EMQ’s With The Fires Below
EMQ’s With The Fires Below
Hi everyone! Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with UK Punk/Stoner/Groove metal band, The Fires Below. Huge thanks to their frontman, Smithy, for taking part.
What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?
Hi, I’m Smithy, the frontman and one of the guitarists for The Fires Below, from London, UK. Our band is a mix of punk rock energy, metal fury, stoner groove, and the technical proficiency of djent. We formed back in 2021 during the pandemic, using lockdown as an opportunity to write material and then finally met at the rehearsal room as soon as restrictions were lifted. We decided on our band name in 2022 which is when the band was officially born. We started with a couple of single releases and then had our first EP released in 2023 entitled ‘Masquerade’.
How did you come up with your band name?
We spent ages trying to decide on a name as we’re sure many bands do, because most of the good ones were already taken! We tried meeting up at the pub to combine random words pulled from a hat, which was fun but didn’t work. Eventually, I believe Sam suggested something similar to our final name and we looked it up and as soon as we realised it wasn’t taken, we had to jump on it.
What Country / Region are you from and what is the Metal / Rock scene like there?
We’re from London, UK, and we’re fortunate that most big bands make it a priority to stop here for any world or local tour. Just as importantly, especially for us, there’s a great grassroots rock and metal scene in London and plenty of bands. If you look for it you will find decent live music any night of the week. However, it also still feels like many live music venues are struggling with higher costs and there aren’t as many as there used to be, so it’s more important than ever to support Live music and our local venues.
What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)
Our latest EP is called ‘Thorns’ and it is out on the 7th of June. It’s our second EP release with 5 heavy bangers that we hope your readers will love. With more experience, we’ve pushed ourselves creatively. This EP really plays to our strengths that we discovered playing live. We mix elements of punk, desert rock, alt-metal and djent for an intense yet melodic cocktail of riffs and emotion. Blast it as loud as you can until the neighbours complain!
Who have been your greatest influences?
As a four-piece band we regularly recommend bands to each other and the list of influences is pretty long. If you’re a fan of QOTSA, Deftones, Mastodon or Clutch ……. then you should like what we play.
What first got you into music?
There were always a couple of acoustic guitars in my house because my Dad played and tried to teach my mum. He said he had to stop playing because as a toddler I would always try to grab the strings. Who knew? As a teenager, Indie Rock was ever-present which was ok, but nothing special. One day in Spanish class my mate passed me his headphones and told me to “listen to this”, it was Korn’s debut album, my first exposure to heavy music and I was blown away, I had never heard anything like it before. Needless to say, I didn’t learn much Spanish after that.
If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?
Probably Josh Homme, he is just such a wise guy with a wealth of experience and I would learn a lot, not just about music but life. I’ve heard he’s pretty busy, however.
If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why?
We seem to have a bit of a South American following so whatever massive rock/metal festivals they have down there! You see we’ve not even researched it yet, because we’re not quite ready to be jet-setting. That being said, as we’re UK-based, Download Festival would be something fantastic to aim for.
What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?
Nothing weird yet. Sam’s partner made us our very own cookies in the shape of flames for our EP launch party, which was cool and then at Xmas we had our very own The Fires Below flame-shaped mince pies, which didn’t last long because they were delicious.
If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?
Thank you for all the support, we really appreciate it when we see you at our gigs and you leave us a cool comment online. It means a lot to us.
If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?
I think Lemmy would be a popular choice, but if you live forever in people’s memories then you’re never truly dead.
What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?
I think we enjoy the process of creating; hearing an initial idea evolve in the practice room, then in the recording studio and coming out the other side with music we’re really proud of. It’s amazing how something that starts as a small idea can end up becoming something that sounds epic.
Hate is a strong word, but there is a lot you have to do alongside the music such as admin, emails, social media etc that all takes time, so it would be nice one day to have someone else take care of that for us.
If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
As independent artists we are not in the industry; we do things when and how we want to. That being said, all the platforms we use for our music and social media are used by the industry so you have to find your way through the noise. We don’t see music as a competition, however we are essentially competing for attention like everybody else. Essentially, a band isn’t just trying to stand out amongst other bands but also amongst a million cat videos, 10 tips for packing your suitcase and all the other nonsense.
Name one of your all-time favourite albums?
QOTSA – “Songs for the Deaf”
What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?
Ha, streaming unfortunately because it’s the cheapest and easiest way to get our music out there. I do love Vinyl and I have inherited quite a few classics, but I’ve strictly avoided becoming a collector because it can be a very costly hobby.
What’s the best gig that you have played to date?
Probably our last EP Launch party at the famous Hope & Anchor Islington, London, because we put the show on ourselves without a promoter, choosing our own support and playing for as long as we liked. You can watch the full video of the gig on YouTube.
If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?
My day job is filming and editing videos. I used to make short films and I use a lot of those skills when we need to make music videos or creative posts online. In university I always thought I would be a film director, but then in the real world you realise what’s actually involved and you have to sacrifice so much, it’s even harder than being a musician.
Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?
Musicians, maybe Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, Chino Morino, James Hetfield and Corey Taylor. Some of the best frontmen in music, not sure how the evening would go, to be honest, but it would be interesting.
What’s next for the band?
When this new EP ‘Thorns’ comes out it would be great to do a launch party gig for it and we still have another music video to film for our 2nd single from this EP. We are getting to know other bands like us which is great for learning from each other when it comes to putting on shows etc. Opportunities will present themselves, and we have lots of ideas and music that are a work in progress. Making a full album certainly is a possibility and now we believe it is within our capabilities for the future, wait and see.
What Social Media / Website links do you use to get your music out to people?
All of them, we are everywhere ha ha.
Website: https://www.thefiresbelow.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheFiresBelow/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thefiresbelow/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thefiresbelow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thefiresbelow
Bandcamp: https://thefiresbelow.bandcamp.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/the-fires-below-band
Time for a very British question now. As an alternative to the humble sandwich, is the correct name for a round piece of bread common in the UK either a Bap, a Barm (or Barm Cake), a Batch, a Bun, a Cob, a Muffin, a Roll or a Tea Cake?
As a Londoner that moved to Sheffield for University I had the piss taken out of me for not knowing what a cob was; lol, so I embraced that word. That being said I would use roll if I wanted to be understood by my local London baker.
Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of your EMQ’s, thanks to SanPR for looking after us and to Rogue Studios and MyKey our producer, who is also in a band called ‘A New Tomorrow’ which you should all check out. And cheers to everyone reading this, we hope to see you at a gig in the future.
Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.