This summer has been “overwhelming,” “gruesome” and “pretty cool” for local band Farwell so far.
The post-hardcore/punk-pop band returned to Michigan on Friday for the first time since June 6, pulling into Detroit with the Vans Warped Tour. For the last few weeks, they have been following the annual, traveling punk-rock showcase, despite not actually being part of the tour.
The band has been talking its way into any show it can, including filling in on Warped Tour stages when official bands don’t show and playing afterparties at surrounding clubs.
“Whatever we can get, we take,” guitarist Tim Waite said.
During the day, they wander the crowds with portable CD players and try to sell copies of their album, “Cancer’s in the Air Tonight.” They were hoping to sell 30 to 40 a day. Instead they’ve been selling close to 100.
“We’ve already sold almost 1,000 CDs,” Waite said.
They’ve also been doing interviews with everyone from underground punk rock publications to the Pheonix CBS affiliate.
“We’ve been hustling,” Waite said. “Every time I see a camera, I say: ‘What are you doing? Interview me.’”
Waite said Farwell is one of about five bands shadowing this year’s Warped Tour. He said a band they know, Mayday Parade, did the same thing last year and this year is playing on the tour’s main stage.
With the connections they’ve made with tour organizers, “we have a really good shot of at least getting on a smaller stage” next year, Waite said.
And connections they’ve made with concert promoters in each city on the tour will come in handy when it comes to booking their own tours in the future.
“Being from Michigan, we don’t get a lot of good contacts in the industry because there’s not a lot going on in Michigan right now,” Waite said.
The band is taking a 12-day break, then embarking on yet another tour that will take it back to California.
