My name is Forest and I’ve been the bass of Face since the very beginning in 2001.
The one thing you might not know about me is that I’ve been a vegetarian since 1991. It’s not something I preach by any means, but it really works for me and my life. Oh, and I’m a pretty good whistler.
Here’s my story of how I came to be in Face. When I was in college at the University of Colorado in Boulder, I sang in a coed a cappella group named Extreme Measures. That group was founded by the same two people who founded Face – Ben and Joseph. When they started forming the group that would become Face, they reached out to me to be the bass. One fun distinction that I have which the other guys don’t is I’m the only person who never had to audition for Face.
Besides singing the bass and several solos at any given time, one of my roles is to manage all of the Face sound equipment. That mostly includes transportation and upkeep of all the microphones and in-ear monitor gear. It also means that I get to work directly with our sound engineer on what gear is needed in the future to keep us up to date on all the latest innovations with sound technology equipment. The other behind the scenes role I fill is that I do most of the studio mixing and post production work for our recorded songs. That’s something that I’ve enjoyed for most of my life, but I really find it very rewarding taking the raw vocal tracks with Face and giving each song a beautiful shimmer.
One of my favorite things about being in Face is watching the crowd change through any given show. I love when someone who is probably seeing Face for the first time is sitting there with their arms crossed as we start the show. Usually by about the 3rd song, they’ve got a smile on their face (pun intended). By the end of the show, they’re on their feet hoping for one more song. That’s really fun! Even for the seasoned fans, I love to watch their transformation through the night. Maybe they had a rough day, but by the end of the show they’re all smiles. I like to see people happy and enjoying themselves.
Through all these years there have been so many wonderful moments. But, my favorite moment what the 1st time we played at Red Rocks Amphitheater here in Colorado. I’d been to that venue through my whole life and seen it from the audience perspective. Walking onto that stage for the first time with 10,000 Face fans cheering us on! That was absolutely magical and brings happy tears to my eyes even as I type this.
The only other thing to mention is how appreciative I am, we are, of all the fans we’ve gotten to know through the years. We’ve seen little kids grow up and have their own kids. We’ve played at weddings and then watch them bring their kiddos to shows to become new fans. And, we’ve sadly experienced some fans passing way. It sounds cliché, but we really do love our fans. We’ve all been through a lot together.
