Artist Spotlight: Failing Street

An Interview with Nik Pang of Failing Street

You wouldn’t guess that geography would play much of a role in a pop punk band.

However, Failing Street frontman Nik Pang has a fascination with maps and, “likes knowing where [he is], both literally and figuratively.” Since he began bussing around the city as a child and was forced to know where he was going, his interest only grew. Years later, it led to the name.

“I thought it’d be cool if I could name a band after a street because you don’t see a ton of those, so I went on Google Maps to search random cities just for that,” says Pang. “As it turns out, there’s this major street in Portland called Failing Street, and I thought, ‘Wow! This really sums up my life right now.’”

Failing Street is a five-piece band consisting of two guitarists (Duncan Losin and Nick Coco), a bassist (Ryan Brown), a drummer (Noah Stroscher), and Pang. They dropped their first EP, Geology, in July and followed that up with Silver Tongues and Silver Globes, a five-track release which came out November of this year. Like their previous work, the new record is fast-paced and in-your-face.

“The sound is definitely pop punk,” said Pang. “It’s familiar enough that anyone who’s into Blink-182, Neck Deep, or bands like that will probably like it, but I feel like we have our own sound. We always try to make things our own.”

The new EP was recorded with Vincent Diep, who the band met onstage with All Time Low, one of modern pop punk’s supergroups.

“When I wrote ‘Picnics’, I sent the demo to Vincent for a second opinion,” says Pang. “He thought it was really solid so he offered to help us out to record a song or two with the setup he has in his house. He’s one of those guys who can just make things sound good.”

The cover art to Silver Tongues and Silver Globes also pays homage to the end of Pang’s last relationship. It pictures a small silver globe—a birthday present from the ex—in flames. For the sake of catharsis and closure, Pang and his friends “doused it in gasoline, lit it on fire, and that was that.”

“I enjoyed it a lot. Maybe more than I should’ve,” Pang admits with a grin.

Because of the personal nature of the record, Pang wrote all of its songs. However, there is more opportunity for collaboration within Failing Street in the future. Pang’s style depends on “tell-it-like-it-is lyrics and simple song structure,” two staples of pop punk, but he feels like it’s “a little stale.” For that reason, he’s eager to welcome the influence of other band members’ writing styles.

“Nick brings more of a guitar-driven side, whereas I play drums, and he can write these crazy five-minute songs. He’s very good at making things melodic. Ryan’s also a very good writer of fiction, so he can add a new element of storytelling and keep the lyrics from being too in-your-face. Duncan and Noah haven’t expressed too much interest in that, which is fine, but it’ll be neat to go forward with just the three of us and see what happens.”

The future looks like an opportunity for growth with Failing Street, which makes sense; the band’s only been making music officially for a few months. Instead of releasing a full LP, they’re planning on continuing to publish EPs every so often, just to keep the band active. They’re hoping to tour as well, though nothing’s set in stone. For now, they’ll be playing local shows, writing, and practicing as much as they can.

“Everyone in the band actually cares about it, which is really great. We’re all dedicated to making things sound good, which you don’t find a lot. There’s always one guy who holds everyone back, but everyone in Failing Street is really dedicated,” says Pang. He’s been in bands since he was a young boy, and Failing Street shows the most promise thus far. As members of Surrey’s small art scene, they’re looking forward to expanding into the Lower Mainland, Metro Vancouver, and even as far as Vancouver Island.