Q&A: Fig Tape Makes Memorable Debut With ‘Forcefed Serenity’
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY FAITH LUEVANOS ☆
Photo By Sam Su
NORWEGIAN ARTIST FIG TAPE CRAFTS A WORLD OF ENDLESS SOUNDSCAPES IN DEBUT ALBUM, FORCEFED SERENITY – Spending years experimenting with sounds and production, Fig Tape comes crashing in his debut album, and is guaranteed to leave a mark on the indie music scene, transforming it completely.
According to Fig Tape, the title Forcefed Serenity comes from the search for calm in a world that tries to tell you what calm is supposed to look like. Diving deeper into the album, themes of existentialism, social constructs, and devotion are prevalent, particularly through gritty tracks like “Take Me To The Altar” and larger-than-life tracks like “Poison.”
Originally starting his music career by experimenting with electronic music, Fig Tape’s interest in other genres expanded, bringing forth Forcefed Serenity’s effortless blend of electronic, indie, and punk elements. Fig Tape has found his niche, his pocket of the indie scene that is irrevocably him.
The Luna Collective sat down with Fig Tape to discuss the making of Forcefed Serenity, the standout tracks, his internal purpose for making music, and more. Read the full interview below.
Photo By Sam Su
LUNA: This album was a year and a half in the making. Over the course of that time, what were some of the things you were fine-tuning before you were completely satisfied with the album?
FIG TAPE: Over the time I spent working on the project, I was listening to a lot of different music that gave me a continuous source of inspiration. I feel like the songwriting went pretty quickly since I already had the concept and themes pretty clear in mind, but I spent a lot of time choosing what direction I wanted to take some of the songs to make the project cohesive. I discovered both old and new music that really helped me narrow it down, because those songs really showed me what I really do enjoy in the listening experience. I was mostly fine-tuning guitar and mix-related stuff, especially since this was my first project where I was trying out guitar as a main element.
LUNA: This album explores so many different sounds, reminiscent of the way Bon Iver does. When you get to the production process of a song, what does that look like, and how do you discover new sounds to play with?
FIG TAPE: For this project, I actually started working a lot on the drum grooves. When I found a pattern I liked, I either started to do vocal melodies or try stuff out on the guitar. I think being very bad at the guitar kinda helped me speed up the process, since once I figured out some chords I was satisfied with, the song started to kinda write itself. What I really have been enjoying lately is to mess around with Ableton’s stock sounds and plugins. On some songs, I even tried to commit to only using those to force myself to be creative in a new way. Resampling has also been a big part of the new project, and digging for dusty, textural percussion samples.
LUNA: You currently have five singles out from the album. What have listeners been responding to the most so far?
FIG TAPE: People really like “Hedgehog”! It was kinda expected since it’s probably the most “radio-friendly’’ song on the project, inspired by early 2000s indie-pop acts. It was probably giving the listeners some nostalgic feel. I’ve seen that “Run It’’ got a little boost the last few weeks too, which is so cool since it’s a bit more of an experimental track in terms of sound selection and arrangement.
LUNA: From your first release in 2021, how would you describe your evolution as an artist?
FIG TAPE: I started out making a lot of electronic, club-related stuff. Therefore, a lot of my music was in that lane in the beginning. I also spent three years in Berlin from 2019, which made me really dive into the city’s club scene. When I moved back, I was still working on club stuff, but my interest for other styles and genres was growing more and more. There was a point where I was making stuff I never even listened to – so I am glad I took some time to figure out what I really wanted to make, and also perform with. My dream as a kid was never to be a DJ, but to play in a rock band, so I guess 10 year-old me would be pretty happy now. Most artists don't quite know what they do when they start releasing music, so it’s definitely natural to move across genres and styles as you grow older and your inspiration and influences change.
LUNA: What does the album's title mean to you?
FIG TAPE: Forcefed Serenity is an album about the contradictions of being alive right now. It’s a search for calm in a world that keeps telling you what calm should look like.
LUNA: Focusing on "Take Me To The Altar," can you dive deeper into that track and what it symbolizes?
FIG TAPE: Devotion, in all its messy intensity. This track imagines a future tethered to another person, where anger and frustration don’t erase love but sharpen it. “Take Me To The Altar” is about surrender, the willingness to stake everything on one bond, no matter how fragile, with the hope that permanence might be real.
LUNA: What, if any, were some of the biggest challenges during the process of making the album?
FIG TAPE: The biggest challenge was probably dealing with time and getting everything finished to a certain deadline. I would say that I really love making new music, but I’m not the best at finishing it. Another challenge was probably deciding the track order, but I feel that it makes sense to the story now!
LUNA: Lastly, what drives you to make music?
FIG TAPE: Ever since I downloaded a DAW on my computer as a kid, there was no doubt that this was what I was gonna do. I love creating, and I have some underlying urge to stay productive and creative at almost any moment. I love making all kinds of music, and I love to meet people that share the same passion as me. It is heartwarming to look back on all the memories and all the amazing people I’ve met since I started this project. I just know I will know some of them for the rest of my life.
