FVNERAL is the shared project of Tay Blunt, Madeleine Powers (aka RAGEFLOWER) and Ben Siva (aka jnr.) I loved their EP chosen family so we had a few questions for Tay about how FVNERAL got started, some of the story behind the EP and what they’ve got coming up!
Can you start by telling me a little bit about how FVNERAL came to be and your journey as a band to this point?
FVNERAL is a project that I’ve been working on solo for a few years, but it’s one that I’ve always wanted to become collaborative. Last year, I started spending a bunch of time with Ben and Maddy, working on music together for a few different projects. I guess it happened quite naturally, but eventually I just asked them both if they’d want to be involved in a more formal kind of way, while we made a body of work together (which ended up being the EP), and they were both super excited about it!
So, you all already have other musical projects that you work on individually. What’s different about FVNERAL? (In the sense of what do you get to explore or what experiences do you get to have that you wouldn’t have with your other projects).
I spend lots of time in the studio producing for different artists and on stage as a touring musician with even more, which is such a privilege to do as a job. I guess the difference for FVNERAL is that it’s a vessel for telling stories about my own life experiences and, honestly, a place where I can be constantly working out who I am through the songs. I genuinely believe that I wouldn’t have been able to come into myself as a trans and queer person without having this project as a kind of safe-haven for me to explore those parts of my identity.
I’m really enjoying the EP chosen family. Could you tell me a little bit more about the story behind the EP?
Growing up as a queer person who really had such an absence of any visible queer people in my life, I really thought that chosen family would always remain a concept to me, rather than something I’d ever be able to engage with in a tangible way. It’s funny, though, how long it took to shake that idea. It wasn’t that long ago that it dawned on me that I’ve managed to find myself in such a beautiful, kind, caring and strong chosen family – exactly the kind I used to believe I’d never find. In that way, the EP is a love letter to those people, to my chosen family.
There’s a strong queer narrative in the EP, and I know you’ve spoken about this already a little before the EP’s release. Obviously, we all have our own reasons for wanting more queer stories to be told. Are you comfortable to share a little more about why that was so important to you?
Totally! I know I mentioned it before, but growing up without any queer people in my life meant that my only connection to queer and trans community was through art, mostly through music. In many ways, queer and trans music was such an important way for me to know that there were people like me out in the world, and that they were loud and proud about the very same things that I wasn’t able to be. Visibility and representation aren’t the only things that we need, but they honestly can be a real lifeline – they certainly were to me. I guess this body of work, and FVNERAL itself, is my attempt to try and create that lifeline for whoever might need it right now.
And I also felt there was a lot of sadness on the record. For me, I heard that especially in friendly fire and rosie. Is that something you are wanting people to take away from this release? Like, is it designed to be a sad record or is sadness just an inevitability of our lives as queer people moving through the world right now?
Woah, that’s such a good question! Some people might find it hard to believe, but I definitely didn’t set out to write a sad record, and I’ve never even set out to write a sad song. All I ever try to write is what feels true to me and to understand something new about myself or the world around me. It’s no secret that the world is a pretty hostile place for trans and queer people right now – not that it’s ever been particularly friendly to our community at any other time – so telling trans and queer stories is inevitably going to bring some complex ideas to the surface. I think it’s important for me to emphasise that despite the songs on the record dealing with some dark stuff, being able to turn these experiences into songs is deeply cathartic for me, and in many ways I view these songs as a kind of victory over that darkness, so I hope listeners can feel that hope in them too.
Sorry, I promise the rest of my questions are less deep…
A lot of artists share that their songs sometimes take on another life or another meaning once they’re out in the world. Is that something you’ve experienced and are there any tracks where you’ve been particularly surprised by people’s reactions?
Yeah totally! I definitely feel like every song I’ve ever released starts to mean something different as soon as it’s out in the world. I’m not sure I’m ever really surprised by how people react – I think I mostly just feel such a sense of gratitude that people care about the music, which is so special! I guess, when we’re playing live it can be kind of funny to see people singing along to some sad lyrics with a huge smile on their face, but I think that really speaks to what I said before about the songs representing a victory over the darkness, and then being able to celebrate that as a community, as a chosen family even!
What’s your personal favourite track on the album and why?
It’s so hard to decide and it definitely changes pretty often, but it’s hard to go past ‘hate u’. This is the first song I co-wrote with my partner, who isn’t someone who’d call themself a songwriter. It’s so cool to collaborate with someone you’re so close to in an entirely new way! I also worked on this song in LA with my friend Khat, who has an amazing artist project called Khatumu – which I think is going to be a household name very soon. I do have to give an honourable mention to ‘friendly fire’, because getting to collaborate with Ben Lee – who was pretty instrumental in getting me into music in the first place – was really special!
And two last questions. Are there any live shows coming up and can you tell us a little more about what to expect at those if so?
You’re going to hate this answer, but I do (unfortunately) have to be a little vague and shady! We’ve got some shows announced for October in Japan with Ben Lee and Shonen Knife (truly wild!), and we may or may not have some more dates in Asia around that time to announce very shortly… We also can’t announce them properly yet, but I promise that we’ll be playing some Australian shows before the end of the year, so just stay tuned to our socials to make sure you find out about them as soon as they’re announced!
Finally, would you like to shout out a couple of musicians or bands you think everyone should be listening to right now?
I love this question! In no particular order: ENOLA, Sunsick Daisy, Womb, jnr., Krystal Rivvers, flowerkid, Dyan Tai 🙂
You can listen to chosen family here.