Faunts is an

electronic rock Electronic rock is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry- ...

band, formed in 2000

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anc ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada, by Paul Arnusch and brothers Steven and Tim Batke. Faunts creates ambient music by arranging electronic beats with rock music, synthesizers, and drums. In 2009 the band was described as "slow-motion shoegazers reborn as purveyors of luminous and deeply affecting electronic pop."

History

Faunts was formed in the fall of 2000 by musicians Paul Arnusch, Steven Batke, and Tim Batke. Their debut album, ''

High Expectations/Low Results High Expectations/Low Results is the debut album by Canadian electronic rock band Faunts. It was released on October 18, 2005 on Friendly Fire Recordings. The album had been recorded independently years earlier, but was not widely distributed u ...

'', was released in 2003 by

Friendly Fire Recordings Friendly Fire Recordings is an independent record label based in Brooklyn that was founded by Dan Koplowitz in 2004. Bands under the label include Asobi Seksu, Faunts and David & the Citizens. Friendly Fire is distributed in the United States by ...

and was met with a positive reception. In 2005, the band began writing their first EP, '' M4''. Faunts desired to have their music crafted to accompany short films for the Film and Video Arts Society. Keyboardist Joel Hitchcock and mixer Rob Batke joined the band, and Dave Swanson and Nathan Seattler assisted with writing the album's lyrics. ''M4'' released in 2006 and achieved notoriety when the song "M4, Pt. II" was featured in the final credits of

BioWare BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...

's 2007 video game ''

Mass Effect ''Mass Effect'' is a military science fiction media franchise created by Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn and Preston Watamaniuk. The franchise depicts a distant future where humanity and several alien civilizations have colonized the known univer ...

''. This raised the band's profile and "a sizeable new audience was exposed to Faunts’ moody, subdued melodies." On November 18, 2008, Faunts released a remix album titled ''Faunts Remixed'', featuring remixes by acts such as Mark Templeton and

DVAS DVAS (Dietzche V. & the Abominable Snowman) is a Canadian electronic dance music group formed in 2003 in Toronto. DVAS signed to Upper Class Recordings, the Toronto-based label responsible for notable artists The Russian Futurists, Cadence Weapon ...

. This was followed by their second full studio album, ''

Feel.Love.Thinking.Of ''Feel.Love.Thinking.Of.'' is the second studio album by the rock band Faunts. It was released in 2009. Track listing #"Feel.Love.Thinking.Of." – 3:09 (featured on the soundtrack of NHL 2K10) #"Input" – 2:41 #"It Hurts Me All ...

'', which was released on February 17, 2009 and is the result of songwriting over the course of touring across America. The song "Das Malefitz" was featured during the final credits of ''

Mass Effect 3 ''Mass Effect 3'' is an action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The third major entry in the ''Mass Effect'' series and the final installment of the original trilogy, it was released in March 2012 fo ...

''. On November 17, 2012 the band released "Left Here Alone", described by a press release as "an offering of a handful of unreleased yet essential songs that fill in the empty spaces between ''High Expectations/Low Results'' and ''M4'' in Faunts' evolutionary map. Listening to this record is like traveling through the band's back catalogue." Between ''Feel.Love.Thinking.Of'' and ''Ostalgia,'' Tim Batke formed the band Duplekita with fourteen friends from other bands, and Rob Batke left Faunts indefinitely to pursue a solo career under the pseudonym Artisan Loyalist. On February 12, 2016 Faunts announced the upcoming release of ''Ostalgia'', "a five-volume compilation of new music." Volume 1, released August 12, 2016, is a five-part song titled "Thirty-Three," the sound of which hearkens back to the band's early work while exploring new musical territory. On September 9, 2017, Faunts announced on their Facebook page they were "Busy working on Volume 2 and are planning to release a new single soon." On August 27 2019, the band released a new single titled "There Will Be Blood"

Members

Current

*Steven Batke -

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

*Tim Batke - vocals, guitar, keyboard *Paul Arnusch -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

Former

*Joel Hitchcock - keyboard *Rob Batke - keyboard, laptop *Scott Gallant -

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gu ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (October 18, 2005) *''

'' (February 17, 2009)

EPs

*'' M4'' (December 11, 2007) *''Left Here Alone'' (November 17, 2012) *''Ostalgia, Volume 1'' (August 12, 2016)

Remix albums

*''Remixed'' (November 18, 2008)

References

External links

Faunts' Bandcamp pageThere Will Be Blood Song Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faunts Canadian indie rock groups Canadian experimental musical groups Canadian post-rock groups Dream pop musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups from Edmonton Post-punk revival music groups 2000 establishments in Alberta