Fiya on Obscurist Press Records

What we have here on this FIYA single is a classic example of the 5 song punk EP with loose your voice lyrics a little flat, recorded maybe separately....just barely getting louder than the distortion of guitar and bass. These guys are full of politics, and they're angry.

The slightly askew linocut sleeve and the fuzzy typewriter xerox lyric book insert that I'll be damned if I can follow just pulled the entire thing together perfectly already. But the line from Ryan in the liner notes hit home why 7"'s are so freaking amazing and stay incredibly relevant. I thnk his sentiment is true almost 10 years later: "I'm putting out this 7" and trying to document other local projects that'd otherwise be just suburban legends."
The sad thing, just a little, for me is I would have killed for this single in high school. In the pre-internet days any little piece of indie hardcore like this was few and far between, it would have been cherished. To even see that email address on the reverse of the sleeve got me a little teary eyed. It's so easy these days... does a 7" single still preserve, just a little bit, how important this sound and these bands were?
I think I associate this sound and energy with that powerlessness you feel growing up. Sure, now it probably doesn't seem so bad, in fact, looking back I was a priviledged little bastard when you think about where you could have been born into the world. If my biggest problem was our asshole drummer who wanted to go play with someone else...then you can see how no one under 21 is taken seriously. I understand that. That being said, you still have those feelings probably anywhere irregardless of geography, it doesn't take much to feel pissed off wherever you are at that age.
The purity of their sentiment is what gets me every time. There were no expectations, no one to judge but themselves. It was a whole new world of music everyday. Guys, I want you to know there are people out there still listening, and I'm so glad you documented your own scene...of Gainsville in all places. Sometimes a single like this even says: it doesn't matter what part of the country you come from, it's all fucked up. The sounds of Gainsville are as relevant as the sound from anywhere. It's the kind of band...and I sincerely mean this as a compliment....that could start at any moment, in any town...and could we use more bands like this?

Hell yes.

Is it important that they find a way to stand out in this copycat genre?

It doesn't matter.
My only regret is all the bands we came up with in my days of not knowing any better never went this far. To tour and press a 7"? Not only would it have seemed impossible, it wasn't even a thought. We needed a Fiya to expose us to that possibility.

Recorded in 2002 I think it's going to be tough tracking this down, but hey it's worth a shot emailing obscurist (at) hotmail...although a hotmail address is not very promising, and the bands site seems to be down as well...but Ryan did his job. I have to thank my friend Amy for bringing me a stack of stuff from her friends over there at Obscurist Press.

Fiya's full length is still available over there, check it out.