Fans of Melbourne band, Fire Underground are in for a surprise the next time they see the band in action. The band who have found success by being voted by fans to perform at Pushover as well as have one of their songs selected to be the theme music for a television show is made up of Dan Valentine (vocals/guitar/paino/clarinet), Doyle (drums/vocals) and Ben Hall (bass). The band have undergone some massive changes over the last twelve months and I recently caught up with Dan to chat about it.
I put it to him that the band’s once near-punk sound has been replaced by a piano-driven sound and asked him how it came about, ‘I only started playing the piano really in the last year or so, I guess I just gravitated towards the sounds of two of my favourite bands who use piano, Ben Folds Five and Queen.’
You’ve also been a two-piece for as long as I can remember, why did you feel the need to bring Ben into the fold? ‘With the new songs we’d been writing we realized they needed something extra than guitar and drums to fill out the sound. Ben writes awesome bass lines that fit right in with what we’re doing.’
Of course I’ve always been a believer that you haven’t really seen Fire Underground until you’ve seen them live, but what is it like for you guys to play with bands such as Youth Group, Midnight Juggernauts and The Black Keys? ‘It’s really cool because it makes you realize they’re just like you are, people playing music they love, and so far we’ve found the more successful ones are the nicest, more down to earth people who don’t make a big deal about it.’
So do you get to hang with them backstage? ‘Yeah the drummer from the Black Keys was really nice, Doyle had some drum issues and he came up after and was asking him about it and sympathizing.
Pushover was obviously a big deal, how was it for you guys? ‘Pushover was amazing, we had a great crowd and got to see lots of other great bands like Trial Kennedy. Didn’t meet Silverchair, but there’s still plenty of time for all that.’
Fire Underground have also just released a sensational new EP, I asked Dan to tell everyone about it. ‘It’s called Seize The Day, and it’s much more important lyrically than our first two releases. It’s about the idea of dreaming big, sticking with it regardless of what other people say about it and having confidence in yourself, realizing that there’s no one else like you out there and that what you have to say is important.’
So what can fans expect to hear on it? ‘A bigger sound, definitely, it’s our first recording with bass on it as well as piano, synth sounds and vocal layering.’
You have had so many great EPs now, will there be a full-length album in the future? ‘Absolutely, although at the moment it’s really fun just releasing a song every now and then, and keep things happening rather than put something out once and leaving it for a year or more. I’d love to do something which keeps people interested more often, like releasing acoustic songs, experimental songs and demos every month, it’d be great to be constantly putting out new material without any pressure.’
If you interested in purchasing Fire Underground’s EP or wish to see them live, make sure you check out www.myspace.com/fireunderground or go to www.fireunderground.com.