The Fire Tonight

AlternativeAddiction.com Indie Spotlight band of the month, March '09
The Fire Tonight have been heard on...
106.5 The End, Charlotte, NC
Magic 94.1, Greensboro, NC
93.3 The Planet, Greenville, SC
WUSC 90.5, Columbia, SC
WXRY 99.3, Columbia, SC
"...[The Fire Tonight] gets in your head with its piano-touched and guitar-blasted post-punk rock. It's a rather ear-opening combination of subtlety and punch-in-the-guts rock..."
- Creative Loafing - Charlotte, NC
"...strutty, classic-rock-influenced with hints of Blue Oyster Cult."
- Flagpole Magazine - Athens, GA
"[No One Is Fine] rocks from the opening seconds and from then on sends you into a roll coaster ride of piano driven tracks and riff driven guitar rockers."
- SceneSC.com
"...The Fire Tonight elaborate heavily on their brit pop influence, shaking things up from song to song with sounds that wind their way from high energy arena rock bombast to pensive tales of self-destruction where every note rings with purpose."
- Columbia City Paper - Columbia, SC
"...emotional lyrics and polished sound..."
- Anderson Independent - Anderson, SC
"I like this way better than the new Smashing Pumpkins"
- Randy Borawski, co-host WXRY Unsigned - Columbia, SC
Collin Derrick Vocals, Keys, Guitar
Jamie Heiting Lead Guitar
Stephen Russ Drums
If Muse and Ben Folds threw a party in Thom Yorke’s head while he listened to “Rubber Soul” on repeat, it might sound a bit like The Fire Tonight’s debut album, “No One Is Fine.” Subtle and anthemic and why-the-heck-can’t-I-stop-listening catchy, “No One Is Fine” tiptoes into your headspace and refuses to leave. But after listening to all 10 tracks – thrashing rock-riffs and soulful piano licks side by side – you won’t want it to.
And it almost didn’t get made.
“We’ll either make it at this or fail – no middle ground.” Drummer and co-producer Stephen Russ’ ultimatum to the band was the don’t-look-back catalyst that kicked The Fire Tonight into high gear.
Over the course of a year, the band stole every free moment to craft the tracks on “No One Is Fine”: Lead singer Collin Derrick crafted anti-emo lyrics backed by emotive melodies; guitarist Jamie Heiting injected his signature gusto into the album’s irresistible riffs and solos; and Russ glued it together with addictive beats birthed out of his “happy place.” In between full time jobs and grueling weekend gigs they snatched snippets of studio time; and – a bit here, a bit there – recorded and mixed their labor of love.
Each track references the album’s common theme: everyone pretends to be fine, but no one really is. It’s a throwback to when albums were coherent creations rather than glorified mix-tapes stacked with radio-happy singles.
“And then it came time to master the album and, well, the band was broke. Free beer from gigs only goes so far.” So they dug deep and financed “No One is Fine” on their own dime. Derrick: “We could’ve waited indefinitely for financing, or we could just get it done. Easy choice, since we truly believe in the album. It’s got our blood in it, quite literally.”
“No One Is Fine” is available now through http://www.thefiretonight.com and select regional retailers. Shows in support are planned January-April all along the east coast.
Evan Derrick
Moviezeal.com