HISTORY
Firedaze was first formed in January 1999, as the members of UK roots rock band Dead After Dark decided to call it a day with that band after nine years. Some of the band's members had already considered taking the music in a new direction - Firedaze was the result.
The main song-writers of Dead After Dark naturally became the main song-writers for Firedaze. Steff and String spent the first four months of 1999 writing and recording songs for the new band, only putting the live line-up of the band together when they had a substantial body of material to gig with. They recorded a debut four-track CD (simply called "Firedaze") in March and April of '99, as a taster of things to come.
Firedaze's first public appearance was on Sat 19th June 1999, at the Leamington Peace Festival, with three band members on stage - Steff on rhythm guitar and vocals, String on lead guitar and backing vocals, and Dunk on bass guitar and keyboards. They played to an audience of approx. 500 people - a not insubstantial crowd for a debut gig.
Between then and June 2002, the band played many gigs in the UK, with varying line ups. They were joined onstage by other musicians, including Emma on fiddle, and d.j. Paul Morrell, on decks. Emma became a part of the permanent core of the band, alongside Steff and String in the summer of 2000.
"Firedaze were born, phoenix-like, from uncompromising roots rockers Dead After Dark. Their debut self-titled four-track CD demonstrates, as before, their on-going quest for self-development, utilising as they do a variety of influences." - Rock'n'Reel, Issue 33.
Firedaze was a liberation for song-writers Steff and String. They took some of Dead After Dark's Roots Rock sound, added more folky tunes on fiddle and electric guitar, layered the vocals, and then mixed it all with dance rhythms, using dance structures. They called it "Roots Dance", the traditional music of the twenty-first century.
"Firedaze is a name which is new to me ... I'm not sure what to make of this record, and I don't know how to classify the music. I found the lyrics disturbing - no bad thing - but ... with the constant repetition of both words and musical phrases... it would be much better to experience this music in a club than in my living room." - Musician, Dec 1999.
Firedaze then took a two-year break from live performance, while band members concentrated on other projects, but in 2004 they began to rehearse, write and record new music at their base, D Music Studios in Leamington Spa. Late that year fiddle player Jen joined the band, String returned to his first love of the bass guitar and Steff remained on lead vocals and guitar.
The start of 2006 saw a brief experiment with a "real" drum sound replacing the loops and sequences, as former Firedaze keyboard player Dunk returned but this time playing his first instrument, the drums. This gave rise to their CD ep "Coming Home". However live dates that year saw Firedaze back on stage with a dance, looped, sampled and sequenced drum track driving the new-look line-up. This is the sound on the debut album, Triality, released in 2007.
The start of 2008 saw another change as bodhran-player Steve joined the line up, adding to rather than replacing the sequenced beats. The resulting sound is still-changing, ever-fresh, and guaranteed to make you want to dance. If the fiddle and guitar don't get you, the bass and drums certainly will.
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