Tiny Moving Parts frontman Dylan Mattheisen can’t remember what game it was, but he first heard The Fall Of Troy on a video game soundtrack. Whatever the game was, he heard F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. and was blown away by it. So much so, in fact, that while the Benson, Minnesota three-piece – completed by brothers Billy and Matt Chevalier (drums and bass/vocals, respectively) – don’t really sound very much the Fall Of Troy, much of Mattheisen’s playing style, especially his finger-tapping, are very much inspired by them. The two bands have played together before, but will be embarking on a full tour with each other in Europe and the UK this summer.
“They’re one of our favourite bands of all time for sure,” says Mattheisen, “so to be going on tour with them is nuts. To go from seeing them eight years ago when I was 15 years old and having my mind blown…I would never have thought ‘Oh yeah – you’re going to be touring Europe with that band some day!’ It feels kind of unreal and we’re super hyped! Our band would not sound the way it does if it weren’t for The Fall OF Troy, so we’re really thankful for that band.”
Here then, are his 10 favourite tracks by The Fall Of Troy.
10. LACES OUT, DAN! (Doppelgänger, 2005)
“I love this song. When I was in high school I really got into The Fall Of Troy and every time I’d show a friend a song theirs, this would be the first one. It gives a good first impression of the band because it’s technical like all the other songs, but it’s also super in-your-face and powerful.”
9. I JUST GOT THIS SYMPHONY GOIN’ (The Fall Of Troy, 2003/Doppelgänger, 2005)
“The first time we ever saw Fall OF Troy I was about 15 years old and they were playing my favourite venue in Minneapolis, the Triple Rock. They opened up with this song and I remember just being mindblown. It was like ‘Holy crap!’ because it was the first time I’d seen finger tapping like that and it was so insane!”
8. CHAPTER I: INTROVERTING DIMENSIONS (Phantom On The Horizon, 2008) **
“**When we played Audiotree Music Fest last year, Fall Of Troy were headlining and they opened up with this track, and again, I thought that was so cool. It was originally on the Ghostship demos EP, which is a bit of a hidden gem, and when I discovered that online I remember just freaking out thinking ‘This is amazing!’ So when they opened up with this I thought it was so badass!”
7. SLEDGEHAMMER (Manipulator, 2007)
“This is off their second record. I remember we had to drive 30 miles to Willmar, Minnesota to go to a Best Buy to pick up that record and so we listened to it on the way home. Sledgehammer really stuck out to me because the ending just becomes this really heavy, powerful breakdown kind of a thing that I couldn’t get out of my head.”
6. WHAT SOUND DOES A MASTODON MAKE? (The Fall Of Troy, 2003)
“This is a really, really cool song. It’s the last one on their third record and it’s a seven minute-long epic. The riffs in it are really sick. I’ve seen Fall Of Troy live two or three times, and the one time I couldn’t go, and I was so bummed because I found out they played this song. It’s a real banger. Hopefully, when we’re on tour with them they’ll play this song for me, because I really need to hear it live.”
5. THE CIRCUS THAT HAS BROUGHT US BACK TO THESE NIGHTS (YO CHOCOLA) (The Fall Of Troy, 2003)
”This is another banger. We love it. We actually covered this song when we used to play back in high school at these small venues where only our friends were there. We’d cover this song and Billy would actually sing the whole song, all the screaming parts and everything. Someone videotaped it and I have it somewhere in my bedroom, so I have to convert that into a file or something because I’d love to see that.”
4. A MAN. A PLAN. A CANAL. PANAMA. (Manipulator, 2007)
“I love this song. I know I’m saying that about every song on the list, but I do. The riffs on this are just really cool and the ending is similar to Sledgehammer where it’s a powerful breakdown, which just makes me lose my mind. This is a long song, and I usually get bored with or lose interest in long songs, but they just pull it off so well. The more you listen to it the more interesting it gets.”
3. F.C.P.R.E.M.I.X. (Doppelgänger, 2005)
“If people know The Fall Of Troy, everybody knows this song. It’s their biggest song and I felt like I had to put it on the list because it’s the first song that turned me onto The Fall of Troy. I remember hearing them palm-muting the guitar but it had these delays and it was stuff I’d never really heard before and it just made me really interested in what the heck it was. I fell in love at first listen.”
2. YOUR LOSS (OK, 2016)
“This is off the new record that just came out. I was a little unsure, I was like ‘I hope this record’s good’, because they hadn’t done a record in so long and when I heard this song – it’s the last one on the record – it was just totally awesome. There were super great riffs, awesome guitar playing, the drums and insane and the vocals are awesome – and it got me really excited again. Like, my 15 year-old self got super stoked, like ‘They wrote another awesome song!’ I was a little skeptical about listening to it, but I really enjoyed it. They did a great job and I really hope they play this song specifically on the tour.”
1. WHACKO JACKO STEALS THE ELEPHANT MAN’S BONES (The Fall Of Troy, 2003)
“This is just another great song. It starts off with everything together at 100 miles an hour, just really super interesting. It’s just a really awesome song and I don’t know what else to say about it except for that because that’s all that needs to be said!”
Tiny Moving Parts’ album Celebrate is out now through Triple Crown. For more information, visit their site.
