Fake Names might be a supergroup by definition, but when Brian Baker (Bad Religion and Minor Threat) and Michael Hampton (S.O.A.) first began the band, it was just a way of hanging out with one another. The pair then recruited their elementary school friends Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys) and Brendan Canty (Fugazi).
Dennis Lyxzén, of the Refused and The (International) Noise Conspiracy fame, entered the picture when Baker approached him at Riot Fest 2016. Lyxzén says the conversation went like this: “Brian was like ‘Hey, what’s up, Dennis? I’ve got a new project with Michael Hampton. Do you want to sing?’ I looked at him and said ‘Yes!? Here’s my number.’ And that was the whole conversation,” he laughs. “I didn’t ask for any details about the music, I was just like ‘yeah, I’ll be in your band.’”
Thus, Fake Names was born. “If you look at punk history, we’re quite involved,” he says wryly. “The intention wasn’t creating a supergroup and taking over. It’s just a bunch of friends that want to play music…and then I’m the singer [he laughs].”
Seven years later, the band’s sophomore record, Expendables, is set to be released on March 3 via Epitaph Records. Lyxzén says the biggest difference between the band’s debut record and Expendables is the band’s sense of identity. The band’s self-titled debut was actually a demo that the head of Epitaph liked so much he released it as it was. Lyxzén says, “I think it was testing the waters a little bit about what we could do and what we could be.”
The group has found their niche, a matured sense of identity that Lyxzén jokingly calls “adult pop-punk,” with Expendables. He and the other members of Fake Names recognize they’re not as young as they used to be, and rather than fighting that notion, they choose to adapt their music gracefully. “It’s punk rock written, performed, and played by a bunch of fifty year-olds and I love that. We’re not trying to be 22 or relive our youth. We just want to play music that’s fitting,” he says. “I know there’s a lot of punks out there that are our age that can hopefully relate to that. I hope the energy and the propulsion that we bring gets some young punks to get into it too.”
With the new record, the band leans into their influences while also maintaining a unique sound. Lyxzén enjoys that aspect about Fake Names, because in his mind the other four members of the band “are the guys we should be influenced by, but they’re also influenced by other artists.” He also lauds the band’s variety when it comes to the music they release. “It would be easy for a guy from Minor Threat and a guy from S.O.A. to start a hardcore band.” The members of Fake Names welcome and revel in the challenge of branching outside their comfort zone, and the existence of the band itself is a proof of that fact.
Besides the release of their highly anticipated follow-up, Lyxzén looks forward to touring as a band since the group has only played a single show together due to the pandemic.
“I’m excited to meet up with the guys and hangout and play music together, because there hasn’t been a lot of that. We can finally have more stories to tell when we give interviews,” he says with a chuckle.
That being said, the logistics of the band does it make it difficult for the group to meet up regularly as Lyxzén lives in Sweden. When it comes to sharing ideas, the group crosses the Atlantic via the internet. “I receive demos and I’ll do vocals at my little home studio. Then, I’ll send it back and forth to them.”
Lyxzén is left to his own devices when it comes to writing lyrics. “As far as topic matter goes and writing the lyrics, I’m pretty much free to do what I want.” Lyxzén is known for his politically charged lyrics, which is the common thread between his many bands. He believes that streaming services have changed the way in which we consume music, so he uses lyrics of a political nature as a way of getting “people to pay attention – to listen. You need to up the ante a little bit. I don’t mind that people listen to music as entertainment. That’s fine. Music is about escapism,” he says, “It’s a lot about making you feel good or if you’re angry there’s music for that. But for me, music has become connected to social responsibility.”
At its heart, the subgenre of punk has always been about rebelling against social conditions, and Lyxzén fell in love with it when he was still a kid living in the north of Sweden.
“Punk wasn’t only a genre of music; it was a whole bag of ideas. I still believe — it’s a naive idea — that music means something more than just entertainment. We like to think of punk rock as youthful and rebellious, but the fact of the matter is that it’s been around for a long time now and it is getting up there in age. But I still believe in that essence of punk where it is rebellious and driven by ideas – not just fashion or a sound,” he says, “The beauty of early punk is that it all sounded a bit different – it was super arty, it was super weird and it was super political. I love that aspect of it still. If you have something to say or have an idea, then there’s no better way of getting that across than through music. Punk rock is everything that brought me here where I am today.”
Expendables is available on vinyl and CD from the Epitaph Records web store. You can follow Fake Names on Facebook for more updates.
