7 Q’s with The Fire Tonight

7 Q’s with The Fire Tonight

The Fire Tonight have been off the radar since July of last year, so we decided to catch up with them about where they have been.  They will be warming up the crowd Saturday March 27th at The Elbow Room for Treadmill Trackstar’s CD release party.

1) The Fire Tonight has sort of dropped off the radar lately. Where did you go?

It’s hard to believe we’ll be playing our own music in Columbia for the first time since July! Being in a band that toured like we did costs a lot of money and has very little immediate return. That coupled with growing weary of the old material really made playing shows more of a chore than anything else, so we knew it was time to step back for a little while and work on some other projects. Fortunately, writing and recording our EP became one of those projects.

2) We’ve heard you’ve been working on a new EP of your own. When is it due out and how is it going to be different from No One is Fine?

If I had to guess, I’d say it will be out sometime in May. Two of the songs are almost fully mixed, while we are still recording parts for the other two. Strange how that worked out. It will be a digital release, which means we are either cutting edge or poor. You be the judge.

Our whole approach is different this time around, and we actually know how to record this time! That helps. When we were debating over whether to do another record we ultimately decided to do this one for the absolute fun of it. As a result the atmosphere is a little more lighthearted on the whole, but the songs really bring it and are much more extreme production-wise. For example one of the tracks is essentially an ode to classic rock complete with obnoxious Queen a capella section.

In the spirit of good times we also decided to have some of the best Columbia musicians we’ve met come in and do guest spots on three of the four tracks. That experience alone was worth it to get a different perspective on the songs, and I can promise that their additions are ridiculously great.

3) While Stephen and Collin have been working on The Restorations new album, what has Jamie been up to?

Collin and I have been recording a boat load of artists and loving it, it’s just such a different aspect of music than being in a band. We’ve got two projects (The Restoration!) coming out in April and a bunch more on the way (check out our Facebook for details). Jamie has taken up guitaring with local cover act Under the Sun. I think he has made more money in three months than our band made in three years.

4) The Fire Tonight has 3 members based out of 3 different music
scenes. Which do you think is the most thriving and what city that isn’t home do you enjoy to play the most?

I hope I’m not sucking up if I say Columbia. While it may not have a lot of venues right now it’s got some of the best bands we’ve ever played with and a huge variety of talent. There’s a reason why we call it “home.” We also get a kick out of playing in Charlotte. Our touring bassist, Justin, knows every person in the city and we’ve made some great friends there. There are a lot of really fun venues there from the classic Milestone, to that pirate-themed venue, to the beer coffeeshop the Evening Muse, the overly hot Tremont, and more. It’s always interesting and rarely disappointing.

5) Your drummer Stephen Russ used to write some kick ass articles for Scene SC. What happened to him? Did David finally cut him? Literally cut him.

I took some time off to write a Master’s thesis so I can finally be an adult. Boring I know. I’ll be back writing more soon so BACK OFF DAVID.

6) How do you balance your personal life with your life in the band?

We are all good friends so I think the band is just another part of our personal life. Living in different cities and not seeing each other helps a lot with that though. When we are playing a lot we know that the week is the time to be adults and the weekend is the time to live out our teenage rock star dreams. It also helps that most of our band arguments are over the phone or over e-mail, no doubt we would have all killed each other by now if we all lived in the same place.

7) Have y’all tracked down a bass player yet or are you just gonna stick with one of those electronic bass machines?

Our good friend (with an awesome name) Jesse James contributed all the bass lines on the EP. He did our summer tour with us and we really loved his style for these new songs. Unfortunately he is a busy college kid who still has delusions of doing something with his life. We’ll break him of it yet! Until then Justin will continue to fill in, all the while hoping the day comes when we don’t ever call him again. Seriously though, if people love this EP we are going to do a lot more shows and then we’ll actually get a real live bassist on our side. It’s been way too long.