Fire Through Shadows (Metal/Hardcore)

Fire Through Shadows
Posted Jan 15, 2007

Ben(Vocals)
Daniel(Bass)
Michael(Drums)
Mike(Guitar)
What is your website? -Don't have one as of yet. We own the domain name, we're just looking for the right person to design it for us.
What is your MySpace? - www.Myspace.com/FireThroughShadows

What genre is your music? -We like to say we're just a straight up heavy metal band. But we do get alot of thrash and hardcore(NY style hardcore) comparisons which we don't mind.

What are some of the shows you have comming up? -We're gonna be playing a big festival on April 29th in Bakersfield, CA. There's gonna be 80 bands, two days of music. Then we have a show in Merced, CA at The Trench with our good friends in Better Left Unsaid, FAllenSLeepless and Portrait of the Artist.

Who got you interested in playing this kind of music?
- I think it's a bit different for all of us. We've all been put through alot of bad stuff throughout our lives and music has always been an out for us. It's one way to not only relieve some of the pain/stress, but it's also fun for us. Which is what it comes down to.

What is music to you? - Music is a release. Music is a part of us, it's in our blood, it's in our souls. We coudln't live without it.

How did you come up with your band name? - Like we said before, we've all been put through alot, but we're still here. And we wanted a name that meant that. So to us Fire Through Shadows means to still be fighting and perservearing even in the darkest of times.

What other bands have you been in, why did they end or how are they going?
- Wow. We've all been in numerous bands. None of which are around anymore. Some of the guys are off playing in new bands and we hear from them from time to time. But most we haven't heard from in years.

Did you have any previous band names? (with same band members) - We went by Eternal Aggression for a little while. We had quite a few lineup changes. One reason for the name change.

What venue would you like to play the most that you haven't played at? - Where to start? haha. Rock AM Ring would be awesome, The Whiskey, Chain Reaction, CBGB's(R.I.P.), The Pound(R.I.P.), Madison Square Garden, Rainbow Ballroom. And so many more.

When, Where and How was your first show? - Our first show was July 26 2006, at the Fat Cat in Modesto. We shared the stage with Hemlock, RU36, Sickle and And All Was Lost. We had a blast that show. Not only did we get to play with some awesome bands, but we didn't mess up! Which is always a good thing.

Who do you one day want to play a show with or open for? - Yet another question where the list can go on and on. haha. But to start it would have to be Machine Head, Slayer, Fear Factory, Static-X, Devildriver, Lamb of God and Bury Your Dead.

Why do you play music? - It's in our blood. We don't know anything else besides music.

What makes you strive to be heard? - Family and friends. Without them backing us we wouldn't be where we are know.

What inspires most of your lyrics? - Mostly life events. Seeing things happening in the world, or just personal situations. We're not into dragons and wizards to much. haha.

How many people in the band right now are the original band members? (explain new members)
- Me(Daniel), Mike and Michael are the three originals. Me and Mike have been in bands with Ben before and knew he could growl like no other. So when the opportunity arose to play with him again, we took it.

What brought your band together? - Don't know really. haha. We just did.

When was your band formed? - Around New Years of '05. That's when some members left and others came in.

For what reasons was your band formed? - To make straight up, in your face, american heavy metal.

Where do you wish for your band to be in 5 years? - Well, still a band obviously. We would like to have a couple full length albums by then. And have a couple tours under our belts. We'd love to be signed by then also. Even to an indie label would be awesome. Just someone to help us get our music heard.

What do you think its going to take to get there? - Perserverance. We believe it will happen if we just keep moving forward.

What is the best thing about being your band? - The body odor that permiates out of our practice room when we're done playing. Haha. Actually it would have to be that we're all friends first. If we didn't get along it wouldn't be that fun to be in the band.

Where have you been playing lately and how has your response been? - We've been mainly playing around our area(the central valley), trying to build up a pretty good local fan base. But, this year we're going to be venturing out and hitting up some more distant citys.

Do you have any advice to starting bands? - Be prepared to suck. Honestly. Don't let what other people say about your music. Because there will be people who think it sucks.

What is the best thing about music? - The freedom of expression that it gives you.

What is the worst thing about music? - How judgemental and narrow minded people can be about it.

What other instruments can (each person) play (other than the ones they currently play in the band)? - Guitar is the main instrument, with one guy still learning it. We all attempt to play the drums. Keyword there, "attempt".

What do you guys do for work right now, other than playing music? - Ben works in sales, Mike works for the home improvement company Lowes, and Dan works for U.P.S.

Did your parents like you playing when you were younger? - I think most of our parents encouraged it to a certain point.

Does being involved in playing music make you miss out on anything? - Of course it does. We've all cancelled dates, or turned down going out with friends so that we could practice or play a show.

What were some of your favorite bands growing up? - As a whole it would have to be Slayer, Machine Head, Sepultura, Soulfly, Megadeth and Metallica.

How old were each of you when starting to play instruments? - We were all in our mid-teens when we started playing music.

Anything you would like to say to your fans reading this interview? - We want to say thank you! We can't emphasize enough how much you mean to us and how much we appreciate everything you do. Thank you!

What's your latest cd? - No cd yet. We're going into the studio in March to record with ex-Systematic guitarist Adam Ruppell. He'll be both recording the cd and he'll be producing us.

Where can we get it? - Keep an eye out on our myspace page and we'll keep you updated.

Do you have any sponsors or endorsements? - No not at the moment, but we are always looking.

We just want to say thank you to Big Smile for the interview and the opportunity to get our name heard. Thank you.