Recently, I was listening to local independent radio station CD102.5 (a great place to find your new favorite music), and I heard a fun, catchy song that Lesley announced was from a local band called Fashion Week. I had to do a double take on the name, but I didn’t  have to think twice before I realized that this band is on the cusp of something great. I had a chance to chat with singer/guitarist Jason Turner this week, and we covered some hot topics regarding the band and their future.

Alright, so first things first – what made you settle on the name Fashion Week for a band? And are/were you worried that it gets lost in media searches with the plethora of similarly named events?

JT: I always thought Fashion Week was a cool name for a band and (guitarist) Tyler (Earnest) and (bassist) Andrew (Lee) were on board with it. I wasn’t really considering search engine optimization when we picked it. I guess a different name might be more desirable from a branding perspective, but we still like it and we’ve put out five recording projects under that name so I think we’re probably going to stick with it.

Don’t mess with a good thing, right? So now that you’ve been a band for a few years, how do you feel that the band has progressed (musically and lyrically) since the release of your Murfreesboro EP last year?

JT: Yeah, we’ve been a band for about four years now. I think it takes a few years to dial into what your sound is and what kind of music you want to make and that’s the place I feel like we’re in now. We’re making the best music we’ve ever made together and we’re having a lot of fun doing it. Since this band started, we’ve all been involved in multiple projects, some that required touring and other demands on our time, but we’ve always made Fashion Week a priority and I think we’re seeing the benefits of that now.

Speaking of making your best music, your most recent single “Scars” dropped a few weeks ago and has quickly racked up quite a few plays on streaming sites like Spotify (last I checked, over 5K streams). I even heard it played just before the 5 Spot on CD102.5. How does it feel to have this kind of attention focused on your band?

JT: Attention is super fun, but it’s also fleeting. Every time I hear our song on the radio I’m honored and appreciative because it could be the last time. We know downloads and streams are important in this business, but our hope is that if we just focus on making great songs and putting on a great show that all the other stuff will take care of itself.

Image courtesy of Fashion Week

 In listening to the music, I felt a unique, heavier mesh of The Flaming Lips meets Cage the Elephant, while your voice sounds like a gruffer Jared Condon. What goes into writing a song for Fashion Week between the three of you?

JT: Thank you! It’s funny how music works. I wanted Scars to sound like a Pixies song. Then when we finished it, I thought it sounded kind of like a Weezer song, and now that other people are hearing it we’re getting things like Flaming Lips and Death Cab for Cutie. I’m happy with all those comparisons because usually, people are just referencing bands they already like.

When we write songs, everyone is involved. I love that the songs we create are a sum of our talents. Andrew and Tyler are incredible musicians and I’m a singer that likes to record terrible demos on my phone and somehow that results in cool songs. It’s magic.

Now that you mention it, the lead riff definitely has a Pixies feel to it! Is there an album/EP in the works right now? If so, will you be touring to support your new music?

JT: Absolutely, there is a new album in the works! We’re going back to Nashville in December to finish a new EP and we have another single hanging out in the Fashion Week vault. We don’t have any specific plans regarding touring, but we do hope to be spending a lot more time on the road next year.

I suppose once you’re closer to the release, you’ll find yourself with plenty of shows to play. Where are your favorite places to play, Columbus or otherwise? And who would you say are the most fun/interesting bands you’ve played with?

JT: I’d say the Rumba Cafe is our favorite place to play in Columbus. They’re great and they’re always upgrading/improving their space. We’ve played with a lot of great bands. We just did two shows with a band we really liked called Colly out of Cincinnati, and one of our first shows was with Kid Runner (from Columbus) and they’re obviously awesome. We also played with Michigander, who is one of my favorite bands right now, so that was an honor for me personally.

We love the Rumba here as well. Where do you see the future of the band taking you? Any long term Fashion Week goals?

I’m bad at guessing the future. But my hope is that we can continue making music together and keep playing bigger and better shows. Sure, we would like to open for Royal Blood, have one of our songs featured in a major motion picture and win a Grammy, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

Sounds like a good place to start! Anything else you’d like our readers to know about you?

Yes! The Foo Fighters recently stole our logo and we are very disappointed about it.

Surprisingly, the new Foo Fighters cover features an emblem that is very similar to Fashion Week’s logo! Rather than Royal Blood, maybe the trio could link up with Dave and the boys…
It can’t hurt to dream big, right??

Fashion Week – Scars