Photo Credit: Ginny C Photography
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Fire For Glory are a pop punk band based in Auckland, New Zealand. Bringing together elements of 2000’s era pop punk and post hardcore, Fire For Glory deliver a high energy live show that has won them a solid local following throughout New Zealand.
As a result of a hard working, DIY touring ethic, the band have proved themselves to earn supporting slots with bands such as Me First and The Gimme Gimmes (USA), Motion City Soundtrack (USA), Palaye Royale (USA), Dashboard Confessional (USA), We The Kings (USA) and Silverstein (Canada).
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CHECK OUT OUR CATCH-UP WITH JOSH BELOW:
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1. Happy NZ Music Month! How did you initially get into creating music?
Happy NZ Music Month to you too! I’ve been involved in music since I was really young – going through school I wasn’t as good at sports or other extra curricular activities as I wished I was. I desperately wanted to have something that was my “thing” – eventually I figured out I could sing, so I joined my school choir, and never looked back. Being on stage and using my voice has been my passion ever since!
2. Tell us about your inspirations & motivations?
There are quite a few things, but for FFG I primarily focus on relationships + mental health, and how those two things play into each other. One the most important things I’ve come to realize from being in this band is that I have a platform in which I can encourage people to open up about their hauora, and even if not everyone in the room likes my music, they can still hopefully hear something important. If we can use our music and lyrics to help people connect with each other, and themselves, thats ultimately the biggest motivation.
3. What have you been up to in this lockdown and how has it affected you?
It’s been a really crazy time, and for me it hasn’t been anywhere near as awful as I can imagine it has been for some people. I have been very lucky to be getting some quality time in my whare with my fiancé and our animals while we both work from home. I’ve also been getting into recording vocal covers, which has been so fun – it gives me a great outlet to sing songs that I love, but wouldn’t normally get to sing. I miss my bandmates though – we have been creating some music behind the scenes, but there are a couple of pieces that we need to be together for to finalize, so it will be full steam ahead once it is deemed safe to do so!
4. What do you think of the NZ music scene?
I LOVE our local artists first and foremost. We have some of the most consistently world class artists coming out of Aotearoa. Every time a new artist pops up on the scene, they blow me away with the quality of music, and the mahi they have put into it. I do wish we had more platforms to get our artists heard on the world stage, and probably more than that, I would LOVE to see more in the way of cross-genre shows. People often complain that crowds favour certain types of music over another, yet we still often see local artists choosing to play with bands that sound exactly like them. Don’t get me wrong – I am equally as guilty of this, but I would love to see more artists coming together and sharing fanbases. After lockdown will be a prime opportunity for this, as we won’t be seeing International artists here for a while, so our homegrown talents have this little window of opportunity to really be the main event, which I think is very exciting.
5. Goal board time – where would you like to see yourself in a years time?
Hmmmmm – with FFG our primary goal is always just to make music we love, and have fun with our friends and whānau in the process. With that said, over the next year I would love to release a bunch of new music. We have a little release/planning calendar for FFG with some really exciting things in it, so hopefully we get to see those things come to fruition. The ultimate goal though, is to see everyone back in a healthy and safe place by this time next year!
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Fire For Glory have seen commercial success, having both of their EP’s “Phantoms, Ghosts and Monsters” and “The Kid’s Got Guts”, and their LP “Shipwreck!” all reaching #1 on the iTunes New Zealand rock chart. The single “Frog Prince” from the second EP was also featured on Spotify’s official rock playlist, gaining high the band high amounts of streaming attention.
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Photo Credit: Ginny C Photography