History Music / FuneralForAFriend

Funeral For A Friend was a PostHardcore band from Bridgend, Wales. Formed in 2001, they have released five studio albums. Unlike most bands in the genre, Funeral For A Friend are influenced by NWOBHM and ThrashMetal. They are sometimes called emo or screamo, and acknowledge its influence on them. However, they consider themselves to play a unique style of music influenced by many genres, and for this reason, prefer to be called a hard rock or metal band. In addition, their sound features interplay between dual vocalists and guitarists.

The group changed lineup several times over their 15 year history. By their last two albums, the only two remaining original members were vocalist Matt Davies-Kreye and guitarist Kris Coombs-Roberts. The group split up after Kris left to pursue other projects and Matt retired from the limelight.

!Discography:

* Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation (2003)
* Hours (2005)
* Tales Don't Tell Themselves (2007)
* Memory and Humanity (2008)
* Welcome Home Armageddon (2011)
* Conduit (2013)
* Chapter And Verse (2015)

* Between Order And Model (2002)
* Four Ways To Scream Your Name (2003)
* The Young And Defenceless (2010)
* See You All In Hell (2011)

!Band Members:

!This band provides examples of the following tropes:

* AffectionateNickname - During his time in the band, original screamer Matthew Evans was known as "Mevs", which helped differentiate him from their singer, Matthew Davies.
* AudienceParticipationSong - When performing "Streetcar", the band ask someone from the crowd to play a ringtone on their phone, or sing it, before launching into the song. This mimics the way it happens on the studio recording.
** "Juno"/"Juneau" is also one - the band have been known to stop playing whilst the crowd sings "And I'm nothing more than a line in your book". Amazingly, they were doing this as early as late 2002 when Between Order And Model was their only release (early video footage on Youtube proves this). Audience members will sometimes scream along to the verse screaming as well.
*** The band wrote "History" specifically to be one of these songs.
* BreakupSong - Moments Forever Faded, The End of Nothing, Juneau.
** Every song on the Four Ways To Scream Your Name EP details an aspect of breakup.

* CoverVersion: Several (The pre-Damage Inc. ones were all later released on Your History Is Mine):
** The System by Far (for a radio session and B-Side to She Drove Me To Daytime TV. The band have also performed this live on stage with Far's vocalist Jonah Matranga)
** Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 (B-Side of Monsters)
** The Boys Are Back In Town by Thin Lizzy (B-Side of Monsters.)
** Babylon's Burning by The Ruts (B-Side of Monsters)
** Pirate Song by Gameface (B-Side of History)
** Damage Inc. by Metallica (Kerrang ReMastered [Metallica's Master Of Puppets covered by modern bands])
** Will To Die by Strife (See You All In Hell EP)
** Green To Me by Hum (Songs Of Farewell And Departure: A Tribute To Hum)
** Rookie by Boysetsfire (Split with Boysetsfire, who covered FFAF's 10.45 Amsterdam Conversations in return.)
** Energy Dome by Snapcase and Bullet In The Head by Rage Against The Machine (Exclusively on the Japanese version of Conduit)
* DrivenToSuicide - The boy in video for "Roses For the Dead". It's not explicitly shown, but as the video progresses, you can see a distraught mother clearing the boy's things away and reminiscing about him. And at the very end, the boy is shown at the edge of a tall building.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Matthew Evans does the screaming on their Between Order And Model EP and his voice is much screechier than Ryan Richards. This can be easily heard by comparing the EP version of Red Is The New Black to the Casually Dressed album version, which features Richards.
** Pre-FFAF band January Thirst recorded their only song, "Continuing Decay Of Human Nature" and released it on the UKHC compilation in 2001. Whilst it is effectively FFAF's Between Order And Model lineup with Michael Davies on vocals instead of Matt (no relation), it sounds far more like death metal and is an indication Matt changed the band's sound for the better.
* {{Emo}} - They've been lumped in with the scene, although they're more Melodic Hardcore with HeavyMetal influences.
* EpicRocking - The six-and-a-half minute "Novella".
** Also the three part song "All Hands On Deck" which features "Raise The Sail", "Open Water" and "Out Of Reach". The first two are titled Part 1 and Part 2, and segue into each other. Although they didn't title Out Of Reach as part of the trilogy, it reuses themes from Open Water and obviously was meant to be. The trilogy lasts 10:47 in total and is the most ambitious thing FFAF ever did.
* GreatestHitsAlbum - Your History Is Mine, which also had four new songs.

* ImportantHaircut - around the time the band had released 'History' Matt had shaved his then iconic emo fringe off, opting for a buzzcut, around the same period the band's output strayed away from the emo/post hardcore sound and moved to more melodic rock such as the 'Tales Don't Tell Themselves' album.
* LighterAndSofter - ''Hours'' and ''Tales Don't Tell Themselves'' were more melodic and less aggressive than their debut. However, the band followed these with ''Memory and Humanity'', which included some heavier songs, and then ''Welcome Home Armageddon'' and ''Conduit'' where they went even further in that direction than they had on all of their previous albums.
** Your Revolution Is A Joke was lighter and softer when it was made.
*** The band's acoustic song Grand Central Station (later renamed This Letter) was the very first of these. It was written and recorded after Between Order And Model EP, never released at the time because the band thought it was too at odds with their sound. They did write an acoustic song called "Your Revolution Is A Joke" which was included on Casually Dressed. They rerecorded This Letter again twice in the Hours sessions, once as a heavier electric version and once as an acoustic version. Neither was used for the album, but the band had it in mind when they wrote the similar song History. The acoustic version of This Letter ended up on the B-Side of the 7" of Streetcar (and later the Your History Is Mine compilation) and the electric version appeared on the third disc of the Your History Is Mine compilation (though it had also appeared on a promo acetate before this.). The original 2002 version eventually appeared as a bonus track on the reissue of Between Order And Model in November 2013.
* LoudnessWar- They are repeat offenders. Memory and Humanity, in particular, has noticeable distortion and clipping.
** Between Order And Model is a notable exception due to being released on an indie label.
*** It has to be said that the band's rich wall of sound means they actually use the loudness war to their advantage on Casually Dressed in particular.
*** Chapter And Verse is by far the worst affected of all their albums - for some reason they went for a really harsh sound. It's surprising, as Conduit wasn't that bad in comparison.
* LyricalDissonance - The first half of the song "Welcome Home Armageddon" is probably the most upbeat-sounding song about the apocalypse this side of Music/{{REM}} The second part is [[SubduedSection much more somber]].
** Some of their songs have really catchy melodies, but the lyrics are so deep in metaphor that they can be difficult to understand. Averted with Tales Don't Tell Themselves where most of the lyrics involve something happening at sea.
* NewSoundAlbum - In 2007, they released Tales Don't Tell Themselves, a mellower AlternativeRock ConceptAlbum about a lost fisherman. [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks It was not well received by the fanbase]].
** In 2013 they released Conduit, which was done in a darker, heavier style than their previous albums, with Matt using a more shouted style as well, due to the departure of Ryan Richards. All the songs on the album are heavy, and hardcore punk influenced, although several have melodic choruses. The album was also much shorter than their previous ones, with all songs apart from two being under three minutes. The parent tour generally focused on their heavier songs from previous works as well.
* NonAppearingTitle - On Casually Dressed, the only songs that actually feature the song titles in the lyrics are 'Moments Forever Faded' and 'Your Revolution Is A Joke'. On later albums the titles are more often used but there are still many examples of this trope.
* PerishingAltRockVoice - Your Revolution Is A Joke, Drive, Sonny, This Letter and the end of Kiss And Make Up (All Bets Are Off).

* RearrangeTheSong - "Juno", from their first EP, was re-recorded as "Juneau" on their debut album. The second version removes most of the screaming and adds more singing and vocal harmonies. When playing the song live, the band reinstates the screaming.
** "This Letter" was first recorded as an acoustic song "Grand Central Station", just after Between Order And Model was made. In the Hours sessions, it was re-arranged into a heavy arrangement, then the original acoustic arrangement was re-recorded with some modifications for its release on the "Streetcar" single. For years, this acoustic version was the only one available to the public, but the heavy version has appeared on the digital only third disc of Your History Is Mine (it also appeared on a promo acetate CD, years before). The band noted that whilst they liked the song, they didn't think either arrangement quite worked well enough for it to be an album track.
*** The band rearranged "Summer's Dead And Buried" as "Waking Up In My Own Paralysis" (shortened to "Waking Up" by the label). "Waking Up..." has different lyrics, removes the 'kill you' chorus and adds a melodic 'in my hands' one. However, the song still retains the 'dead and buried' section towards the end.
*** The band have done acoustic versions of at least 16 songs across various sessions and releases. When the song requires screaming, it is usually sung instead. Of particular note is The Art Of American Football (Tiscali Acoustic Session), which was rearranged so differently as an acoustic that it could almost be a different song. This version can most easily be found on the second disc of Your History Is Mine.
* {{Running Joke}} - Matt can't ride a bicycle.
* RereleaseTheSong: The "Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation" recordings of "She Drove Me To Daytime Television" and "Escape Artists Never Die" are identical to the previously released ones on "Four Ways To Scream Your Name", save for remastering to bring them in line with the rest of the album. The Japanese version of "Casually Dressed" also includes the two remaining "Four Ways" tracks "This Year's Most Open Heartbreak" and "Kiss And Make Up (All Bets Are Off)" as bonus tracks, remastered in the same way.
** Patterned after this, the band reused "Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't" and "Sixteen" from the "The Young And Defenceless" on "Welcome Home Armageddon".
* RevolvingDoorBand: The group had a few lineups prior to establishing their 'classic' one from their second EP "Four Ways To Scream Your Name" (in 2003) to their fourth album "Memory And Humanity" (in 2008) after which the lineup changing with every release thereafter. A fair amount of fans feel the group lost their way after Darran Smith left and even more so after Ryan Richards did so.
* SopranoAndGravel- Matt the singer and Ryan the screamer. Matt shout-sings the vocals on occasion.
** On Between Order And Model, it was Matt the singer and Matthew Evans the screamer (who had a much harsher style than Ryan). The song Red Is The New Black is a good point for comparison.
** Since Conduit, Matt tends to shout sing more often, due to the departure of Ryan. Whilst playing live on the Conduit tour, if a song requires a singer and screamer at the same time (e.g. Juno), Kris will do the screaming.
** In the period after Matthew Evans left until about somewhere during the Hours album cycle Matt screamed on some of the band's output such as 'You Want Romance?', '10 Scene Points To The Winner' and various songs live and a few demos on Hours such as 'Roses For The Dead' and 'The End of Nothing'.
* StockPhrase: Expect Matt to say 'heart' and/or 'bleeding' at least once in every song, especially on Hours.
* SurprisinglyGentleSong - "Your Revolution Is A Joke", "Building", "Sonny", "History", "This Letter", and, to an extent, "Owls (Are Watching)".

* TitledAfterTheSong - The band is named for a song by Music/PlanesMistakenForStars, not the Music/EltonJohn song, as some believe.
* TitleDrop - "Sixteen" drops the title of the EP it was on, The Young and Defenseless, in the chorus (minus the "the" part).
** Roses For The Dead contains the line "Wasting the hours now", which gave the name to the album Hours.
*** Welcome Home Armageddon is a double one - in addition to being the title track for an album, a line in the song gave the name to the EP See You All In Hell.
* TheBandMinusTheFace - Ryan Richards was the screamer in the band, and second most recognisable member after Matthew Davies-Kreye. Ryan's absence is particularly notable on Conduit because the parts he would scream are instead shouted by Matt.

* {{Bishonen}} - Matt during the ''Casually Dressed''-era.

* RefrainFromAssuming - On Casually Dressed, the only songs that actually feature the song titles in the lyrics are 'Moments Forever Faded' and 'Your Revolution Is A Joke'. On later albums the titles are more often used but there are still many examples of this trope.

* BlackSheepHit: A variation. They included the B Side "The Getaway Plan" on their US compilation "Seven Ways To Scream Your Name", and crowds in the US always want to hear it. They were completely bemused by this as they didn't think much of it at the time.

* CreatorBacklash - The Band really, really seem to hate their song 'The Getaway Plan'.
** It's explained in the liner notes for Seven Ways To Scream Your Name that Matt considered it a "bad [[Music/{{Glassjaw}} Daryl Palumbo]] impression" they included it specifically to show how it was the sound they tried to go for between their first two [=EPs=] and so hadn't quite found their sound yet.
*** The band also seemed to dislike their song "Monsters", as it was the only early single that wasn't included on their "Your History Is Mine" compilation (Red Is The New Black was included instead) and rarely done live. The strange thing is that they were at the height of their popularity when it came out, it was played frequently by BBC Radio 1. When it is done live, Matt seems to struggle to sing it.
*** The band always felt a bit reluctant about removing the screaming when remaking "Juno" as "Juneau". They have always played the "Juno" version live, even when doing radio sessions.
* CutSong: According to Matt, "Rise And Fall" was part of the concept for "Tales Don't Tell Themselves" but it was cut from the main tracklisting due to the need for a Japanese/iTunes bonus track and the other band members feeling it was the weakest song. Also, prior to the decision to make Tales a concept album, the songs "Crash And Burn", "Africa", "In A Manner Of Sleep" and "Colossus" were demoed, but all were scrapped because they didn't fit the concept.
** Darran revealed that "You Want Romance?" and "10 Scene Points To The Winner" were the last two songs started in the Casually Dressed sessions and would have been on the album, had Matt not worn his voice out. As a result, the band abandoned them and then finished the vocals for the "Escape Artists Never Die" single some months later.
** Two songs were cut from Hours to make room for the newly written "Monsters" and "History", although it isn't known which they were, they are very likely to have been "Lazarus (In The Wilderness)" and the electric version of "This Letter", the latter which Matt stated previously was cut due to them reusing some of the riffs in "History". The remaining b-side, "I Am The Arsonist" is unlikely to have been considered for the album due to being entirely acoustic.

* ExecutiveMeddling - The reason for the removal of the screaming in Juneau so it could be released as a single. The band mentioned they thought of this as selling out, but compromised by changing the title to the feminine "Juneau". They have always played it live in its Juno arrangement (IE with screaming) thus indicating they always intended it to have it. The demo and 2002 live version of She Drove Me To Daytime Television has the line "on and on and on" sung only once at the end, whereas the EP / album version has it repeated. The demos of Storytelling and Moments Forever Faded have more screaming in them. "Summer's Dead And Buried" was rewritten as the decidedly more commercial "Waking Up In My Own Paralysis", whose name was shortened to "Waking Up" by the label.
** Said to be the reason why Funeral for A Friend went softer on Hours and Tales Don't Tell Themselves.
*** True enough with Hours (compare the demo of The End Of Nothing to the album version, for example), but Tales was a personal choice by the band to do something different.
** The label insisted on releasing "She Drove Me To Daytime Television" and "Escape Artists Never Die" as singles which the band was uneasy about because they were identical to the Four Ways versions and they felt they'd be ripping off the fans. They reached a compromise where both songs were double A-Sides with the songs the band would rather have had, "Bullet Theory" and the newly finished "You Want Romance?" respectively, and videos were recorded for both sets of songs. Although the "Escape Artists Never Die" single doesn't list "You Want Romance?" as a double-a side, it was released as a digital-only single prior, with similar artwork.
** Matt notes an example of this in the booklet for the special CD/DVD edition of "Memory And Humanity", which has track by track notes for every song. In the notes for "Maybe I Am?" (a song which is quite philosophical), he states that an executive once made him change his lyrics because they were too intellectual for their target audience. He doesn't say what song it was, however.
** In their early years, the members of Music/IronMaiden became fans of the band, and invited them to tour with them. Magazines put two and two together and claimed Maiden were FFAF's idols, which was intended to give them more credibility amongst metal fans, who were notoriously hostile to emo bands at the time. FFAF certainly got treated badly when supporting them, and vowed never to do so again. In fact, Matt noted in a 2015 interview for the Holy Roar Podcast that he wasn't a fan of Maiden at all, and actually got in trouble with their manager Rod Smallwood for announcing that FFAF's songs were about orcs and goblins (thus making fun of Maiden, and showing a [presumably intentional] lack of understanding of their lyrics). However, Darran stated in the "Your History Is Mine" track by track interview that "Streetcar" was inspired by Maiden's "The Trooper" and that Matt was the one who wrote the riff.
* FollowTheLeader - The band were very inspired by American post-hardcore bands like Music/{{Deftones}}, Boysetsfire, Far and Hum. In turn, their popularity in the UK was a big catalyst for the expansion of the whole emo scene over there and the switching of Kerrang! magazine to being mostly about the genre (they were regularly featured). Such bands as Fightstar, Music/BulletForMyValentine and Music/BringMeTheHorizon formed out of wanting to make music like FFAF, although went off in different directions. The band had a far more American sound than British indie rock did, and had an impact because of it. The band are thought of as legends in the genre even though they have long past peaked in popularity.
* GettingTheBandBackTogether: In 2019 the group reformed in a similar lineup to "Welcome Home Armageddon" (though also with previous guitarist Darran Smith) in order to do some reunion gigs to raise funds for a terminally ill friend of theirs. They also announced a slot at 2020's Download Festival, although whether it goes ahead remains to be seen.
** Also on one of the 2019 reunion gigs in Cardiff, the "Between Order And Model" lineup, consisting of Matt, Darran and three members who had not played with the band in 17 years (Matthew Evans, Johnny Phillips and Andi Morris) performed "The Art Of American Football". This however was likely a total one-off.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: A few examples.
** The demo EP She Sold Me A Place To Die which is basically an unmastered version of Between Order And Model, except that it has version of Red Is The New Black with completely different lyrics. Although it has been shared online, it was only distributed by the band in their early days, so no copies have been sold nor has a cover been seen. The band, being aware the tracks were out there, did not include them on the digital bonus disc of Your History Is Mine, nor the reissue of Between Order And Model.
** The demo version of Out Of Reach from the B-Side of the vinyl version of Into Oblivion (Reunion) was overlooked for the otherwise comprehensive Your History Is Mine compilation which rescued various other songs from vinyl-only status.
** The third, digital-only bonus disc of Your History Is Mine, which contained many unreleased demos from the band's vaults, including the early song "Summer's Dead And Buried" (which was later modified into Waking Up), the electric version of This Letter (from the Hours sessions), and the unreleased track Colossus (from the Tales Don't Tell Themselves period). It was available for a limited time before all digital outlets just sold the standard 2 disc version.
** The demo of Wrench which was a digital gift to those who backed the band on their PledgeMusic campaign(which led to The Young And Defenceless EP).
** The acoustic version of Red Is The New Black which was a digital gift to those who pre-ordered the Between Order And Model 2013 reissue.
** It's worth mentioning that "The Miracle Of Christmas" (from the Taste Of Christmas compilation) and "Damage Inc" (from Kerrang ReMastered) are on now out of print various artist compilations, even though they are on CD. Similarly, "Owls Are Watching [Demo]" only appears on the promo single of Sixteen - which was limited to music journalists and did not receive a digital release.

* NeverLiveItDown - Despite making consistently great music, the band have played on the nostalgia of their first two EPs and first two albums during pretty much every album cycle they've done. The band even did a song about it, "Old Hymns", in which they lament their early popularity and the fact that older fans don't view their new work in the same way - 'I used to mean something to you, but now I'm tired and alone'.

* OldShame - Very much {{averted}} with the first two [=EPs=], which are held in high regard by the band and their fanbase.
** Although generally proud of their early period, the band did regard The Getaway Plan as an OldShame for a while, mainly due to Matt's attempt at a new vocal style (which he called a "bad [[Music/{{Glassjaw}} Daryl Palumbo]] impression"). The band came to regard the song as an important part of their development as a band (calling it "the link between their first two [=EPs=]") and released it on the compilations "Seven Ways To Scream Your Name" and "Your History Is Mine". The band have not commented on it recently. Fan opinion on the song is generally positive thanks to how well regarded that period is.
** They seem to view Hours and Tales Don't Tell Themselves as these, not for the songs, but for the effect they had on their fanbase (which led to their goal of getting back to their roots.)
* OutOfOrder: "Tales Don't Tell Themselves" is an unusual example of this being done with a ConceptAlbum , the band picking the track order for flow reasons, which is virtually completely different to the narrative. According to a post by Matt on Twitter in 2021, the narrative order is "One For The Road", "Rise And Fall (a song that was cut from the regular release)", "The Diary", "All Hands On Deck Suite", "Out Of Reach", "Walk Away", "On A Wire", "The Great Wide Open", "The Sweetest Wave" and "Into Oblivion (Reunion)".

* RecursiveImport - "Seven Ways To Scream Your Name" was compiled for the US market, but became a particularly popular import to the UK because their first two EPs had received limited distribution (and of the two, "Four Ways To Scream Your Name" never got reissued). Although the copies sold in the UK were the US pressing, "Seven Ways" was made available for digital download from UK outlets.

* TheyAlsoDid - Matt has an acoustic solo project called "The Secret Show" who released an album "Impressionist Road Map To The West" in 2007 and a follow up EP in 2015. He gave these releases very little promotion so that fans would discover them in their own time.
** Johnny Phillips, who was the drummer in the January Thirst/Between Order And Model period, left the band to become their promoter, as well as doing so for other artists.
* ThrowItIn: According to Matt, the band wrote "Monsters" and "History" after the rest of Hours as potential b-sides, but liked them enough to include them on the album, replacing two songs (which these are is unknown, but they were probably the electric version of "This Letter" and "Lazarus (In The Wilderness)")

* ThePeteBest - the original screamer and vocalist Matthew Evans
** However, unlike Best, he left of his own accord to study art, and became an artist known as Snowskull. The band notably contacted him to sing backing vocals on "Rules And Games", and a few years later to sing them on "Spine" as well as draw the cover art for their album Conduit.
** Kerry Roberts, the original rhythm guitarist, who left before the first EP and is only notable for being Kris's brother.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen - Hours was originally planned to be heavier with Matt using his MetalScream on 'The End of Nothing' alongside Ryan's screamed vocals and the outro to 'Roses For The Dead'.

* RevolvingDoorBand: The group had a few lineups prior to establishing their 'classic' one from their second EP "Four Ways To Scream Your Name" (in 2003) to their fourth album "Memory And Humanity" (in 2008) after which the lineup changing with every release thereafter. A fair amount of fans feel the group lost their way after Gareth Davies left and even more so after Ryan Richards did so.

** Matt notes an example of this in the booklet for the special CD/DVD edition of "Memory And Humanity", which has track by track notes for every song. In the notes for "Maybe I Am?" (a song which is quite philosophical), he states that an executive once made him change his lyrics because they were too intellectual for their target audience.

*** The label insisted on releasing "She Drove Me To Daytime Television" and "Escape Artists Never Die" as singles which the band was uneasy about because they were identical to the Four Ways versions and they felt they'd be ripping off the fans. They reached a compromise where both songs were double A-Sides with the songs the band would rather have had, "Bullet Theory" and the newly finished "You Want Romance?" respectively, and videos were recorded for both sets of songs. Although the "Escape Artists Never Die" single doesn't list "You Want Romance?" as a double-a side, it was released as a digital-only single prior, with similar artwork.
** In their early years, the members of Music/IronMaiden became fans of the band, and invited them to tour with them. Magazines put two and two together and claimed Maiden were FFAF's idols, which was intended to give them more credibility amongst metal fans, who were notoriously hostile to emo bands at the time. FFAF certainly got treated badly when supporting them, and vowed never to do so again. In fact, Matt noted in a 2015 interview for the Holy Roar Podcast that he wasn't a fan of Maiden at all, and actually got in trouble with their manager Rod Smallwood for announcing that FFAF's songs were about orcs and goblins (thus making fun of Maiden, and showing a [presumably intentional] lack of understanding of their lyrics).

** Darran revealed that "You Want Romance?" and "10 Scene Points To The Winner" were the last two songs started in the Casually Dressed sessions and would have been on the album, had Matt not worn his voice out. As a result, the band abandoned them and then finished the vocals for the "Escape Artists Never Die" some months later.

* RereleaseTheSong: The "Casually Dressed And Deep In Conversation" recordings of "She Drove Me To Daytime Television" and "Escape Artists Never Die" are identical to the previously released ones on "Four Ways To Scream Your Name", save for remastering to bring them in line with the rest of the album. Patterned after this, the band reused "Damned If You Do, Dead If You Don't" and "Sixteen" from the "The Young And Defenceless" on "Welcome Home Armageddon".

* BadassBeard - Kris, Matt during Tales Don't Tell Themselves.

* AscendedFanboy - During the tour for Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation, they got to open for their idols, Music/IronMaiden.
** They performed Far's "The System" live with the song's original composer/vocalist Jonah Matranga, who happened to be in the area. Far were a big influence on them, and the band noted on a few occasions that Far's album "Water And Solutions" was a regular listen on their tour bus.
** Also, they became good friends with the band BoySetsFire, who were an early influence, and who quickly became fans of FFAF as well. They even did a single covering each other's songs - FFAF covering Rookie and BSF covering 10:45 Amsterdam Conversations respectively.

* YourCheatingHeart - "Juneau", [[WordOfGod according to Matt]], it's about an ex-girlfriend who cheated on him.