decisions. Should they replace each member? How would they fill the sound? And how would they divvy up all this newfound work?
Listening to their music, you can easily hear that these are smart, creative, and dedicated artists. It's no wonder that they haven't lost any steam, and they're currently working on a strong follow-up album. While many trios find success, it's not easy writing and releasing an album, building a following, and creating a group friendship as a five-piece band, and then having to create the same success and more as a three-piece. We caught up with My Darling Fury to learn about how they've done such a wonderful job keeping the ball rolling despite the obstacles that come with downsizing.
When My Darling Fury began, you were a five-piece band known for your rich, full, and orchestral sound. Now that you're a trio of just bass, drums, and vocals, how are you filling up the space?
Guitars can do a whole lot on their own. They can add rhythm and harmony, and they cover a broad range. So when we went from two guitarists to none, those were the three main things we needed to figure out. Where does the groove come from (aside from the drums), how do we introduce the harmony, and how do we fill the space? Luckily, Todd [Matthews], who in the original lineup played mostly bass, is also our in-house tech geek, so we dove in on that. We created samples, experimented with soft synths, used vocal effects, and we left the empty spaces where adding something only got in the way.
Your new material as a trio sounds phenomenal. How was it adjusting to writing music with fewer members? Not only did you have fewer creative minds in the writing room, but fewer hands and voices available to make sound.
The three of us that are left have now been working together for three years. We have a good grasp on what we’re going for, so it's been easy for us to narrow in on that. Before, we’d sit around in a circle in a practice space and we’d experiment with our live instruments. This process was great for getting the most ideas and then trimming the fat. Now, we sit around a laptop and work from the inside out. We record a scratch track of an idea in its basic form, whether it’s a synth bass line and drums or a vocal melody. From there, we experiment on Ableton Live. First deciding the form, where the emotional arc of the song is going to happen, and then messing around with different parts and textures.
Your newer singles feel more electronic driven, which many would argue is a good thing, seeing as modern music is embracing electronics more than ever. What other stylistic changes have positively benefited your transition to a trio?
We definitely embraced the electronic side, but we also wanted to keep a warmth and human quality to the sound. So we took this as an opportunity to broaden the scope of organic elements we could use as well. We recorded live instruments when we could (strings, sax, clarinet, and sansula), and we used high-quality samples when we couldn’t. A good example of this blend of electronic and live instruments is in the drums. While we still use mostly a live drum kit, we mix in 808 samples, woodblocks, and even pots and pans to taste.
How have you adapted your live performances now that you have two fewer musicians onstage? Are you replacing the old parts, or reworking the songs to fit your new line-up?
Most of the set is comprised of new songs, but the few old songs we still play have been reworked. We use Ableton Live to trigger midi changes, switch pedals, run loops, and automate effects, so that’s a big change that has huge benefits and some downsides. Opening up a whole world of sounds we can play live is obviously great, as well as increased portability. But longer setup times and less flexibility would be the downsides.
For any independent band, members often take on the roles of social media coordinator, booking agent, publicist, manager, etc. Now that you’re a trio, what has the process been like divvying up the work?
We play to our strengths, which is good because we all end up doing what we’re good at. But it can be bad when some of us end up with a lot more on our plates. The two members we lost were really strong arrangers with lots of creative input. That’s really been the biggest void we’ve had to fill. As far as divvying up responsibilities, for us that’s still an opportunity for improvement.
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Did you have a band agreement in place to address concerns such as future album sales and songwriting credits if members left?
Yes, we did. Essentially, we split everything up equally, including songwriting credits. We’re all friends and we knew that we would work things out amicably, but we wanted to make sure everything was spelled out so that everyone’s best interests were protected. As the lineup has changed, we’ve made new agreements.
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If you could give three pieces of advice to an up-and-coming band that just changed their line-up and doesn't want to skip a beat, what would they be?
- Regroup with the remaining members and use it as an opportunity to improve on the previous line-up. Describe the sound you’re going for. Is it the same or different from before? Imagine your new songs on a playlist, then name other artists who would make sense on that playlist. If you can get to that sound with the remaining members, do it.
- Consider options other than replacing a member with a like member. If you lost a drummer, get a monkey; anyone can play the drums. (Just kidding.) Whether it’s using software or pedals or even considering other instrumentalists, this could be an opportunity for creativity.
- Think about what wasn’t working before and what was missing. If you definitely need another member, getting along and good musical talent is a given. But give thought to things beyond that, like social media skills, business savvy, industry connections, rich parents, etc.
