Built on long-standing friendships and deep roots in Baltimore Hardcore, The S.E.T. is a new project that feels anything but thrown together. Bassist Che Figueroa’s history with guitarist Brady Ebert (ex-Turnstile) and drummer Ryan Fauver (ex-End It) stretches back more than a decade through shared scenes, bands, and spaces like Charm City Art Space, making the band a natural extension of relationships already forged through years of DIY involvement rather than a fresh start from scratch.
Formed in 2024, The S.E.T. came together organically, with early ideas shifting from raw hardcore toward a groove-driven crossover edge as the lineup solidified with the addition of vocalist Tim.
With the group's debut Self Evident Truth EP coming out soon, I spoke with Figueroa about their origin story, the creative direction behind the record, balancing band life with responsibilities at Flatspot Records, and their plans to stay active on the road in 2026 and beyond.
Firstly, tell me about your relationship with Brady, Ryan, and Tim. How far back do you all go with each other?
I met Brady around the early 2010s, most likely at a Charm City Art Space show. Flatspot Records has a compilation series called The Extermination, and Turnstile gave me a song to be released on the first Extermination compilation that came out in 2011, so we were all hangin' out more around that time.
I met Ryan through End It’s guitarist Ray around 2016. When I met Ryan, this was pre-End It, when they were just writing songs that ended up being songs for End It’s first record. I’ve known these two for years, and we’ve had a great relationship. Brady was actually my roommate for a couple of years. So starting a band with them made perfect sense.
What was the impetus behind the formation of The S.E.T.?
I had been writing some songs on guitar in 2024 and needed a drummer. Ryan was down to jam, and that was pretty much the genesis of what would be The S.E.T. I had a couple of songs written, and after a couple of months, I suggested hitting up Brady to come jam with us. I ended up moving to bass, and after a couple of months of the three of us jamming, we had 7 songs with no vocals.
I was really picky about who I wanted to sing, and it took a couple of months to find the right person. The right person came in the form of Tim. I am the promoter of an annual hardcore fest in Baltimore called Disturbin’ the Peace, and at the last 2025 DTP during Speed’s set, there was this kid who was dancing really hard, taking the mic to sing, stage diving, and just had a really aggressive aura that stood out to me. I was able to connect with him, and we introduced ourselves. I brought Tim to come try out for the vocal part, and Brady, Ryan, and I agreed that this was the guy.
Gut Instinct and Leeway are among the bands mentioned in the introductory press release for The S.E.T. How much did you guys discuss the stylistic direction you wanted to explore once you decided to work together? Maybe it was more of an organic thing once you got into a rehearsal room together?
At first, when it was just Ryan and me, I was writing more straight-up hardcore songs in the vein of Gut Instinct, as well as some songs with a Judge sound. When Brady started jamming with us, he brought over a more thrashy/crossover sound, like Leeway or the Alpha Omega-era Cro-Mags. At first, I wanted to do a Gut Instinct-sounding band, but that changed when Brady joined and started writing.
When Brady and I started jamming together, there was no real direction; we just wrote music organically in our own styles, and most of the songs are a blend of our writing. For example, “This Chain” was written by me, “T.M.T.” was written by Brady, and “Truth Revealed” was written by both of us.
But back to Gut Instinct, you do have a direct connection happening on the EP. It's a great way to pay tribute to the Baltimore Hardcore tradition.
Yeah, we really want to thank Sebastian from Gut Instinct for laying down the guest vocals for “White Lies." I have personally admired Gut Instinct my whole life, and having him on the record is unbelievable to me. I love seeing Brady in the zone, killing it at every practice. He is a generational talent.
This is Tim’s first time in a band, and he is coming off as a natural, and I can’t see anyone else singing for this band. Ryan has played in numerous punk and hardcore bands in Baltimore, and this is what he was meant to do. I always told myself if I ever did a band, it would have to be the right situation, and this is exactly that.
Aside from the musical style, the lyrics on the EP are, thankfully, framed in the political turmoil of the day. How important was that aspect of what you’re doing with this band? It feels like there’s too much emphasis on tough-guy posturing and not enough on penning songs about shit that matters in the world.
For the lyrics, I just told Tim to write about whatever he felt. The way he explained it to me, he wrote the lyrics like that because in today's world of media literacy and how our government is approaching the access and dissemination of information, he had to write the lyrics in a direct way, so people could understand his words without having to make their own interpretation of the lyrics. I like how some of his lyrics are politically charged.
Another underlying theme is the Truth. Brady’s interpretation of the Self Evident Truth is that all men are created equal. I personally add another layer to that by extending the concept of Cro-Mags' "Seekers of the Truth." That the truth we all sought after has finally been found.
Efstathios Tsemperlidis’ cover art for the Self Evident Truth EP is a striking visual. Talk to me a bit about that, and how much of that process was a collaborative one between him and the band.
I found out about Stathis (Efstathios Tsemperlidis) through Brady. Stathis runs Decadence Comics, and Brady learned about it through Riley from Power Trip. Riley and Brady were fans of Decadence Comics' artistic direction, and after checking it out myself, I became a fan too. We all decided to have Stathis do the artwork, and it came out great.
The EP's cover pretty much symbolizes a person’s life that is out of order and in search of a way out. A shadow cast over a ruined city with not much hope, but there is a doorway leading to paradise. In a way, we are all searching for a way out, for a doorway we can go through to take us to greener pastures. That doorway may come in the form of family support, a new employment opportunity, an inmate's last day in jail, basically anything that is a transition to a better situation in your life.
Since you also run Flatspot Records, the label behind this new band, how have you found the experience of setting everything up behind the scenes?
As for the rollout of this record, Ricky [Singh] and one of our workers, Matt, handled most of it on the label side. I worked more on the band side of things with writing the music, dealing with the studio, contacting directors, etc.
The band has announced the EP release show for March in Baltimore, but how much of a commitment will you guys put into touring with The S.E.T. in 2026 and the near future? Is it a “We will see what happens” sort of deal at this point, or do you have a clear plan on that front?
We are fully committed to being as active as we can. We plan on touring as much as possible. For 2026, we want to play as much of the country as possible, and later in the year, we plan to hit the UK and Europe. Hopefully, in 2027, we can tour other parts of the world before we start writing for another record.
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Self Evident Truth will be out March 6th via Flatspot Records (pre-order).
The S.E.T. on social media: Instagram
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