For most bands, the tour is where your stories come from. For some bands, like the New York-based quartet Finding Fiction, there's no place like home.
"Our guitar player [Nathan Corsi] got mugged basically like two weeks ago," said Mario Santana, lead vocalist and guitarist. "It's kind of weird, it's usually more exciting in New York ... Being poor or broke kind of makes for a really good, fun story."
Finding Fiction will be leaving New York and stopping at DC9 this Thursday.
Santana, Corsi, bassist Tim Farr and drummer Scott Eisenberg got together less than a year ago via a Craigslist ad that advertised a can of soup per diem. All of the band members are New York transplants, which may be why they reap so much inspiration from their surroundings.
"Moving to New York is probably the most inspiring thing any sort of artist or writer can do," Santana said. "It's the most alive city, it's pulsating ... There's just so much life here ... like sitting on the subway can be inspiring. Just walking down the street or freezing on the way home, in a weird way, can be inspiring."
The sounds of the city are evident in their music. Their hook-heavy, shoegazing indie rock calls to mind other New York bands like The Strokes and a slew of international favorites whose names include "the," like The Hives, The Vines and The Von Bondies.
Maybe it's their universal sound, or maybe it's their chipper attitudes, but the members of Finding Fiction have done pretty well for themselves playing together wherever they've been. They set up shows with local bands to create local followings and get their name out. The band's commitment to grassroots, word-of-mouth-style public relations has helped them to weather the current economy.
"It's actually helped us," Farr said. "We have a pretty good staff of people helping us. A lot of interns. Our interns are either in college or people who have been in the music industry but have lost their jobs and would rather help promote a band - send some P.R. e-mails - versus watching TV all day."
Their low overhead - much of which is dedicated to paying for gas - has made touring even now potentially lucrative.
"We've been really lucky when we've been out," Santana said. "We've been able to actually break even, if not make a little bit. Usually bands lose money when they're on tour."
With this level of success, of course, comes the accordant luxury.
"My parents actually just hooked us up [for our upcoming tour]," Santana said. "They got us a case of Red Bull, and peanut butter and jelly, and two cases of soup. And we got a box of Ramen noodles."
So that can of soup per diem was no joke.
"Mario refuses to cook his cans of soup," Farr said. "He only eats them cold in the van."
You can reach this staff writer at kpowell@theeagleonline.com.
