INTERVIEW WITH FURY WEEKEND

Belarus-based synthwave artist Fury Weekend had a breakout year in 2019 defined by rapid follower growth and an acclaimed full-length album, establishing him as one of the biggest names in the genre. By blending energetic ‘80s rock and metal influences into the throwback electronic sounds of synthwave, the artist has created a highly polished and synergistic style that brings retrofuturistic audio to life in an accessible and immediately impressive package.

The artist’s early work earned him a devoted fanbase and caught the ear of synthwave label FiXT Neon at the end of 2018, leading to a series of brand new singles through the label in 2019. Buzz around the project has grown steadily from month to month, hitting 125,000 monthly listeners on Spotify just as the artist released his latest full-length album, Escape From Neon City.

The new album carries on the creative tradition of Fury Weekend’s past recordings while leaning harder into the rock elements of the project and incorporating an array of impressive vocal collaborations. These singing performances include ones from synthwave siren Megan McDuffee and electronic rock icon Klayton, known within synthwave for his sci-fi themed project, Scandroid. 

Anyone who’s heard Escape From Neon City is likely to tell you the album is Fury Weekend’s strongest creative effort to date, and with the recording currently piling up, streams and acclaim online, this seems like the perfect time to learn a little more about the creator and his new album. 

What does the Escape From Neon City album mean to you?

Well, every Fury Weekend release has its own shape and colour. Escape From Neon City is a tribute to classic movies like Escape from New York and Escape from Los Angeles. It’s an escape from a dystopian cityscape to a more distant cyberspace, and is a continuation of my first album, Retro Rangers.

Any specific inspiration behind making this album?

The inspiration is always the same: life in a broader sense, as well as people and personal events from my own life I adopt into the reality of the Fury Weekend universe.

What specific gear, software or production tools did you use making this album or any notes about specific songs?

As a software lover, I used a lot of creative tools from Propellerhead Software (Reason Studios). Their new rack extensions are great and provide a field for creativity. This time I tried to fatten and add some modern sound to the basic Fury Weekend music style.

What are your top 3 favorite synths right now (hardware or software)?

Reveal Sound’s Spire, Synapse’s The Legend, and Korg’s Polysix are my favorites right now!

What was it like working with multiple vocal collaborators? What was the process like?

Sometimes it’s complicated to switch into collab mode when you’re producing instrumental music. Nevertheless, it’s always a great experience, and the process is always different because it depends on the artist you’re working with. It was a great pleasure to work with Klayton, Megan, Josh and others.

Can you list your favorite retro (‘80s / ‘90s) horror or sci-fi movies?

I’m a huge fan of Kurt Russell. The Thing, Escape From New York, Escape from L.A., and Big Trouble in Little China are all classics. I even like Stargate with him. 

Of course, Aliens from James Cameron is a sci-fi horror classic by a great director, and I also like the first part of Aliens. I also remember Terminator 2 since my childhood so it’s still one of my favorites.

The Back to the Future trilogy is one of my favorite movie trilogies of all time, and I would like to give honorable mentions to the movies Total Recall, Blade Runner and The Lawnmower Man.

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Fury Weekend’s new full-length album, Escape From Neon City, is available now on all platforms through independent synthwave label FiXT Neon.

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