Introducing: Fireworks Night

17 October 2008, 10:30 | Written by Rich Thane

(Tracks)

A double whammy ‘Introducing’ feature this week. Monday saw us bring Arrows Of Love to your attention and today sees a very special band indeed get the TLOBF treatment. We already told you how awesome Fireworks Night are back in July when we were lucky enough to catch their live show at the Wireless Festival. We were so impressed with their curious take on folk music in fact, that we even invited them to play at our club night ‘ILL FIT’ which just so happens to be taking place this Monday, 20th October at The Old Blue Last boozer in Shoreditch EC2. Full details and lineup can be found here – but for now we’ll just say that it’s free entry, there WILL be free shots and quite possibly, free love. You should come, really. It’s going to be great.

Fireworks Night are James, Nick, Rhiannon, Neil, Ed and Tim. Some of these questions were answered by James alone at the computer but they were all subjected to group discussion at dinner after an evening rehearsal. You can download an mp3 from their forthcoming EP A Mirror, A Ghost at the bottom of the page.

For people out there that have never heard of you. Give us three reasons why they should…

Can you recall the moment when you first decided you wanted to become a musician?
James: I don’t recall any particular ‘eureka!’ moment but I’m sure my parents would gladly tell you tales of me as a young child doing the tennis-racket-as-guitar routine along to videos of Buddy Holly. Then came my Queen phase… I think some was caught on video camera but we don’t talk about that…

Where do your songs come from? What’s your inspiration?
James: I always seem to write the music first so I guess they must begin with the simple pleasure of just playing the guitar or, less regularly and very badly, the piano. Why I am attracted to certain melodies or chord progressions I have no idea. Once the music’s done I begin with the lyrics which are where the process slows down. I try to write lyrics that hold my interest and that impetus must be inspired by the writers – of songs, books, poems, etc – that I admire. The actual subject matter of the songs comes from all over the place.

What was the first gig you ever played and was it a success?
The first gig this band played took place last summer and was in support of the excellent David Thomas Broughton at 93 Feet East in London. It seemed to go very well and represents something of a breakthrough for us.

What’s been your most memorable on the road story so far?
Last autumn, returning from a show supporting The Mules in Bristol, we stopped at Leigh Delamere services to get fuel, coffee and snacks. Another dented white sprinter van was parked close us in the nearly empty car park. This is usually a sign that there is another band in the vicinity. The band on this occasion turned out to be the Mercury Music Prize nominees Maps who, when both parties had finished their shopping, approached our van and inquired if we were a band. A certain amount of banter ensued during which they gave us a CD of their ‘new single’. After saying our farewells and returning again to the motorway the gift was given further inspection and turned out to be entitled ‘Office Sluts’. Luckily our van was blessed with a CD/DVD player so we further investigated its contents. It turned out to be filth of the highest order and was, after some amusing and some rather unsettling scenes, thrown out of the sunroof.

How much artist control do you possess over your music? Are you interested in how the album looks and how you’re marketed?
James: We run our own label and make our own artwork and CD sleeves along with some amazing friends of ours so we have complete control. We are very interested in how things look and are presented and we try to do both as best we can.

What one piece of criticism has stuck in your mind and was it justified?
James: We haven’t really been reviewed much yet so we’ll just have to see… It has been pointed out to me that if I’m having a bad gig I can disappear into myself a bit. That is something I am trying to correct.

Who’s your favourite new band at the moment? Tell us a bit about them.
We all really love the music of our label-mates Left With Pictures. Their E.P Secretly is wondrous. We’re also very big fans of Eugene McGuiness who we had the pleasure to tour with last year. He is a lovely man and a brilliant songwriter.

Name your Top 5 records.
That would take all night but here are some records that we really like.
Ed: Sweet Warrior – Richard Thompson
Tim: Roseland NYC Live – Portishead
Neil: Fancy Blues and Rustique Novelties – Flipron
Rhiannon: Uneasy Listening – DJ Z-Trip
Nick: Drums and Guns – Low
James: Person Pitch – Panda Bear

What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it?
Nick: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Yes.
Tim: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking. No. It is neither brief nor a history of time.
Rhiannon: Don’t Shoot the Clowns by Jo Wilding. Yes.
Ed: Novels in Three Lines by Felix Feneon. Yes.
Neil: 800 Years of Woman’s Letters by Olga Kenyon. Yes.
James: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Yes.

What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
Nick: I had to dress up as a bear in a bowling alley in Swindon. My brother was my boss.

What one thing has caused you to waste your free time in the past 6 months?
James: Tim’s response to this question involved reference to the fairer sex. The actual word he used won’t be mentioned here lest it provoke amongst your readers a reaction that resembles the one it got from the rest for the band. It is enough to say that this was somewhere between laughter and tears.

What’s your poison?
Wine, Brandy, a certain ‘brandy style’ beverage.

We’d like you to make us a mix-tape. Pick five tracks with a theme of your choice.
James: Given our answer to the previous question we decided to make drinking the theme. The songs are:
‘Jackie’ – Jacques Brel
‘One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer’ – John Lee Hooker
‘One for My Baby and One More for the Road’ – Johnny Mercer
‘Love is Like a Bottle of Gin’ – The Magnetic Fields
‘The Piano’s Been Drinking (Not Me)’ – Tom Waits

Tell us a joke.
Ed: Five men walk into a bar. You’d think one of them would have seen it.

mp3:> Fireworks Night: ‘You, Holding’

Fireworks Night release A Mirror, A Ghost via Organ Grinder Records on 5th November.
Click here to pre-order your copy.

Fireworks Night on MySpace