5 Questions With: Fictionist [SXSW Edition]

We spoke with Utah rockers, Fictionist, about their crazy tour schedule, the possibility of new music, and their preparation for performances! Check out our interview with vocalist, Stuart Maxfield, below!

You guys have been crazy busy over the last 6-7 months. You toured with Neon Trees, released your self-titled album, toured with Mates of State, and performed at South By Southwest. What keeps you guys so driven to constantly be on the road and taking so many things on?
Fascination and obsession.  Fear of creative claustrophobia.  I need adventures.  

Fictionist was elected by New Music Seminar as an “Artist on The Verge, Class of 2015,” as well as Salt Lake City Weekly’s “Best Band of 2015” – congrats, by the way. We can only assume that 2015 will be an incredible year for you guys. What are you most looking forward to this year? Some more touring? A new album? 
We are going to be touring the self titled primarily this year.  We’ll be out with Neon trees again, and doing a number of higher profile one offs.  We are constantly writing and while we don’t have a firm release date in mind for the next record we defiantly aren’t waiting around to get working on it.  The new record is one of our primary focuses.

When you released your self-titled album, you mentioned that the concept of the album art had to do with the “overarching lyric theme” that can be seen throughout the album. Which track off that album was most meaningful to you and why?  
To me, I like the simplicity of miss you but I also appreciate the imagery and eloquence of can’t get enough. Difficult to narrow that down.  I can say that lyrics are important for me
and I have a hard time proceeding with a song until I feel the lyrics are resonating in a cool way.  

South By Southwest is filled with tons of incredible acts, were you excited to catch any artists in particular? Did you stumble across any new artists that you are now a fan of?
We went to all the Sego shows and had a fantastic time.  They are one of our favorite up and coming groups.    

You’re no stranger to playing festivals, having previously performed at CMJ and South By Southwest last year. Do you guys prepare differently for festivals versus any other show you would normally play?
The only thing thats different is how insane take down and set up is.  We try to trim down to accommodate to  rushed sound checks etc.   We make a special point to always do our thing regardless of the venue or festival.