True Fallacy

“Message” really delivers the message. The song sits on the new True Fallacy CD, Making the Noise All Go Away, and it succinctly details the lyrical intent of Dallas industrial rockers Ben Gorena, 27, and Ryan Main, 36. The song uses the subtle yet potentially real threat of violence as a way to deal with the all-too-common ails that society seems to sweep under the pavements. Gorena says the song’s protagonist is mentally ill and intent on hurting others and himself to call attention to his plight.

“TF focuses its lyrical content on sicknesses and things we find wrong with our society, and societies all over the world,” Gorena said. “If we see something wrong with the way things are going here or in another part of the world, we find a creative way to write about them, in hopes that they are provocative enough to initiate conversations about it.”

True Fallacy was formed in 2007, with the current lineup of Gorena and Main solidifying in 2009. Industrial rock, a largely misconstrued merger of hard rock, synthesizers and pounding drums sustaining lyrical and musical aggression, perhaps reached its biggest mainstream audience through Nine Inch Nails’ hugely influential, 3-million-selling 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine. Making the Noise All Go Away, which brims with sonic nods to Pretty Hate Machine, is the second full-length True Fallacy disc; it follows 2009's How Are You Human?

Gorena and Main took to the computer to deliver thoughtful answers to questions about the True Fallacy sound, the scoring of a 2009 Nine Inch Nails fan-produced DVD, the legacy of industrial rock, musical aggression and the relative dearth of industrial rock bands in Dallas.

Making the Noise All Go Away is an industrial rock opus with healthy doses of electronica and a big, sneering rhythmic sound that’s bold and disturbing all at once. What is the creative genesis of the True Fallacy sound?

Ben Gorena: When I began to write music and string ideas together, I realized the world was lacking in a variety of electronic styles and hard rock/alternative music from the 90's; the same stuff I loved and listened to. After the millennium, I began to write music, and electronic/industrial rock is what ‘came out’.

Ryan Main: This happened for me, as well. I remember realizing when I needed to start creating my own sounds because I wasn’t getting my synth fix. Industrial took a mean turn towards agro-dance and left all the rock elements behind. While this is not our goal, helping shift industrial back into a rock hybrid would certainly make us feel proud.

True Fallacy scored the 2009 fan-assembled Nine Inch Nails DVD Another Version of the Truth: The Gift, which chronicles NIN’s 2008 “Lights In the Sky” tour and features footage sanctioned by Trent Reznor. Was this the ultimate nod to one of your biggest inspirations?

BG: It certainly was. When this fan-produced project came about, I reached out to the producers and asked if they wanted any fan-produced music for the credit/music sequences. Twenty-three sketches later, the DVD is finished and our music is all over the menus and the credits. It was a thrilling project to be a part of.

RM: The Nine Inch Nails fan-driven organization was called This One Is On Us. I truly believe it was a precursor to today’s world of Kickstarter.com and fan-funded art. While TOIOU didn’t become a business, it showed the entertainment industry there are alternatives to the major labels, which force-feed us like we are ugly ducklings waiting to become foie gras.

Aggression in music, and True Fallacy’s music certainly has it, is mightily misunderstood. So many out there think that because a band’s music is aggressive, then the band must be aggressive. Most of the time that’s totally false. But from an artistic standpoint, what is the allure of musical aggression?

BG: A stigma artists can’t escape is being directly associated and compared to their work. True Fallacy is more of an outlet for darker feelings and social issues so that we can purge them, so to speak. As serious as our work may be, at heart we are really just a couple of pacifists and goofballs. But we do have a lot to say about the darkness in our societies.

RM: Sometimes people just need to blow off steam. I remember listening to aggressive music as a teen and feeling a sense of catharsis. It was good to hear other people had problems coping with daily life…and raging hormones. But for me, listening to and playing loud and aggressive music is a great release and pure fun.

KMFDM, NIN, Skinny Puppy, Ministry – the legacy of industrial rock, music just outside of the mainstream but quite influential. What drew Ben Gorena and Ryan Main to industrial rock?

BG: For me, it’s more or less the intrigue of the synths and tools used to create it, and the challenge of tying in a variety of different styles and sounds.

RM: Here are some words that come to mind – metal, mass production, desensitization, sterilization, raw, u - Guide Live (The Dallas Morning News)

For fans of old-school style industrial rock, there's a band on the scene ready to make its presence known.

Dallas-based True Fallacy is the brainchild of Ben Gorena. Today, the band's sophomore album Making the Noise All Go Away is out. The album is a true collaboration with Gorena's band mate and writing partner Ryan Main. Making the Noise All Go Away was three years in the making, an unheard of amount of time in today's fast-paced "write-record-release" digital world.

"I was going to school and studying medicine and was intrigued at how chemical relationships in the brain relate to human behavior," Gorena tells Noisecreep of his writing inspiration. "That sparked some ideas in terms of lyrical content, so I just jotted down some ideas and things I thought were cool and different forms of language. In terms of melodies and writing song melodies, my brain never quits doing that."

"I actually did live support for his last album and I did some stuff on stage. After that was over, we definitely started working together," Main explains. "Basically, song sketches were sent from Ben to me and I would add my flavors to it and we would just edit and edit. We spent a lot of time doing that actually, probably two years."

After the writing was done came the editing and mixing and all the tweaks that make an album full of new music sound – and feel – complete. True to form, the duo that is True Fallacy didn't take the easy way out. Instead, Gorena and Main paid tribute to the forefathers of electronic rock by using an analog modular system. In such a system, each module has a specific function. In short, this means the band didn't use computer-based synthesizers to create their unique sound.

"We didn't put together some 4/4 patterns on a computer and just let it loop for 10 minutes!" laughs Gorena.

While both Gorena and Main genuinely like their status as a strong songwriting duo, both men acknowledge the need to add more players to the stage when its time for True Fallacy to hit the road. At the minimum, True Fallacy will add a drummer and guitarist to the band for live shows, for both sound quality and live aesthetic. But what if the added live musicians want to join the band? Both Gorena and Main are open to extending True Fallacy beyond a duo, providing the musicians in question are willing to put in the work and become solid writing partners.

"If that person has the same passion and is excited about it, then it will happen," explains Main. "That will be the 'thing' we have to find."

Gorena agrees and quickly adds, "If the chips fall into place and it winds up becoming a soul mate relationship like me and Ryan, then I could see us becoming a cemented three or four piece act down the road like Tool or Led Zeppelin but I think for the foreseeable future, creatively, it will just be me and Ryan for sure."

To celebrate the release of their new album, True Fallacy invites you to check out their official video for the single "Message" from the link below. For more information, you can visit the band's website. - Noisecreep (AOL)