An Interview with the Faded Freakshow

An Interview with the Faded Freakshow

By Gary Stewart

Have you ever seen something that freaked you out, something you see and all you can say is “what the F” ? You know, like a nail going into a guy’s nostril, or a drill for that matter. Have you ever seen a man eat broken glass, while he’s sober? Well I have, and believe me, I was kinda freaked out, so was the rest of the crowd, but just like a really cool car wreck, you just couldn’t turn away. The fact that I got to see a freak show in Ft.Collins during New West Fest  was a little more out of the ordinary, so I took advantage of the situation and sat down with these guys for a chat. A very interesting chat with Slim Fadey’s Faded Freakshow…

LMC– Hey Slim , how you doing?

Slim Fadey(SF)– I’m good.  You?

LMC-I’m good,.., a little freaked ,but good.

SF– That’s the Idea.

LMC– How did all this get started?

SF-I had been looking for a freak show for about ten months up here and I couldn’t find one anywhere, so I decided to start one. I loved side shows and freak shows since I was a kid and if you can’t find one ,… make one.

LMC-Who’s all involved with this insanity

SF-Its myself  (slim fadey), Woody, And our snake lady Jen.

LMC– How did you guys meet?

SF– Woody and I met at hodi’s Halfnote. I was doing a  freak show there,and he came up to me expressing interest,so He and I got together with other like minded people and now you have The Faded Freak show.

LMC– What made you want to do a freakshow?

SF-I ‘ve loved sideshows and freakshow since I was a kid. Always had a interest in anything odd, and you can’t get any stranger than a Freakshow.

Woody– Freakshow are rare,very rare. You have Jim Rose sideshow ,and a couple of others,but as a whole The Freakshow industry is a dying breed. It’s a labor of love,and pain. My father and I worked Carnivals when I  was a kid and the love I have just grew from there.

LMC– You said this was a labor of love and pain,How much of this is real?

SF– All of it.

LMC– How do you handle hecklers that don’t believe the  feats you do are real?

SF– We invite them up on stage to be a part of the performance ( nothing we do of course) ,but that way they see what we do first hand.

LMC– Is that why you had those guys standing on woody whike he was lying on a bed of nails?

SF– YEP. Now they believe.

LMC-Where have you guys performed?

SF– We did the Denver County Fair earlier this summer ,and believe it not we got a great reception.

WOODY– We were picked up by  the associated press and featured in over 250 publications all over  the country. You can even find us on the Yahoo front page.

LMC-So by getting all this exposure do you think Freakshow will start popping up all over the place?

SF– I hope so but I doubt it. Like we said this is a labor of love and you have to be a freak to love what we do?

LMC– You guys got anything coming up soon?

SF-We get to play the Lions Lair inDenver on Sept.21, and on Sept 6 we play Hodi’s Halfnoteat our Synthesis Reaction show. That happens every other Tuesday night. So to all you freak lovers out there come check us out and enjoy the pain with us.

LMC– Thank you guys for completely freeaking me out and Thank you Slim for all your support with the LocalMC. Slim’s a member of the LocalMC y’all.  Freeaks of the world unite and take over!

Category: Noco Music Scene