Conversations with Matt Francini and Troy Woodhall (FUEDAL)

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Francini and Troy Woodhall. They and their team shared their story with us below:

FUEDAL: Los Angeles Based Electronic Duo Troy Woodhall and Matt Francini started the project under the name “yar” in 2019 and evolved through different iterations and sonic styles before rebranding to “FUEDAL” at the end of 2022. By combining the dark, underground industrial-inspired beats found in the warehouses of Berlin, Brooklyn, and LA, then marrying it with the 80s-influenced pop vocal sensibilities and combo analog/digital synth work from the likes of Depeche Mode, The Cure, Hot Chip, and LCD Soundsystem, they released their first songs sporadically in 2022, the sum of which is a gritty, genre-bending soundscape taking the listener on a journey across best and worst parts LA life and its inhabitants. All the music is recorded, produced, and mixed from their home studio in Los Angeles

Their next EP to be released in June called “UNIT 1” with DKA Records is the culmination Troy Woodhall’s years of sonic production prowess coupled with body contortion-inducing percussive onslaughts and lyrical input depicting a self-aware bleak existence, combined with Matt Francini’s synth leads and sequence construction, ear-worm breeding songwriting catchiness, wet bass guitar overtones, and vocal melody support; all whilst drenched in effects, blending genres and leaving sonic commonplace at the door.

The bandmates Troy and Matt first met as part of a random roommate situation living in a shared house in LA, an immaculate conception of sorts. Troy had just graduated school and Matt was a year into LA life when fate put them together. Troy is a drummer since his youth and has been honing his production skills across Logic and Ableton for years. Matt is a classically trained pianist since age 4, studied jazz guitar in college and picked up bass along the way. The two bonded over a shared love of eclectic tastes across many genres, ranging from metal to 80s new-wave/darkwave, 90s industrial, post-punk, Herbie Hancock, modern indie, the list goes on. The two began their songwriting journey on a fateful trip to the mountains, packing up and shipping their entire home studio to a cabin in the woods for a week of sonic exploration in the summer of 2019. What came from that trip was the first framework for what the band is today. From that kindling, the group continued to write and play shows across LA until the pandemic forced them back into the studio for a nearly two years live show hiatus. It was in that incubation, forced inside with nothing to do but write, that the band evolved into the sound that’s available today, delving deeper into darker electronic themes, taking more inspiration from industrial music, and carving out their own niche.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
The path is never smooth, it is always a crooked route, but it’s through that kind of shared adversity (as cliche as it may sound) that both character and great art come about. Both of us work full-time jobs and spend all of our disposable income and time on this dream at the expense of relationships (straining even our own at times), experiences, leisure, you name it, we’re always working. We started writing music in 2019, but it’s taken nearly four years of constant work through a pandemic lockdown, personnel and genre changes, getting ripped off by promoters, missing rent, evictions, totaled cars, playing empty rooms, a band story as old as time. But would we have it any other way? Absolutely not.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We’re an industrial/EBM band from Los Angeles. We take pride in being able to walk the fine line of blending genres without it becoming kitschy. We have a deep respect for the artists that inspire us, and we want to pay homage to them through our music while also pushing the envelope for our scene. One area we try to differentiate ourselves from the pack is in our live sets. We try and have as much of our gear playing live and sing as possible vs just using backtrack. No harm in just using a backtrack, but we want our live sound to be as full and thick as possible. Hence why we use the addition of our good friend Charlie Wood on drums just for that extra added Oomph. Combined with our own custom-programmed light show and stage antics, we like to put on a real performance.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Both of us were raised in Southern California, and at our core, nerds at heart. Whether it be WWII (Troy has an encyclopedia-esque knowledge of WWII planes, battles, tanks, you name it), Star Wars anthology, Music History, food, old movies, general pop culture, we’re both people that like to go deep into the rabbit hole of subjects we’re passionate about. Personality-wise, we’re a good yin-yang dynamic. Troy is definitely on the more extroverted, zany side, whereas Matt leans on the more stoic, tempered side of the spectrum, with the overlap being a shared love of having fun, especially seeing shows around town. However, when it comes to the creative process, it’s all business, were always striving to elevate ourselves and our art to the next level, leaving complacency at the door. That shared passion for striving for excellence and the love of putting in the work is what we take pride and what has gotten us from literally nothing i.e., two kids sitting and dreaming in a garage, to today.

I think both of us used music as an escape throughout our youth and adolescence. For Troy, it was the drums, for Matt, it was guitar and piano. Both of us played in countless bands throughout high school and college as well.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_fuedal_/