Smoke or Fire Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 6th 2010 9:00AM by Daniel Kirschenbaum
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It's been a few years since Richmond, Va.'s Smoke or Fire released their second album for Fat Wreck Chords, 2007's 'This Sinking Ship.' But don't interpret the gap between 'This Sinking Ship' and their next album as a sign that Smoke or Fire are resting on their laurels; they've been madly touring on the other side of the world, and have plans to release a new 7" called 'Prehistoric Knife Fight' in the very near future. Smoke or Fire frontman and guitarist Joe McMahon spoke with Spinner ahead of their second SXSW appearance about the festival and when a new full-length album will see the light of day.

Describe your sound in your own words.

When people ask that question, we usually say punk rock but we're big fans of all kinds of music. I think it's kind of a mixture of punk and rock 'n' roll. It's kind of socio-political music, and we just write songs that we'd like to hear ourselves.

How did Smoke or Fire form, and how did you get your band name?

It started back in '97/'98 as a band called Jericho. When we were signed to Fat Wreck Chords, we were sued by another band that had the name Jericho already. We were all out on tour at the time, and we had about four days to come up with a new band name, which was kind of a daunting task. We were in New Jersey playing this drinking card game called "Up and Down the River," and the first part is called "Smoke or Fire" because of the cards being black and red. So we just decided to call ourselves that.

What are your musical influences?

We're influenced by older bands like Hot Water Music, Avail, etc.

But you're also a fan of more anthemic stuff like Bruce Springsteen, and even bands like the Replacements?

Yeah, that's definitely true.

What was the reasoning to release your new 7", 'Prehistoric Knife Fight,' now?

It basically started when Fat asked us to play their SXSW showcase, and we'd been off the road for a year now. Jeremy [Cochran, guitarist] and I were going to get together to work on writing the new full-length, but then Fat said that we had to get them a new 7" by the following week, just to get the name out there again since it's been so long since our last album. Most people kind of thought we were broken up. So we pulled the troops in and recorded the song, sent it in and they were happy. It all came together really quickly, but it's something to get people excited for the full-length that will be coming.

Will these songs appear on the full-length?

One of them definitely will. We're not sure about the other. We're hoping to have at least 20 songs before we record the full-length. Potentially, they'll both be on there, but it's a matter of picking the best songs and putting them on. It's always better to go in with more than not enough. It's weird. Songs that you think will definitely appear on the record get cut. Things change in the studio. Sometimes what you think is your weakest song ends up being your best.

Do you guys have a pretty good idea of when the album will be out?

Yeah, our plan is to record in May and June, and hopefully have it out in September or October.

You mentioned playing SXSW. Have you ever played it before?

Yeah, we played it about five, six years ago.

Do you have anything cool planned for it this year?

Yeah, we're playing the Fat Wreck Chords showcase, which is going to be really great this year. Usually, Fat will get three or four bands for their showcase and this year they've got nine, so we think it should draw a lot [of people] and be really great.

Will another tour come after SXSW and getting the album recorded and pressed?

We're going to be touring down to the Harvest of Hope festival, which is about a week before. It's down in St. Augustine, Fla., and it's a three-day festival they do every year. I played that last year by myself, acoustically. It's really going to be a fun time. It's on fairgrounds, so they have a ferris wheel and carnies and everything like that. They have a great lineup this year, so we'll be doing that. Then we'll head across to Austin, Texas, then back up to Richmond, then [have] a couple days off, then head up north and do a couple shows. After that, the focus will be on getting recording done.

What's kept the newest record from being finished for so long?

The plan was to have it done a year ago, [and] then we got offered all of these overseas tours in New Zealand and Australia, and Japan and Europe, and it really pushed the recording process back.

How were the audiences in all of those places?

Pretty amazing. One of the shows we had in New Zealand was one of the greatest shows we ever had. The stage was completely destroyed and people had taken boats from hours and hours away. It was a very strange experience to be on the other side of the world and have other people know your music. And it was the same thing in Japan. It was mind-blowing.

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