Fire with Fire

What kind of colossal ignoramus wears a flannel shirt and long pants to a Fire With Fire show, and in the summertime, no less?

Yep, that would be me.

Now, a person of my years knows to steer clear of the mosh pit-are the kids still calling it that, by the way?-but if only someone had warned your humble correspondent that Fire With Fire possesses the potency of the noonday sun, well, perhaps then I wouldn't have ended up sweatin' like a whore in church. Seriously, I have to imagine that this kind of ferocity is akin to what permeated the American punk/hardcore movement of the early 1980's. If the biggest understatement ever made is that the French Revolution was a little bloody, then a close second is that Fire With Fire's performance is, uh...rather lively.

Band members Ryan "Flip" Kayser on vocals, Dave Butler and Rudy Budnick on guitars, Matt Podolski on bass, and Anthony "Fire Ant" Calderin are a serious band, visible from the calm, focused diligence with which they set up their equipment on stage. They opened their set with "Miles Away" and the cleverly-titled "Near Life Experience," but it was during the third number, the anthemic "Fall," that the band seemed to really shift into the right gear, with an impassioned Flip repeating the mantra-like phrase "Why do we fall down, just to get up again?" to an emphatic crowd.

The Uncharacteristically poignant and sentimental "Heartbreak"-featuring guitarist Dave Butler doing some pretty good "Woah oh-oh" backup vocals-was followed by the tightly-constructed and catchy "20 More To Follow," with Flip insisting, "When it's over and it's done for, don't be sad for too long...there's another one on the way."

The set closer was "Brain Damage," a song with a brief, subdued intro and muscular tune that moved from almost death metal-like aggression-including gargled-with-glass vocals, massive crunch guitars, sick-sounding bass, and controlled bursts of double bass drum kicks-to more introspective guitar passages and moments of legit-sounding vocal stylings, and then back again. The band had guests sit in to spit out some of the more demonic bits of screaming.

I had the great opportunity of talking with the guys briefly before they took the stage at their Summer Scream 2007-all ages show at St. Michael's Mutual Club in Gibbstown, New Jersey. This was an event that they organized themselves, in true do-it-yourself spirit, and it also featured the bands Adoring Anguish, Willpowerless, and Complaint Department.

*To read the interview in it's entirety, go to http://www.origivation.com/issues/origiVation_2007.08.pdf
Scroll down to page 24-26 - Matt Torrence (Live Show Review for Origivation Magazine, Aug. 07' Issue)

As a child, you've been told time and time again never to play with fire. This Friday, throw that old rule out the window because here comes Fire With Fire.
The Ace 102.7-FM and Championship Records host the "Loud and Local" radio program every Sunday showcasing up-and-coming local bands that truly rock the southern New Jersey shore. On Friday, July 18, The Ace and Championship Records team up with The Pearl in Somers Point to bring that loud and local scene to the live stage.

Fire With Fire will carry the weight of headlining the show, but bassist Matt Podolski says that won't be a problem.

For a band that formed and wrote about seven songs before even deciding on a group name, Fire With Fire has come a long way and has also created a large following.

"For people who haven't seen us, they can expect to pay attention (when we play), because it's so hard not to; we're pretty lively on stage," Podolski says. "We really like what we play, and it shows. People hear us, and then they go see us and are really impressed with our live show. They don't expect us to play the technical music that we play and also be able to move around like we do on stage."



And being lively on stage isn't the only draw to a Fire With Fire gig. It just so happens that the only means of getting your hands on their debut album, "Broken Hearts and Bruised Egos," is by coming to a show.
"Every show, we nearly sell out of CDs," Podolski says. "A lot of people have heard about the CD, and we get messages (on MySpace) daily about how they can purchase the album."

Fire With Fire's debut is a huge accomplishment and one of the band's proudest feats.

"We set out to do it, and we did it, so we're really proud of that," he says. "It was our first 12-song project, and it was an awesome experience."

And as far as finally deciding on a band name, Podolski claims it was all thanks to their guitarist, Rudy Budnick.

"Everybody had suggestions, but nobody really settled on a name," Podolski reveals. "Then, one day, we went to practice and Rudy just said, 'How about Fire With Fire?' Rudy said he saw a fire truck with the slogan, 'Fight Fire With Fire,' and we took out the 'fight' to make it less aggressive, and that's really how we write our music. We're all songwriters, and we like the songs that we all contribute to, so we try out best to really layer a song with as many different points of view as we can."


What They Play: Original rock music with a hint of metal. Podolski says the band's biggest influence is a underground group, Killswitch Engage, known for bringing metal back into a rock 'n' roll format. Other influences for Fire With Fire include the Deftones and Incubus, but Podolski says, "Ironically, we have a lot of influences, but they don't sound like us at all. They influenced us from the start, but we took it and ran with it."


What's On The Setlist: "Twenty More To Follow" is the band's pride and joy. "'Twenty More To Follow' is one of our most popular songs," Podolski says. "It's been on our MySpace forever, and it's a really positive song that people relate to." Other fan favorites include "Brain Damage," "Instigator" and "Fall Down."


Roster: Ryan "Flip" Kayser, vocals; Rudy Budnick, guitar; Dave Butler, guitar; Ant Calderin, drums; Matt Podolski, bass.

Why They're Cool: Don't take it from us - or even the band - but MySpace has proof that Fire With Fire is on their way to topping the charts. Fire With Fire is the No. 5 metal band in all of New Jersey, as ranked on MySpace. "We get about 5,000 song plays a day on MySpace," Podolski says. "We're up there with a lot of big names."


Originals: Fire With Fire plays all original songs, except for the occasional live cover of Killswitch Engage's "The End Of Heartache." By going to their show, you can pick up their debut CD, Broken Hearts and Bruised Egos."


Claim To Fame: Fire With Fire has played The House Of Blues, the Trocadero in Philadelphia, the Theater of Living Arts in Philadelphia, Bernie Robbins Stadium in Atlantic CIty and are currently booking an U.S. tour for the fall.


Go See Them: 10 p.m. Friday, July 18, at The Pearl, 1 MacArthur Blvd., on the Somers Point Circle, Somers Point. The show's bill includes Fire With Fire as well as Bound Alive, Treachery Is Your Forte and Starter Incurable. The show is sponsored by 102.7-FM and Championship Records as part of the "Loud and Local Live" program. This is a 21+ event, and admission is free. Call The Pearl at 609-653-1155.


WebSite: www.myspace.com/
firewithfiremusic

- Story By Rebecca Grites; Photo by Rob English

View the Story at: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/141/story/207417.html - Rebecca Grites-At The Shore Magazine (Published: Thursday, July 17,2008)

Thursday, August 14, 2008

-Review- Fire With Fire - Broken Hearts And Bruised Egos
Fire With Fire
www.myspace.com/firewithfiremusic
Label: Unsigned
From: Atlantic City, NJ
Broken Hearts And Bruised Egos
Release Date: 2008
Sounds like: Taproot, Old Staind, Old Incubus


Track Listing:

1. Broken Hearts And Bruised Egos
2. Tonight
3. Fall Down
4. A Near Life Experience
5. Heartbreak
6. 20 More To Follow
7. Wall Of Glass
8. Fallen Angel
9. Brain Damage
10. Kill The Radio Dead
11. Instigator
12. To No Avail
13. Just A Name
14. Tonight (Radio Version)

First off, New Jersey bands have been always busting out of the state with so much musical talent and potential that it's not even funny. From Bruce Springsteen to My Chemical Romance, NJ has produced a ton of acts that produced a ton of appeal locally and then exploded into the national scene. Enter Fire With Fire as one of the next acts to repeat that trend.

The first song (which is the title track), come on with a slight nasal voice which might remind some of a mix between Brandon Boyd of Incubus and Stephen Richards of Taproot. The sound itself is very modern rock but with a slight metal edge of screaming and breakdowns. More Taproot-ish breakdowns than Killswitch Engage (so not to be confused). The song "Tonight" has an extremely catchy chorus and a great bass line that could have anyone drumming on their steering wheel while listening to it while driving.

"Kill The Radio Dead" is entirely 40 seconds of just the sound of someone flipping through radio stations. The next song after "Instigator" gets things back on track with almost a 36 Crazyfists type vibe to it actually.

The album itself might be a little long at 14 tracks to some but due to the catchiness and every song sounding slightly different than the last, you won't feel repetition while listening to it.

Verdict:
Anyone who digs modern rock with a bit of an edge would dig this. While not the most explosive album, they do add elements here and there that come out of nowhere to knock on your eardrums door.

Standout Tracks-
"Broken Hearts And Bruised Egos"
"Instigator"


Posted by From The Depths Entertainment

*Check out the review at http://fromthedepthsent.blogspot.com/2008/08/review-fire-with-fire-broken-hearts-and.html - From The Depths Entertainment