FBO: 'Pre-release of Oklahoma Gazette Feature'

Many FBO fans remember that FBO's Mobile HQ was contacted by the Oklahoma Gazette a couple months ago. So far the virtual interview hasn't made an appearance in the publication, so we thought we'd allow fans to get a 'preview' of the actual transcript -- in its rare, unedited format.

Sent on April 7, 2006, from FBO's Mobile HQ in Cluj-Napoca, Romania:


Oklahoma Gazette: What inspired this blog?
FBO Admin: I don't know where to begin. It neatly matches the point of life I'm at -- a merger of travel, resurrecting past dreams for no other purpose than a better substitute to television, and adding unnecessary monikers and bureacracy to things like failed bands. So it's kinda personal. I've always enjoyed watching bands that were OK, maybe bad, more than 'real' ones to succeed. There's nothing interesting, to some degree, in watching .38 Special. They were a successful band, they made some (debatably) catchy songs, with beards. OK. But a band that DID NOT make it makes you ask why. Makes you sit and ponder everything. You actually hear the skeleton of music, of lyrics, of band logos MORE SO when you look into things that, for a variety of fair/unfair reasons FAILED.

What has the response been?
I'd like more. But we have four bands that said 'yes, we failed, we want in' -- Tall Tales, Soul Shaker, The Cant/Cinder Biscuits and Asylum. I'm trying hard to get outside our immediate circle. I'd love nothing more than a failed Alabama-knock off from Wagoner in 1982. A Run DMC from Midwest City. A Stryper from Ponca. We're just starting. A cartoonist in Bulgaria said he'd make a cartoon of FBO HQ. I'd love to internationalize it if possible. Then maybe failed magicians are next... Anyway, I feel this is the point where I'm trying to get people involved in something that COULD be big, COULD be interesting. I'm certain it will. So I keep at it to 'create a back log' so that when interest comes, there will be something to show.

What does celebrating a failed band achieve?
Celebrating a failed band is a celebration of your own dreams. The FBO represents you, the average person. I mean it.

Do you feel as though any currently active bands can take lessons from those that have failed?
Certainly could. At least some things not to do. But I don't care too much about helping them. Let them fail/succeed on their own. Best of luck. However, I pencilled in a 'panel discussion,' perhaps during the panhandle shows, or as a 'live feed' at a Norman cafe, from FBO members across the state, where discussions and topics like this can be addressed. Actually, to be really honest, I'd say that none of us failed. We went out and made stuff. DIY art. Songs, lyrics, stage props, programs, album covers, flyers, promotion, management... It's quite an achievement to even have failed. I'm as proud of the bands I've failed in as anything I've done. I mention it in every job interview I've been in...

Could you elaborate a bit upon the slated "Panhandle Tour"?
I think this is the crux of the FBO. Oklahoma mainland rarely considers its panhandle. I'd seriously like the state to start a festival, a movement, a march, a day -- to acknowledge the panhandle. We so rarely do. And without it Oklahoma would look pretty Connecticut-like and dumb on a map. Plus having failed bands playing Guymon or Oklahoma Panhandle State University (they're interested, I've asked), can you imagine? A 'Last Waltz' of the unheralded? Doing a warm-up acoustic show atop Black Mesa for no one? Is there anything better than that?


FBO Admin
Temp/Semi-Permanent HQ -- Brooklyn, New York