As the sun goes down, the volume comes up as the musicians begin to tune their instruments, preparing for another night of practice. Homework and sports are set aside as music fills the air and turns the night into a productive band practice for The Fables filled with rhythm and creativity.
The Fables are a student made band of four made up of juniors and seniors. On drums is senior Gavin Carney, on bass is senior Kobe Johnson, lead guitarist is junior Liam Flanigan, and guitarist and lead singer is junior Alex Doles. The four members collaborate together to do covers of different songs and are currently working together to create some original songs.
“Bowie programs really helped form this band,” Doles said. “For example, I met Kobe in jazz band my freshman year, and he was a bass player. Then two years later I ran into him and was like I play guitar and you play bass so what would it look like if we tried to start a band? So we met up and he said he had this friend that plays the drums. So that’s where Gavin came in.”
According to Doles, after the three met up they realized that they needed another guitar player. Doles explains he knew Flanigan from AP music theory and knew that he played guitar and he later sent Flanigan a message asking if he would want to be in the band. Flanigan then responded saying that guitar wasn’t his main instrument, but he would do it anyway.
“My main instrument is actually the drums, but they asked me to be the guitarist,” Flanigan said. “I only started playing guitar about three years ago and I’ve been playing drums all my life.“
Flanigan isn’t the only member in the band who plays more than one instrument. In fact, every member plays more than one instrument. Doles plays piano and saxophone along with his guitar, Carney also plays piano and guitar along with the drums, and Johnson plays the guitar along with the bass.
“Everyone playing so many different instruments I think has really helped us in the band overall,” Carney said. “Because we use what we know from that and we kind of take inspiration from other artists and bands.”
Johnson and Doles explain the band takes a lot of inspiration from the band The Backseat Lovers. In fact, Flanigan, Johnson, and seniors Abby Laine and Grace Hertel say that The Fables cover of Kilby Girl by The Backseat Lovers is their favorite cover that the band has done so far.
“Other than The Backseat Lovers, I would say we also take inspiration from very old maroon five when they were more of a pop rock band versus mainstream pop. That is sort of what our vibe is,” Doles said. “That being said, my favorite cover is probably This Love by Maroon Five because I think the vibe that it has is really fun and we’re all able to get into a groove. Adam Levine is also pretty tricky to sing, but it’s an exciting song.
Both Johnson and Carney explain they have been in bands before joining The Fables, while Flanigan explains he had been looking for a band for a while. He just never knew anyone that had shared the same interest until now. However, Doles discovered he wanted to be in a band after being inspired by a TV show.
“Being a musician has been something that I’ve always been interested in doing, not necessarily as a career, but just for personal enjoyment,” Doles said. “I found this TV show called the Runarounds and it was about these high schoolers that started a band and so it was really the show that sparked the idea of the band because I saw the characters have so much fun in the band playing music together and I thought that would be something that I would really enjoy.”
According to Johnson, The Fables try to get together at least once a week for around two to three hours for practice. Johnson also explains The Fables have had a few performances in the past but it is currently taking time to work on some original songs however they are openly looking for venues and events to play at.
“I left my old band about a year ago during the summer,” Carney said. “I missed playing shows and playing music with other people, so I joined The Fables. I also just wanted to play some shows in Austin before my last year of high school ends.”
