More soundtracks than punk
Fat Dog talks about Cancel Me (I’m Tired), about why his sound owes more to cinema than to hard punk and about experiencing a growth that, from the inside, never felt like an explosion.
Fat Dog came out of South London with a debut, WOOF. (2024), which sounded like a club, a mosh pit and a soundtrack at the same time: electronic, punk and scratchy rock stitched together with the urgency of someone who played for years before recording anything. Songs like “King of the Slugs” and “Running” made them one of the most talked about bands of their generation. Two years later, on October 2, they released Cancel Me (I’m Tired)a second album made against the clock between tours, with vocals recorded at the end and songs that the band is still learning to play on stage.
Indie Rocks!: Your first album was a big part of my playlist in 2024. I listened to “King of the Slugs” and “Running” over and over again. For me Fat Dog’s sound is something very new, very fresh: electronic but punk, but rock, raspy. How did you arrive at this sound and this new album in the studio?
Fat Dog: I think, especially Joe, but as a band we listen to a lot of different types of music. And when you hear so many things, it’s always going to filter into what you do. But it’s not like we listen to that much hardcore punk specifically. Maybe it’s because we’re all from London, and that naturally creeps into what we do. But we probably listen to a lot more movie soundtracks than anything else. And everything that sounds harsher is just emotions.
IR!: Now that you mention it, that theatrical part of the music becomes very evident. Does everyone watch a lot of movies?
FD: Oh yes. I see many. And Joe also watches a lot of movies.
GO!: Hi Joe, how are you? We were talking about how the band’s sound was created, and Chris was telling me about all the music they listen to and how they’re a bit of a movie nerd. I want to talk about the new album that comes out in October: what was the process like in the studio?
FD: I think it started with some demo type stuff, and then we came back from the US tour, which we did in September. We came back in October and had like a big three-month block to try to finish the album. And it was different for each track. We did some things live, then we recorded more things on top of it. But in all of them, we recorded the voices at the end of everything.
IR!: I want to talk about that tour of the United States and these first years of Fat Dog. I discovered them from the first single, “King of the Slugs”, and I feel like the band grew a lot in a couple of years. That they are already releasing a second album seems crazy to me. How did you experience that explosion?
FD: It’s funny, because it didn’t necessarily feel like an explosion. We’ve been playing so many shows, I’d say about three years, and it’s been constantly busy for so long that any growth that happens happens slowly. It’s like you see yourself in the mirror every day while losing weight: you don’t notice it, but people who don’t see you that often tell you “wow, you look great.” It’s not so obvious when you’re doing it. I don’t know if you agree, Joe.
Yes, I think so.
IR!: I mentioned it not so much because of the numbers, but because of the fans. Before writing for this magazine I had a radio show, and the first time we played “Running” all the people asked: play it again, play it again. I think Fat Dog’s sound is very catchy.
FD: It’s sticky, yes. I like it, sticky.
IR!: I’ve seen several live performances by the band and they blew my mind. How do you build the live part of the project and what is going to change with this new album?
FD: Before the first album we didn’t release anything for a long time. We said: we are going to play all the shows possible. Doing it that way, instead of releasing an album and then going on tour. Because nobody knew us. So we toured non-stop, and then we made an album thinking that there would be a better chance that people would listen to it. Now we are in the second part, perhaps less strategic, but we feel that we have the rhythm well. I would say we have a good work ethic.
IR!: How long were you working on this new album?
FD: Joe worked really fucking hard on it when it was being recorded, and then we all got into the studio a little bit. But we are rehearsing this one a lot more than the first one, because there are more technical parts. And they’re also new songs: we’re learning and polishing them after recording them, whereas with the first album we played all the songs before it came out.
Yes, we played the songs long before we recorded them. I think we made them in 2020 and they came out in 2024, so it was a long fucking time sitting on something. This one is completely different: we came back from a tour, we added songs, we hardly had sung them, and now we’re putting them out. It is a faster process. I guess that’s the modern touring band way of doing things.
IR!: Here in Mexico I know you have some fans, myself included. Do you have plans to tour the world with this album and come to Mexico?
FD: Oh yes, we want to go to Mexico. Definitely. I would love to go to Mexico. From what I’ve heard from Mexican fans, it would be incredible. It’s crazy that there are a lot of people in countries where we’ve never been who are music fans, it’s something very cool.
Yeah, although I think everyone’s lying to us, and then we get there and there’s seven people in a room looking at their drinks.
IR!: How have other arts influenced the project, be it cinema or others?
FD: There are some movie references on the album, but I’m not sure if they are direct influences, more like little details. Yeah, Shrek 5. Shrek It’s more of a measure of time, right? Like saying ten cups of tea later, or ten pints later. Shrek 5 It’s the future. So who knows what’s going to happen then?
IR!: If you were wrestlers entering a ring, what song would you enter with?
FD: Oh shit. I would be Rey Mysterio. And I would be Hornswoggle.
I want to go in with something peaceful before I knock someone out with a chair. Something peaceful. I would like the soundtrack of Mishima. That would be nice. Or “Time to Say Goodbye.” Or a children’s lullaby.
IR!: They could be a tag team and enter with that song. And the last one, to close: if you could describe Fat Dog in just three words, what would they be?
FD: Two or three words? Three. Okay: “stupid fat bitch.”
Well, a good three would be: just normal men.
GO!: I love it. Thank you very much, it was a pleasure. I hope to see you soon in Mexico.
FD: Thanks to you.
