In Remembrance: Fire When Ready
Fire When Ready: A band extinguished far too soon.
You know that band? The band that every now and then rolls through town and fucking owns the show. The one you had never heard of before, and yet, for the week thereafter, can’t listen to anything but. Well, for me, Fire When Ready was that band.
The band that would later become FWR was originally forming in 2000 in New York. After two years of extensive touring all over the States, this band opted for a name change and thusly became what we know now as Fire When Ready in February 2003. Initially consisting of Brandon Musa providing bass and vocals, his brother, Justin Musa on guitar, Steve Anderson supplying drumming and vocals, and Justin Mann on guitar. In late 2003 guitarist Justin Mann left the band and was replaced shortly thereafter by fellow New Yorker, Travis Martin.
Fire When Ready continued to tour the States throughout 2004 promoting their self released EP before heading to the studio in July to work on their first full-length album. The band spent three and a half weeks recording at Applehead Studios in Woodstock , NY with Chris Bittner and Mike Birnbaum (Coheed And Cambria, Bad Brains, ect).
After their initial record label fell through, the band shopped around for a label to release their finished album The Sky Stared Down With Angry Clouds. After playing over 180 shows in 2004 alone in anticipation for their new album, it was finally release in June 2005 by Art Injection Records and would go on to sell close to 5000 copies.
In the months following the release of The Sky Stared Down With Angry Clouds, FWR recorded a new EP and went to work shopping for a label to release it. During this time they also started work on a future sophomore LP. After many months of touring and self-promotion the members of FWR decided it was time for a change.
In the summer of 2006 the guys decided to add vocalist Jade Soto to the mix, and with this addition proceeded to change their name to Mysterious Mysteries. It was at this time that drummer Steve Anderson decided to take his leave from the band, leaving Jesse Martin to take over drumming.
Known far and wide for their often spastic live performances and flat out Rock-n-Roll DIY know-how. Brandon Musa’s jovial vocal styling and swirling guitars characterize their unique brand of progressive rock. They’ve also toured with the likes of Fear Before The March Of Flames, Bear Vs. Shark, The Cardinal Sin and Bullet Train To Vegas.
Fire When Ready would eventually reunite to play several shows in Syracuse in 2007 and several shows in Ithaca, and Oswego in the summer of 2008. In April of 2008 Justin Mann, Justin Musa, Brandon Musa, Steve Anderson, Graham Feltham (The Trip Wilson's) and Alex Craver (The Trip Wilson's) started playing together again “In order to write music they loved and to more importantly stre ngthen their strong camaraderie.”
Summer People’s premier album, Good Problems, will be out this summer, so check it out!
Posted by Andrew Scott on Aug 24, 2009 @ 9:00 am