Written by Julia Kender
Los Angeles alternative garage-rock band Forty Feet Tall put out their new LP, “A Good Distraction” earlier this year on March 12th. We had the pleasure of talking to Cole Gann, singer and lead guitarist of the band about their new record, their musical inspirations and what keeps them motivated during difficult times.
Julia Kender: How did you guys pick your band name, Forty Feet Tall?
Cole Gann: It’s actually inspired by a Dead Weather song, “60 Feet Tall.” Alison Mosshart, the lead singer, just wails away about how she can take on anything and that felt like a powerful, albeit maybe cliche emotion to work from.
JK: Which bands and artists directly influenced you when making the new album?
CG: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Parquet Courts, Wand, Oh Sees, The Beatles, and some early Elvis Costello for sure.
JK: What bands would you compare yourself to right now?
CG: Oy, that’s a tough one! There’re so many different aspects to this question, but I think a band we’d all love to be is Parquet Courts.
They’ve been at it for a while and though they’re definitely seen as post-punk/art rock, they get funky as shit and have some wild dance vibes as well. I think we’re really starting to realize how many genres we can encompass and still be considered a rock/alternative band; with all that said though, fuck musical genres.
JK: What was the inspiration for the “Julian” music video?
CG: It went from a glorified beer run to this much more amorphous, but focused heist/chase video. Our wonderful director and friend, Haydn Cieri, is the best at taking our ideas and focusing them into something a little more precise. Pro tip: it’s way cheaper to rent a small prop plane than you’d think. (laughs)
JK: What’s each of your favorite songs from the album, “A Good Distraction”?
CG: We’re honestly all over the place. Brett and my favorite song currently is “Shiner” and Ian and Jack tend to side with “Sweeteater” but that could all change tomorrow. It also depends if we’re listening back or actually playing the songs live.
JK: What is your go-to album to listen to? Any artist, any mood.
CG: "Shame" by Drunk Tank Pink.
JK: What was it like for you guys to produce this LP during a pandemic?
CG: Well we’d actually been sitting on this thing for a bit, so it was luckily all finished up before it all went to shit, but figuring out logistics and safety protocol for the videos was definitely interesting. It just adds an extra layer of decisions and stress over everything, but everyone we worked with was so great so it never felt too exhausting.
JK: What motivates you guys to keep writing and making music during difficult times?
CG: In most ways, this is the thing that keeps us going in general. Day jobs aside, waking up and being able to play and write together has been such a joy, though it’s definitely come with its stressors.
We just feel so lucky to have an outlet in such horrific times and attempt to speak in some small way to the dumpster fire around us. Whether it’s climate change, the onset of fascism, or the police murder of BIPOC, there’s a lot of work to do.
JK: What’s your favorite part about being in Forty Feet Tall?
CG: It’s four best friends doing exactly what we want to do in life, so it doesn’t get much better than that! We’re just hitting it as hard as we can so we can be doing this full-time. Making music that means a lot to us and hopefully to other people is a privilege and though we’ve worked our absolute asses off, we always feel lucky to be doing this.
We want to thank Cole Gann of Forty Feet Tall for taking the time to chat with us! You can support Forty Feet Tall by listening to “A Good Distraction” on any music streaming platform and buying their music here!
To keep up with the band you can follow them on Twitter @FortyFeetTall. While you're there, let us know who you want to see us interview next by tweeting us @lgndsoftmrw.
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