NEPA SCENE PODCAST: Real talk with new Wilkes-Barre folk funk band Fake Fight

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Recorded and produced every week by Internet marketing company Coal Creative in their production studio in downtown Wilkes-Barre, the award-winning NEPA Scene Podcast presents honest, uncensored interviews and in-depth discussions about local arts, entertainment, and the issues that matter to Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The live, multi-camera show streams in high definition on NEPA Scene’s Facebook page on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and is hosted by Rich Howells, editor and founder of NEPA Scene; Brittany Boote, owner of Boote Photography Studio in Forty Fort; and Johnny Popko, the senior marketing consultant at local radio stations Alt 92.1, Rock 107, and ESPN Radio. Viewers are encouraged to tune in during each hour-long episode and interact during the Facebook Live stream so that the hosts can address comments and answer questions as they come in.

After the live webcast, the show is available the following Friday as an audio podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher, while the video version can be seen on Facebook and YouTube.

The NEPA Scene Podcast is made possible by local sponsors Beer Boys, The Keys, Loyalty Barber Shop and Shave Parlor, the F.M. Kirby Center, Coal Creative, and viewers who tune in every week.

In Episode 33, we sit down with new Wilkes-Barre folk funk band Fake Fight, which features members of Half Dollar and solo artists Jordan Ramirez, Brendan Brisk, and Michael Stec with Stephen Stec. They play three original acoustic songs for us in the studio before their debut “Pete Horse” EP is released.

Before and during the interview, we drink crowlers of Sköll Och Hati by HammerHeart Brewing Company, Mass Rising by Jack’s Abby Brewing, and Sidecar Orange Pale Ale by Sierra Nevada Brewing that was put through a Randall of candy corn, which was made exclusively at Beer Boys. They all go over well for very different reasons.

We talk about this new project and how it came together, what “folk funk” is and how the term was coined, the local music scene and the importance of collaboration and encouragement over competition, the quick and organic development of their sound, their other musical projects and how they informed this band, open mics, going from the name Elijah Would to Fake Fight, opening for The Wood Brothers at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, and more, including some funny stories, like that time Jordan got kicked out of a Renaissance fair.

We also read a few comments and give away free tickets to Alt 92.1’s first Alt 92.1’s concert with Bleachers, Bishop Briggs, Welshly Arms, and The Struts at the F.M. Kirby Center.

Fake Fight will be performing next with Wilkes-Barre reggae act Elephants Dancing at the River Street Jazz Cafe (667 N. River St., Plains) on Saturday, Nov. 11 at 8 p.m.

Watch the live video version on YouTube: