Life & Work with The Backfires

Today we’d like to introduce you to The Backfires. Them and their team share their story with us below:

It’s a bit of a long story. Alex (vocals) and Matt (bass) grew up outside of Washington, DC, and played in bands in high school together. Alex met Harry (lead guitar) and Max (drums) in 2018 when he was in London for university. From there we started writing songs over FaceTime.

Eventually, we all got together to record some songs and actually play them in person. Then COVID happened and we were separated by border closures and the natural chaos of the pandemic. We kept writing and writing, knowing that we’d all get together as soon as we could.

At the beginning of 2022, we all started living together in New York, and we’ve been playing as many shows as possible. This summer we are doing a tour through many cities in the Southeast US, after focusing on the Northeast for much of the spring.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Definitely not been a smooth road.

It’s quite difficult to be a band from two countries when you’re not allowed to travel between the two countries for two years. That being said, we got through it and now are able to live together in New York.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We’re an indie rock band. Because we’re half British and American, our songs are a blend of many different bands from both countries and elsewhere.

While we initially focused on recording songs, now we have become much more of a live band. We sold out our first major show in New York City in February. When we did that, it definitely gave us a massive boost of confidence, and we still look back fondly on that night.

Now we are looking ahead to the summer when we will play shows through the Southeast in Nashville, Atlanta, and other places, too. What sets us apart is definitely us being half British and American.

The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Patience. The Covid-19 pandemic really put our band on pause for a while.

Not necessarily because we couldn’t write together, but that we couldn’t be in person, play together in person, or play shows and get better at performing. The last six months have seen us trying to catch up on much of that missed time.

Patience was definitely the takeaway, however, because we just had to stay the course and keep writing over FaceTime and Zoom even when seemingly there wasn’t much hope in sight for a while.

• Backfire has a show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC on 8/5.
  Here’s the ticket link – https://www.ticketmaster.com/the-backfires-kids-that-fly-new-york-new-york-08-05-2022/event/00005CB7DBE76E16

Contact Info:

• Website: thebackfires.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thebackfires
• Facebook: Facebook.com/thebackfires
• Twitter: twitter.com/thebackfires
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/thebackfires

Image Credits
Lexi Yob