“Punk rock brotherhood” Fait Accompli has been steadily plugging away on the Sydney underground for a couple of years now. Their hard work and clarity of vision isn’t going unnoticed. FasterLouder’s Sarah Smith shot the boys a few questions.

What have you guys been up to recently?
We’ve been doing a lot of songwriting, which has been really exciting and fun. We also managed to Fait Accompli a Sleepy Jackson song. You know that song The Devil is in the Yard? We’re pretty happy with it. We just hope we don’t get death threats from Luke Steele. Maybe he’ll like it and get up and sing it with us one day.

Now we are rejuvenated and are getting back into playing live, which is really cool. We have lots of awesome shows coming up. Looking forward to our two shows in Melbourne in one night: Us vs Them with Baseball and Grey Daturas, who both rock, then Pony at 2am, Come Together Festival and so on. So all is good in the Fait Accompli hood.

I hear that you’re about to release a new EP?
Yeah, we have spent pretty much the whole beginning of 2008 finalising it. It’s called 666. A work of love and fraught with crazy demons that began back in June 2007 at Cock & Shovel Sound Booth with our friend Pauly B. So between playing shows we’d go in and add bits and pieces, violins, trumpets and anything that sounds musical. We’ve kind of had some exciting news within the band recently, so any kind of release may have to be put on hold for now. But if you’re really desperate send a sneaky message to our MySpace and we’ll send a copy out to you in the mail. We really will.

You guys played over 100 shows in your first year as a band – have you enjoyed having a bit of a rest?
Ha! One time we drove down to Melbourne and there were more of us from Sydney than there were in the venue. We love playing live and the after-parties are always good, but the livers needed a rest. Writing songs is a favourite past time of ours, so we’re really enjoying the process. Also just being able to hang out and have fajitas at Pablo’s off Crown Street for lunch has been cool too. But leaving Oxford Art Factory when the sun comes up too many times probably means it’s time to get back to playing shows.

Given that you have been around for a couple of years now in a very “electro” dominated scene in Sydney – how have you survived?
We’ve stayed true to our music from the start, and we haven’t really shifted it to suit a certain style. What we’re creating is pretty honest music. We’re talking loudly about our beliefs, our passions and our fears.

I’m not saying that electro music isn’t honest, but there should be a reinvention of the wheel. The sixteen beats should be put aside for some Public Enemy influences; it’s still 80s, but that’s where the gold is. Kids gotta get into Fight the Power and then relate that back to your own backyard. Now there’s something to smoke a spliff to right there. We’re doing something that is solely us. Yeah, we’ve got influences, but we want to push ourselves and not just be happy with songs landing on our laps. We put our heads down and box hard. That’s how we survive. But hey, we are gentle with the ladies.

Has it inspired you in any way to keep doing what you do?
Yes it has, but most importantly our friends are a big inspiration to us. They are all a big motivational factor to what Fait Accompli really is about. We are surrounded by some really amazingly talented people at the moment who are either putting on shows or events, making clothes, making art, putting out music and so on. It’s an important thread into the fabric of what keeps us going. Without them we’d be all alone and naked, in a barn?

There has been talk recently that the punk ‘underground’ scene (so to speak) has died off in Sydney – would you agree?
Hmm…no, not really. A lot of bands that were coming up over the last year are recording at the moment and getting organised. Goons of Doom are gonna drop their a-mazing new record, we have something on the way and Regular John will be in the studio shortly too. Even though it is quiet at the moment, there is still a lot of underground punk music happening.

I was sneaking around MySpace just the other day and was surprised at some really rocking bands that are out there and unknown still. We’re all out there. We just don’t congregate in masses and have our photos all over [Sydney street press] Brag to show that we exist. But I know what you mean – you have be seen to be in a scene, right? Hey, but I pick up The Brag religiously to see if Doran or Killer are in there.

I know that you are due to play Come Together Festival this June (which seems to be a bit of a tradition for you guys now). Any plans to do a national tour?
Yes we will be organising a national tour in support of our next release. We’ll also be on the My Sydney Riot East Coast Tour in September. Did I say that we love playing shows? Have you ever checked out Die! Die! Die’s! MySpace page? We want their booker.

Is overseas beckoning yet?
We’re gonna leap over the ditch to New Zealand before the year is out. We have a few things happening in the pipeline towards the end of the year. We just don’t want to smash the eggs before the chicken is born. But once we find out you’ll be the second to know. Maybe after we tell our mums first. Insert chicken birth sound effects here…

Don’t miss Fait Accompli at the following shows:

23 May – 2am Late Show, Pony, Melbourne

23 May – Us Vs Them, Roxanne Parlour, Melbourne (with Baseball & Grey Daturas)

30 May – Shake Shake, Excelsior Hotel, Sydney (with The Laurels, Papa Vs Pretty, Lucy & The Queen)

7 Jun – The Filth Stage at Come Together Festival, Luna Park, Sydney

28 Jun – Spectrum, Sydney (with Yves Klein Blue & John Steel Singers)