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Folly (1997-2008)

After a little more that a decade, we’ve decided to formally resign from the music industry. Whereas obviously we would like to have an impossibly absurd reason or scenario causing the end of this run, say “Anthony moving to Lebanon to competitively knit table cloths” or “Arben pursuing his lust for bartering lion pelts and hyena hides…” We simply just want to move on with our lives for a variety of personal reasons. It’s supposedly a very cliché reason for a band to break up, to go these ‘separate ways.’ Yet, it is as definitive and undesigning as the message in said Journey song: Someday love will find us, break these chains that bind us! Sadly, this band is no longer our raison d'être. We have other avenues to venture… other pages to turn.

Luckily, we’re all on the same page with this, and it has become a completely mutual decision to break these chains. It’s also mutually intricate for us to imagine our lives without Folly. It’s safe to say that this band has created a difficult dichotomy from which pulls us apart; there’s the alter-ego us and the self-actualized us. Both exist interdependently and cohabitate when needed, and yet they search for their own identity apart from one another. The inevitability of conclusion is tangible now, but it hadn’t been for so long. We’ve been playing together since high school, developing socially and spiritually throughout our adolescence into young adult-hood with the band as a consistent uniting factor. We created self through each other’s actions, emotions, and knowledge. In essence, Folly is as much a part of us as we are a part of it.

Folly was a hobby turned lifestyle, almost turned career. The fact that we always treated this hobby with so much respect would prove to combat the desperate lifestyle enveloping it. Hitting the road and experiencing this country was always the most profoundly informative and self-edifying attraction, as it was the most intricate and time-consuming obligation of our lives. We simply grew tired of missing out on the growth of our family, our friends… the overall state of “home.” For a while there, home was wherever we rested our drunk bodies, whether crowded Econoline, Interstate highway, Wal-Mart parking lot, studio couch, or basement floor. There was something so comfortable and secure about being dirty rock-and-roll dudes without a worry in the world other than showing up to the venue and playing, meeting new friends and shooting the shit. Transient paths were both exciting and brief; we attempted to understand and absorb the world around us, all the while racing too quickly through it. This is not meant to insinuate that we regret touring; in fact we’ll most likely regret not touring more often. However, the demands and time needed to devote to this project are simply no longer applicable to our lives. Touring is a huge sacrifice; although it remains unmatched in spirit and vibrancy, it is one that we’re no longer willing to make.

We’ve had some amazing people help us throughout our journey, none of which we need to personally mention. “You know who you are.” From fan and family to band to studio engineer and label folk, everyone lent a helping hand for the greater good of the band. Folly was an interesting community of people, an underdog clan of weak influence and yet unrelenting force! There was always something so charitable and original about the music and the message; it seemed to be tough for someone to understand just why we did what we did… But for those who did… who GOT us, you understood that we just simply didn’t give a shit about anything besides having a good time. For those of you who got the chance to know us sympathize that we are the most modest of fools. When kids picked up our album, screamed along to the songs, then offered a place for us to crash for the night, we were always so overwhelmed and astounded. We never understood the generosity. We just simply knew it existed, and therefore we cared nothing more but than to return the favor somehow. No amount of money or fame can compete with the abundance of great memories, friends, and life-lessons we’ve endured with such kind-hearted kin. Zang!

In addition to the greatest community of fans any band could hope for, it’s also important we mention the impact several bands had on our upbringing. Without the inspiration and encouragement of the bands we toured with, we would be a mere shell of the act we became. It is quite easy to identify the way certain bands rubbed off on us, simply by listening to our songs. The crossroads of certain styles weigh heavily on the influence of the bands we spent nearly-every waking hour with, for weeks… months at a time. We’re forever grateful for the opportunity to share the stage and road with bands such as Paulson, Anterrabae, We’re All Broken, Endicott, One Dead Three Wounded, Look What I Did, The Banner, My Bitter End, Chiodos, The Human Abstract, Senses Fail, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Moneen, The Break, and Underminded to name a few. We were eagerly impressionable in the company of these fellow road brothers/warriors, and we shall carry these bonds with us no matter where we go.

We would like to think that our financial woes had no bearing on the decision to hang up our proverbial gloves, but we’d be foolish to recant the claim. After all, folly is defined as “a costly undertaking having an absurd and ruinous outcome.” How ironic our likeness has become considering the financial traditions (frustrations) we’ve faced over the years! Any amount of money we made went to either buying snacks or fixing our van to get to the next show. It’s fair to say that we never did this for the almighty glamorous dollar, although we played to make money to settle our debts with merchandise companies and our record label! The ultimate paradox, huh? Fuck. It’s a bitter dollar-starved bitch, the music biz is. I suppose this is something we won’t miss. We were never cut out for the cut-throat. The general state of music scene big-business was always so contradictory to our mission. We don’t mean to sound like the bitter Muppets on the balcony here, but as social observers of the greater-good and bad, these changes are important to note. I think Tim of 1D3W said it best: “If this is punk rock, we’re fucked.”

The music scene has changed a considerable amount since Folly’s conception and emergence. We’ve seen styles and fashions coerce message and meaning. We watched the rise and decline of certain musical genres and themes. We’ve even experienced the convergence of media giving way to eased, rapid forms of communication. Some bands will never know how hard and yet rewarding it was to book a tour before email and myspace! Does anyone remember ‘calling cards?’ Fucking shit, man! Dually noted, as so many things have changed, so much has remained the same. The incessant need for an outlet in which to artistically release angst has remained. The underground community from which punk music genres flourish still stands strong, even in the ‘Big Brother’ face of major label/mainstream influence. Kids are still making flyers, promoting shows, buying shirts, helping touring bands out, shelling out their allowance to drive hundreds of miles to a show… Regardless of method, it’s still fucking alive and well! We hope that in the wake of our absence, other bands take the reigns and do it for the right reasons.

It’s surreal to experience the cyclical nature of this band; as our tenure wanes, we slowly revert back to the beginning. We now play solely to unite our friends, to have an arena of bro-down force smash… a general reason to hang out. There’s no desperation to make money or impress anyone, nor is there any motivation to play tighter and get “bigger.” There’s simply no need anymore to gain notoriety through this namesake. Any show we’ve booked within the last year was to release the angst of our otherwise boring social existence. That is exactly why we started playing music to begin with, and for this very reason we’ve humbly arrived full-circle. We are living in our very own Lion King music video for “The Circle of Life.”

So what’s next? We’ll be planning some “final shows” in due time, most likely in the NJ-NY-CT region abound. Ideally we wanted to get out to all the other states we love, (Florida, Texas, California, etc…) but it doesn’t seem likely we’ll do so. Also, to further extend going out the same way we came in, we decided to record some new tracks (currently doing so) and make them all available online. It’s the closest thing we could think of that resembled copying demo tapes and handing them out in the late 90’s. High speed dubbing ruled! Each song on the finale is named after a town we broke down in, written in bitter contempt and yet grateful resolution in leaving something we love so much. It’s somewhat of a metaphorical “concept album” that speaks for the culmination of the holistic Folly experience, from start to finish- old and new. It's our requiem; the eulogy of our death. Consider this perhaps as the sequel to the band and the prequel to the rest of our lives. We’ll keep you posted soon about the last shows and hott lickz/sick chopz trax…

While walking away from this, we crave no desire to carve a niche in the history of punk music. We are completely satisfied with what we achieved within our community of friends, and we’ll move on with the satisfaction that we spent the last decade of our lives creating and inspiring each other. Our music in many ways speaks for us best. It may be the only way that speaks for us. Alike the rings on a tree stump, our songs are chapters of our lives. They capture more accurately the emotions and ideas we shared than any other element of interpersonal communication we know of. Our songs best display the times we took a heavy blow, the times we held our heads up high… These relatively timeless stories shall remain the resource to the lineage of our spirit well beyond our years.

In the end, as it was in the beginning…This was all for our friends.

Love always, Agim, Anthony, Arben, Geoff, and Jon

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