Packing venues in the Southern California scene, folk-pop trio Faultlines is comprised of members Todd McCool, Ashley Morgan, and John Flanagan – each with a resume backing up major label artists as singers, players, and songwriters respectively.  The combined synergistic effect has been described as an amazing and impressive breath of fresh air.  Their lauded three-part harmonies are a metaphor for their work.  With unique strengths these individuals are able to put their best cards on the table for a royal flush of a musical performance. In 2016, Faultlines opened up for a range of artists including Christina Perri and Easton Corbin, owing to their urban pop and roots country sound.   Faultlines’ goal is simple: to play everywhere, all of the time, and of course, shake up the current state of commercial music.

In this interview spotlight, we chat with the band about music, influences, their new project, and more.

Q&A, links, and streams can be found below.

Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?

Faultlines is a wild amalgam of blurred and colorful influences. Ashley, an R&B singer, grew up on Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston. John, a rock singer, grew up on Led Zeppelin and emulating singers like Freddie Mercury. Todd can play anything, and has been playing the guitar for 25 years.  His musical influences include Huey Lewis, Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Jellyfish, Eric Johnson, Edie Brickell and the new Bohemians, John Cougar Mellencamp….everything that revolves around pop and Americana greatly influences most everything he does.

What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?

Faultlines met doing cover gigs, but quickly realized we were armed with an arsenal of unused original tunes and a lengthy back catalog, so we began dusting off tomes to create our first EP, Hearts (and other things that break).  Having discovered a unique blend of melody and harmonic arrangements, the inevitable creation of a second EP came as naturally as tying our boots.

Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?

Piggybacking on our first response, we come from so many diverse musical influences that we have each individually shaped the sounds of this group, and evolved the ears of our fellow band-mates.

Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?

It was John’s idea to turn the cover band into an original one so his ideas become the directive of the band’s original music.  Speaking for myself (Todd,) I just want to use synergy, make good music with talented people, win a Grammy or two, seem like magic to everyone who hasn’t seen us and keep them captivated [but know that it is years of unique experiences and hard work that make us what we are].  I want to use all I’ve learned and channel it into an endeavor like this.   and I want to have my friends back in the mid-west look at me and be inspired about their own lives.

What was the last song you listened to?

“Closer” – Johnnyswim (Ashley)

“Old Days” – Ingrid Michaelson (John)

Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?

We love dropping the stylus on that old PVC; however, The beauty of music is how it changes, and we’re excited to see the diversity of formats that will emerge over the length of our career.

How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?

We see the biggest return for our investment by selling hardcopies. That being said, Spotify is an incredible way to discover new music.

Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans? 

We have the most incredible fanbase that radiates from Southern California and beyond. Of course, our greatest challenge in expanding is accessing new fans in an age of overabundant free music.  How do you convince a venue on the other side of the country to book you based on the quality of your content and not the number of fans you can bring in?

Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?

You can keep tabs on all things Faultlines at our Facebook page… Every time we post a new YouTube video, released a new single or album, or book a tour or show, it will be posted on our hub.

Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?

We’re touring New York/New England in September:

• September 26th – Manchester, NH, St. Anselm College, 7:00pm
• September 27th – New York City at Pianos 7:00pm
• September 28th – New York City at The Bitter End 7:00pm
• September 29th – Boston, House of Blues, 9:00pm

Our new EP, Telephone Philosophies, is available on iTunes, Amazon, and everywhere digital music is sold.