Fake Fruit

Fake Fruit originally started as the nomadic songwriting project of California native Hannah “Ham” D’Amato, who spent time living and performing in New York City and Vancouver, but it’s been a full-fledged band for half a decade. After she moved to the Bay Area in 2018, she enlisted guitarist Alex Post and drummer Miles MacDiarmid along with a rotating cast of bassists to flesh out her songs. Their first album, 2021’s Fake Fruit, earned acclaim from VICE, Bandcamp, and Pitchfork, who praised it as a, “whirlwind of biting critique, nervy post-punk guitars, and absurdist humor. Rarely does a first record speak with such a trenchant voice.” 

Where the debut was a collection of songs D’Amato wrote in different places with different lineups, the band’s latest effort Mucho Mistrust and its first for Carpark Records, is a reflection of a collaborative and democratic unit. “Through all of our extensive touring with so many bands we look up to, we have grown so much as musicians and people,” says D’Amato. “There's a lot more confidence and direction for how we write. I had always wanted to write more collaboratively. What does Fake Fruit sound like? How do we all write together? We do it so easily. It's incredible.” On the latest LP, Post offers lead vocals on a song they wrote called “Venetian Blinds” as well as dueling vocals on “Long Island Iced Tea.”Recorded live with producer Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Home Is Where), there’s tangible immediacy and tour-tested chemistry throughout the tracklist. 

Listening to Mucho Mistrust, the propulsive energy of these songs stretches the limits of indie rock and is a reflection of the band’s voracious and eclectic tastes."Everyone in the band brings a wide range of musical influences to the table," says D'Amato. "Alex and I both DJ (sometimes together) around town. If you listen hard enough to the record, you can pick up on influences spanning across many genres and even a tongue-in-cheek nod to The Cars in 'Psycho.'”

The adventurous LP is the result of a resilient band coming together no matter what. “Mucho Mistrust is about toeing the line between opting out and choosing to participate while knowing what the catch is,” says D’Amato. “It's about rolling up your sleeves, dusting yourself off, and starting again.”