photo provided by Fightero

Trust me, the “o” adds a significant increase in badass power to the average fighter. If you’re craving a sexy combination of folky acoustic guitars with dancy, electro pop beats, Fightero’s your band. This Saturday (Feb. 3), they’ll be playing at Natura (UCF location) for free at 9pm. Here’s your chance to hear 'em out before it all goes down. 
 

Names and specialties, please. 

Matt Cook- Vocals, Guitar, Beard 

Phil Swasey- Mastermind, Bass  

Adam Miller- Shiny Guitar, Driver, Grillin'

Tito Blanes- Keyboards, Hockey, Cigarettes

Wesley Wiencek- Drums, Cake 

Who writes most of the songs? 

Well, we all do, but Phil & I usually get the ball rolling. One of us will record a scratchy bedroomy demo and pass it on to the rest of the guys. 

Are there particular themes present in the lyrics? 

Definitely. A lot of our songs deal with the idea of independence and the reality of facing it. We've been considering moving away and a lot of the songs have been centered around that lately.  

I hear a variety of instrumentation in your songs. What do you occasionally include?  

Here goes... There's flute (Goose "Dan" Shearouse), violin (Suliman Tekali), cello (Laura Ashtaugh), marching snares (Tim Kiesel & Jeff Wright - Social Ghost), soprano vocals (Gloria Rice & Emily Ford-Coates) & those sweet sit-down harmonies (Eric Hayden - The Sugar Oaks) 

Would you be opposed to using a Theremin? I think they’re pretty neato. 

Matt: Just one Theremin? How about three...

Phil:  Why? 

Name a verb that describes your greatest influence.  

Drink. 

I understand many of you are classically trained musicians. How much of an influence does this have on your style?  

I would say that our formal training has a much greater impact on our overall efficiency as a band than it does on our style. It also gives us a greater range of inside jokes: “I’m a fermata. Hold me.” 

What other side projects are the members of Fightero involved with? 

Phil & I are in another band called Boutros Boutros - It's catchy pop tunes that you will want to put on top of your cereal in the morning. Wesley & I are working on an electronic project. We promise to make dancing hurt again. 

If you were to create a word to describe your sound, what would it be? (You must use the letter “ñ”.)  

Ñetera...or Listeñtous. 

How’s the recording coming along?  

The EP should be out this spring. It's our first release and we're looking forward to it. 

Are you producing on your own?  

We are producing our EP with the help of the fiery demon Jon Friskics. He grants us electronic wishes when we are hungry, broke, and lost.  

Are there any plans for a tour in the near future? 

No plans for a tour yet, but there are plans to start planning a tour. 

What’s your favorite venue around these parts? 

It's sort of a tie. Backbooth always delivers great sound (Thank you Fedgetero), and it's a great location right there in the middle of downtown. However, we all love playing at Natura (over by UCF) because it’s so familiar and it gives us a chance to play a really intimate show for FREE. Come see us Saturday! It's FREE!! 

In relation to sound experimentation, where do you think Fightero will go next? 

Well the brown note has already been discovered; so we've decided to turn our attention to the pink note...get it? Honestly, we don’t really have any specific plans as far as how our sound will change, but whatever it is we promise you'll like it.  

And for the most important question of all: What is Fightero’s power move?  

Alligator Deathroll. 


 Story by Alisha Torrealba