%20WHITE.png)
Interview: Fake Names Revisit Their Punk Roots With “If You Could See Me Today” Ahead of New Album 'Punk Ruins'
Punk rock supergroup Fake Names are gearing up for the release of their third studio album, Punk Ruins, arriving October 23 via Epitaph Records. Their latest single, “If You Could See Me Today,” offers a compelling glimpse into the band's evolving sound, blending their D.C. hardcore roots with jangly guitars, infectious melodies, and a nostalgic sense of reflection.
Featuring Brian Baker (Bad Religion, Minor Threat), Dennis Lyxzén (Refused), Michael Hampton (The Faith, Embrace), Johnny Temple (Girls Against Boys), and newly recruited drummer Mario Rubalcaba (Rocket From The Crypt, Off!), Fake Names bring together decades of punk history without allowing their individual legacies to overshadow the music.
Produced by Matthew Bernhardt at Chicago's legendary Electrical Audio studios, Punk Ruins promises a spontaneous, collaborative approach to songwriting. Rather than following a predetermined direction, the band embraces experimentation, drawing from 1970s British punk, American hardcore, and guitar-driven power pop.
With a European and North American tour beginning in January 2027, Fake Names are preparing to bring their latest material to audiences on both sides of the Atlantic.
We caught up with Fake Names to discuss the creative freedom behind Punk Ruins, the evolution of their sound, and what it means to make punk music after decades of helping shape the genre.
“If You Could See Me Today” carries a sense of nostalgia while exploring the remnants of the past. What inspired the song's lyrical direction, and how has your relationship with nostalgia changed as you've grown older?
DENNIS: I am not at all a nostalgic person; I tend to move forward, and I'm much more interested in exploring the next thing. Even though I still love and have a huge fondness for a lot of music that I grew up on, that is more based on my love for music. The song deals more with the idea that when I grew up and when I discovered punk, no one believed in me.
People made fun of me and bullied me, and I had precious few friends. But I took that feeling and that sense of revenge and ran with it and created a life doing exactly what no one believed that I could do. And that's a sweet thing. To be fair, though, most of the people that thought that I was weird and strange still think that I am, so maybe that's a victory in and of itself
Each member of Fake Names has played a significant role in punk history. When you come together to write, how do you prevent those individual musical identities and expectations from influencing what Fake Names should sound like?
BRIAN: Oh, you’ve got it wrong - we tap directly into our collective histories to influence the music we make in Fake Names. I can put on any song on the album and show you bits and pieces that are stylistically “on loan” - if not directly from one of our own bands, then from one of our contemporaries during those formative years. Fake Names was built to mine our biographies, not obscure them.
Brian Baker has described Punk Ruins as a collective expression without guardrails or a predetermined direction. Was there a particular moment during recording when the band surprised itself by taking a song somewhere completely unexpected?
BRIAN: Not really. All the surprises happen during the writing process. Michael and I could send a skeleton of a track to the rest of the guys and get back something completely different (and much better!) than what we had envisioned. We have to know basically what we are going to play by the time we get into the studio due to the great geographical distances between band members and the expense of recording. We had one single rehearsal day as a band before the tape started rolling. No time to muck about “jamming” - you know what I mean?
Punk has always been associated with rebellion, independence, and challenging authority, yet the genre has also developed its own traditions and expectations. After decades in the scene, what do you believe punk has gotten wrong about itself, and what still makes it relevant today?
DENNIS: Haha, that is a great question. I think what punk has gotten wrong about itself is its belief in its own importance. Even though I still truly believe in the spectacular power of music to chance maybe punk was never the movement the spearhead that change. One important part of punk is the antagonistic approach, and I think that is important. Even though punk should welcome everyone, it's not an idea for everyone.
Also, I think that punk spent the past 50 years too busy with in-house fighting over who's real and who sold out and such that it never really had the edge to be a real force for radical change. And that is, of course, also something that punk got wrong. The constant fighting and bickering within the world.
That being said, any type of movement that educates, enlightens, and strives towards a better world is worth something, and in its essence punk is still exactly that.
With Punk Ruins arriving October 23, how does this record reflect where you are as musicians today compared to the artists you were when you first entered the punk scene, and what creative ambitions are you still chasing?
BRIAN: Well, I certainly hope that we have grown a little bit as writers and musicians over the last 45 years or so! Our ambitions remain the same as they were when we were kids. We simply want to create new music with good friends, and if people like it as much as we do, it’s a bonus.
