THE BEAST

Simple things first – where are you guys from?

We are based in Dublin, Ireland.
But we are a varied bunch.
Adriano, our guitarist is from Portugal.Marty, our drummer is from the north of Ireland.
Kings, our lunatic bass player, is a Dublin original. And I myself, (Dan, Vocalist) come from Wales.
 

How did you meet?

Marty and Kings formed the original pairing before Adriano completed the instrumental lineup,
They started writing mostly instrumental tracks, but the unconventional mix of styles made the search for a lead vocalist difficult.
I knew Kings from my previous band Syphor. He called me one day at the end of 2018 asking if I would be interested in doing vocals
for a new band he had been working with in Dublin's Troubador studio. 
After a few sessions together, we formed a direction for the music, and Fabuliste was born!
 

How long have you been playing as a band?

As a four piece, we have been together since 2018.
 

Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?

The term fabulist refers to storytellers of a fictional type – tellers of fables.
We like to be ambiguous in our lyrical, and instrumental writings.
Each of us through our own mediums tells a story.
We went with the original French spelling for logo symmetry,
and to add just a little bit more ambiguity.
No one is ever sure how to pronounce our name which adds to the fun!
 

What are your influences?

Again, we have such a varied and diverse history.
Adriano, and especially Marty, are from the world of progressive music.
Whereas Kings and I come from death and black metal backgrounds.
We do lean into these influences often, but what comes out at the end is any, none, and all of the above.

 
Describe your music. What makes you unique?

Our stark differences, live or recorded,
are definitely part of our uniqueness,
mixing the genres the way that we do even takes us by surprise sometimes!

Do you have any particular lyrical themes?

Being from the Death/Black metal world, and having written this way for almost twenty years
it is natural for me to migrate to the usual, death, war anti-religion themes of old, but with
the added influence of the guys’ ideas behind songs, it doesn't always work to revert to type.
For example, between two of our upcoming tracks 'The walls remain' and 'Shades of dawn' the former,
is about a priest and a witch who, forbidden in their respective worlds, fall in love.
Whereas the latter is about future A.I journeying through space with the genetic remains of mankind.
So song to song, no, there is no particular rule in Fabuliste!

 
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?

We do like a spectacle onstage and put a lot of energy into our shows,
the variation in our styles always gets some strange looks!
There are so many moments when we shift gears,that you can see so many heads in the crowd tilting like confused dogs,
but the gentle head nod always follows the confusion, so we think we're doing something right.
We are all well experienced live musicians from our previous bands,
but as a group we have to date only played a handful of shows.
We did have further dates ahead regarding a couple of festivals and club shows for this year but hopefully they will go ahead sometime in the future.

What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?

Once while playing with a German band called Hatred,
the singer of Hatred sliced his head open on the guitarists headstock at a show in Limerick, Ireland, and continued to perform with his head gushing!
(this was not theatrical, He absolutely belted that headstock on the way up out of a headbang,
as the guitarist swung his axe downward One of the most noble/crazy live music moments I've ever experienced,
the hospital visit in Limerick was also an experience to behold!

 
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?

Guitar: Ibanez & Jackson guitars, Orange amplification, a bunch of pedals, Neural DSP plugins and Steinberg VSTs.

Bass: Carvin, Schecter and MTD basses. Tech 21/Mesa/Hartke amps. Digitech & TC electronic effect pedals.

Drums: Pearl drums and hardware, Paiste Cymbals, Remo heads and DW 9002 bass pedals.

Vocals: Sennheiser XSW 1-835.

What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?

We are currently pushing around our latest single release 'Knock on the roof'
and our upcoming single 'Left for dead' is due for release in the coming weeks.

What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?

We would like to keep increasing our online presence
(as even for the big boys, it's all we have right now!)
and to hopefully begin recording either an E.P or full album before the end of this year.

 
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you?
A chance to plug someone you've toured with, or a mate's band we've not heard of before!

Well, my prog loving brothers I'm sure, would love to support someone within their own influences.
There are so many amazing acts in our own underground scene here in Ireland.
Given the choice if we could support anyone locally, one band that comes to mind is SVET KANT,
another local experimental/prog act.
For our own support we would love to get some stage time opposite STONE SEA. Having seen both perform live,
We think the three acts together would make for a very interesting show.