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\u201cIt\u2019s akin to the ancient art of Bonsai,\u201d explains Bonn O\u2019Brien between sips of house blend at a Brooklyn coffee shop. \u201cIt takes patience. It takes an eye for detail. It\u2019s reverence, respect, and a steady hand all rolled into one. It\u2019s the only way to take care of a proper beard. We take the same approach to our music.\u201d<\/p>\n
Three years ago, the O\u2019Brien-lead The Dapper Beards burst into the country\u2019s collective consciousness like a Salvador Dali \u2018stache thanks to their now-iconic appearance on the cover of the trendy periodical \u201cGarden and Gun.\u201d \u201cThe Beards Are Here, And They Will Save Folk Music\u201d read the headline. The striking image of the four bandmates in repose, silhouetted by a SoHo sunset was an immediate viral sensation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sued,\u201d says O\u2019Brien with a twist of his mustache, \u201cthat\u2019s how it went viral. I don\u2019t think anyone had seen a bold move like that\u2013 a band, suing to protect their image after signing off on the cover. We owe a big thanks to The Smoking Gun for making that happen. We had approved the cover, but we hadn\u2019t approved of the people who were going to be reading the magazine. Turns out they didn\u2019t approach that story with the kind of reverence with which we treat our beards\u2013 the same approach we take to our music\u2013 and we didn\u2019t appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the Folk pigeonhole? O\u2019Brien didn\u2019t take kindly to that, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey never took the time to ask for the spelling. It may sound like the word that is commonly used to describe some kinds of roots music, but it wasn\u2019t the word that we were using. It\u2019s not even the music we\u2019re doing. Folk\u2013 and that\u2019s the only time I\u2019m going to use that word\u2013 is so over. We\u2019re Fauxlk. Pronounced the same way as Folk\u2013 which, really, is the last time I\u2019m going to use that word\u2013 but it\u2019s spelled F-a-u-x-l-k. If you\u2019re not going to ask us about our music, which we take great care in\u2013 similar to the way in which we care for our beards\u2013 how can we expect you to represent our movement in its proper context to your readers?\u201d<\/p>\n
The ever-serious O\u2019Brien and his band cared not for the lucky break\u2013 a musical outfit landing a cover on one of America\u2019s more respected musical magazines before ever releasing an album or staging a public performance\u2013 if that break wasn\u2019t going to come on their own terms.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take great care in our music, which is also the way we\u2013 right, you said it\u2013 and we\u2019ll be damned if we\u2019re going to let some media machine run roughshod over us.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the lawsuit now fully behind them (it was thrown out of the only court that would hear the groundbreaking piece of litigation\u2013 a television courtroom show that is, as its producers kindly reminded us, indeed legally binding within the judicial system), The Dapper Beards are now looking towards the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the foremost representatives of Fauxlk music\u2026 the face and beards of the movement, if you will. We take that responsibility very seriously, which is the same way in, well, yeah. So, yeah, we\u2019re serious\u201d<\/p>\n
And when will the world get to experience this movement firsthand?<\/p>\n
\u201cSoon,\u201d says O\u2019Brien. \u201cWe\u2019re thinking about writing our first song, and maybe even playing it at an open mic really soon. But it\u2019s not going to be one of those slapped-together open mic\u2019s, mind you. It\u2019s going to be a really serious one.\u201d<\/p>\n
The world awaits ye, young princes. Go forth, and do great things.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s akin to the ancient art of Bonsai,\u201d explains Bonn O\u2019Brien between sips of house blend at a Brooklyn coffee shop. \u201cIt takes patience. It takes an eye for detail. It\u2019s reverence, respect, and a steady hand all rolled into one. It\u2019s the only way to take care of a proper beard. We take the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/Paz1wU-9Q","post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=610"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":725,"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/610\/revisions\/725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkmusic.nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}