Fake Natives

Fake Natives was formed in 2011 by Daniel Hornsby (singer, guitarist), Kristin Henry (trumpet player, singer), Nolan Fabricius (guitarist), John Goddard (bassist), and Ryan
Manes (drummer) in Manhattan, Kansas.

Fake Natives’ 2012 self-titled debut explores the legacy of the West with dramatic irony, with each sentiment undercut by a history of sadness and isolation even while the guitars evoke spaghetti westerns and Shane-like rides into the sunset. For a band that came together in a town covered in symbols and mascots appropriated from Native people, the record is an attempt to interrogate the violence of the past and comment on the fake representations of indigenous people that populate the myths of the American West and U.S. nation-building.

For their second record, Kiasedona (2013), Fake Natives turn toward recent history. Here, the plains of the previous record have been covered with strip mall parking lots. There is faux fur and fake leather (“Faux Fur”), the disjointed images of YouTube autoplay (“Internet Vid”), and flimsy suburban construction (“House of Business Cards”).

Their third record, Lose Touch (2017), documents the band as members move out of Manhattan, Kansas and transition to different lives in 5 separate states. The result is a varied album shifting from the ecstatic tour rock of “Opelika” to the anthemic harmonies of “Username + Password” to the reflective pulse of “Lose Touch."