www.facebook.com/asundayfire
From: Mobile, AL
Sounds like: Punk
1. How did you get started with music and how did you develop your sound? Who thought of the name “A Sunday Fire” and is there any meaning behind it?
A Sunday Fire actually started off as a metal-core project before our singer, Chris Ruiz, joined the band. We cycled through some singers and Sam found Chris by arguing over Facebook about if the New A Day to Remember album was good or not (Chris is not a fan). Chris joined the band when we were called Forged by War and it eventually evolved into A Sunday Fire. We were still a metal band for a while but evolved into a melodic punk band, the band you hear now. It was a fun journey, but we love where we have landed. You can hear some of the metal influence in the riffing and drumming and we think it adds a nice nuance to our punk sound.
A Sunday Fire was a name Chris had been carrying for a while. It really is just an allusion to a passion. It seems like Sunday is the day everyone is using for their hobbies or to be with family, and it just a play on that. You follow your fire on Sunday. It was nice and poetic.
2. What do you want listeners to take away from your "DIY Sessions" EP?
We wanted to sort of go through a rites of passage that the late 70's early 80's punk and hardcore bands went through. A time when you just grabbed whatever you could find and record on it. Luckily, this is not 8-tracks or cassettes anymore. We just wanted to capture that raw feeling that we hear when we are rehearsing in our front room. The other thing is that we really feel that you can hear how catchy everything is. We write everything with purpose, and that purpose is to stick in your head. We really feel like we have captured that.
3. What can people expect from your live show?
Crazy. We jump, we headbang, we tell jokes. There isn't anything we don't do. If you are paying your hard earned money to see us, you are going to get your money's worth. Especially in the punk scene, live show is everything. We don't do this synchronized and choreographed move bullshit. We are 5 dudes doing their own thing in trying to make you have a great time. That's all we want to give you is a real and raw passion.
4. What's your favorite track to play live?
I'm sure we all have our favorites. One that seems to get the most feedback is a track from our upcoming full length called "Davey Jones". It's this real New Jersey Hardcore Punk song. It was from our metal days and we just tweaked it to have this real ballsy hardcore punch to it. It's great.
5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?
Title Fight, Glassjaw, and Descendents. No question.
6. Any crazy show stories?
Our first big show was in Dothan, AL. There were about 100 people and they were all super into it. Joey lost his fucking mind and was just talking and dancing with every girl there. You could tell he was just high off of how responsive the fans were. No shit, he danced for 3 straight hours in the pit. It was awesome to see because you could see him deciding right then and there, this is what he wants to do with the rest of his life.
7. What’s your take on the current state of pop/punk?
Ups and downs. Not just punk, but all of punk and hardcore. There are too many people in the community who just won't help others to make the community thrive. Bands and promoters are too selfish, and shit like that just isn't what made our genre what it is. Look at the history of punk and it is a network of people who know nothing about each other really going out of their way to help other punks. We need more of that. We need less genre specific elitism and more of all of us playing kick ass shows. The poppiest of pop-punk bands should be playing with the hardest of hardcore bands and everyone should be getting along. We need the community back into this scene more than ever.
8. What’s the current music scene like there in the Alabama both locally and state wide?
Mobile is growing. We have a great promoter with Clay Bates at the Blind Mule who is really working his ass off. As far as Alabama? We need to do better. That includes everyone. All of us are failing the punk and hardcore community right now.
9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?
As much as we all pretend that we play for music and nothing else, bills have to be paid. People have kids, houses, cars. This shit isn't cheap, either. That being said, the days of making money from albums are gone. You have to be creative. This is a business and you have to treat it as such if you want to make a career out of it. People don't get paid for song, anymore. You have to ask yourself, how else can I make money? Merch is huge. Always have to come strong with merch. Something that will never go away is touring. Touring is a band's bread and butter. You just have to get creative and act like you aren't going to get paid for your music. If you do? Fantastic! We need to leave the early 2000's mentality and start living in the now.
10. What’s next for A Sunday Fire?
We record our full length in March with the supremely talented Jose Del Rio. We have a 5 state tour in May. We are booking tours for June and beyond. A Sunday Fire is planning on making 2016 their year. Where that leads us? Who knows? It's up for the fans to decide. We can't do this without them, and hopefully we continue to make more of them so we can do this forever.
11. Any shoutouts?
Shoutout to all of our families for putting up with never seeing us on weekends. You the real MVPs.
