Members of punk and emo bands The Rocking Horse Winner, Dashboard Confessional, Further Seems Forever, Poison the Well, Shai Hulud, As Friends Rust and Strongarm have coalesced under a new moniker — The Darling Fire — and recently completed recording a new album, Dark Celebration, with revered producer J. Robbins.
In an interview with Creative Loafing Tampa, frontwoman Jolie Lindholm said the the record would have guitars that are very thick and heavy, which contrasts her vocal, which can be soft at times.
"I still sing that way, and sometimes I belt it out, which I didn't do much before," Lindholm said. "So there are a lot more dynamics I would say, vocally. Maybe a lot more soul. It's gonna be different."
And any pressure from previous projects pretty much goes out the window, too.
"This is something completely different in my opinion. There are influences, obviously, but it's more of an... angry cousin to Rocking Horse, I guess you could say. It's a little bit heavier, which is kind of like Further," she said.
"We're just doing the best we can to create the best version of these songs, get them out and see what the response is," Lindholm added. "We have no idea what people will think, actually."
Happening less than a month after The Darling Fire’s first show, this matinee record shop gig (music will be starting by 5:30 p.m.) finds the band joined by a pair of long-running Bay area acts, Pohgoh (whose latest album was also produced by Robbins) and Slap of Reality. Read CL’s interview with Lindholm below.
The Darling Fire w/Pohgoh/Slap of Reality. Sun. Feb. 3, 5 p.m. $8. Microgroove, 4906 N. Florida Ave., Tampa. newgranada.com.
You're driving back from Baltimore and just had lunch, can you still eat the way you did when on the road in the '90s?
We're a little bit older now, so it's more difficult to do these drives. We're in South Carolina now, near South of the Border.
Was it five days or a full week with J. up there?
It was five days. One day driving up, we started on the second day. Now we're driving back.
I thought about Susie from Pohgoh when you mentioned that J. Robbins high that people seem to have when they leave his Magpie studios. I felt like he was someone that the band kept coming back to when it came to figuring out who was going to do the record. Was there any insecurity about bringing Darling Fire's demos to him, or does all his previous work just make you excited to hand it all over?
We were extremely blown away by how it all came out and his process, everything, it was the best recording that I've personally ever had. We are so happy that we chose him for the album; it surpassed what we were expecting.
We felt that he would see the potential in the songs and demos, and that he would understand the direction that we were taking — and he did. He told us he was excited to work on it. Steve, our drummer, had recorded with J. years ago. Not only is he a musical influence, but we knew he would understand what we were trying to do, musically.
Who gets to touch the recordings next? Is he gonna mix and master, too?
Yeah, he asked us who was going to be doing that, and we told him that, naturally, we would like him to. He said he was attached to the songs and was looking forward to doing it. He's gonna mix it, and he has a guy he recommends for mastering, so that guy will do that. Sometime in February for the mix, hopefully, and then the mastering after that.
So summer 2019 sounds right as far as the release?
Yes, and leading up to it we're planning to release a few singles starting in March. If it's done in time, then we plan on releasing the first single in March.
Obviously, I haven't listened to the record yet, but do you know what the singles will be yet?
Actually we were so busy getting this done, so we haven't fully decided the song order or the singles. J. gave us four rough mixes to leave with, and he's sending four more — we recorded eight songs — so when we get those we'll decide on song order and singles.
From the outside, it would appear that past band affiliations (Dashboard, Rocking Horse Winner, Shai Hulud, Further Seems Forever, Poison the Well) could create a sense of pressure — is that even a thing for Darling Fire?
Normally I would say, "possibly," and that we're hoping to create something that people are going to like as much as our previous bands, but I'm personally surprised about the lasting interest in Rocking Horse. It's been quite a while since the band broke up, and we just noticed that there's been a renewed interest because of Darling Fire. We don't feel any pressure of living up to our other projects, or anything like that. This is something completely different in my opinion. There are influences, obviously, but it's more of an... angry cousin to Rocking Horse, I guess you could say. It's a little bit heavier, which is kind of like Further. As far as pressure? No. We're just doing the best we can to create the best version of these songs, get them out and see what the response is. We have no idea what people will think, actually.
You mention it being an angry cousin, but you and Jeronimo didn't set out to start a band, per se. There’s mention of deep struggle, loss, sickness, death and a difficult end to 2017. Could you expand on that and how Dark Celebration is a healing? I mean, it is a healing record, right?
Absolutely, yes. Basically, with Rocking Horse there wasn't as much writing from Jeronimo [Gomez; Rocking Horse Winner, Poison the Well, As Friends Rust] and I. With this band we put our heart and soul into these eight songs. The lyrics and melodies are 100-percent devotion. This is the first time that I really did that. This is completely authentic. We didn't set out to start a band. He would basically start to write things, and I would start to put melodies over, and we'd say, "Well, I guess this is a song," so we started to learn how to record them. We did over the past year. We asked Steve [Kleisath; Further Seems Forever, Shai Hulud, Useless Things, Strongarm] to play drums on one of the songs we ended up recording, and he could see the potential. He was excited about it. Of course, his drumming is insane, so it takes the song to another level.
Gregg [Moore; No Fraud, Slap of Reality, Pull] is the bassist, and he's an amazing bassist; we couldn't have asked for a better bass player. We also asked our friend Matt [Short; Jasperwal, D_Composure, Rival Science] if he'd like to play guitar, and he's been adding amazing leads. It's been an awesome collaboration. It just turned into this. We had no idea that this was going to go this way when we started.
But Steve has been pretty clear that the band is going to be busy. This isn't a weekend project kind of thing.
Yeah.
What demo did you send to Steve before he joined?
The song we went Steve was called "Omaha," that was the first one we sent him. At that point we had written 14 or 15 songs, and they were being developed over time. We have other songs. The first song was "Omaha," and we sent him a pretty rough version; we ended up re-recording after that. The way it came out on this latest recording is unbelievable.
Should Popvert be a reference point? In 2017, you started using Ableton to write songs. How much of that made it to Darling Fire? Are there an Kavinski or Electric Youth vibes?
No, there's no electronics, but we did end up with a little bit of Moog on one of the songs. We do hope to incorporate more of that, but it's not electronic at all. Popvert, yes that was more electronic and new wave. That was a project with friends in Miami. It was more of a project. It wasn't going to be something we were going to tour. Less of a band, and more of a project, and I did that for a couple of years.
I wanted to ask about the impetus you have for expressing some of the themes of the new music. How important was it to get all of it out on this record? Is there more that needs to be said on another record?
We're definitely not going to stop writing songs. We have other ideas already in the works, actually. As far as getting those things out in the songs, it was basically like an exorcism. There was a lot of emotion throughout the process. Questioning what we were doing, we knew if we were going to do it, then we were going all in — and that's what we're doing. It's been a very emotional journey for me over the past year. It's hard to explain.
And to move to something more technical. It was interesting to hear you talk about that renewed interest in Rocking Horse Winner just because those records are so melodic, vocally they are amazing records. As a vocalist, what kinds of things do you think you were trying to do on this Darling Fire record? Or were vocals an afterthought behind the actual content?
No, actually, I would say that we had an idea of what sound we wanted to have. I would say the guitars are very thick and heavy, and they have my voice over it, which is sometimes very soft. I still sing that way, and sometimes I belt it out, which I didn't do much before, so there are a lot more dynamics I would say, vocally. Maybe a lot more soul. It's gonna be different.
It’s my understanding that the men in your musical career have always been more than supportive, amazing, etc. I feel like the press gets caught up in this idea that you provided backing vocals for a couple iconic Dashboard Confessional tracks or did a David Byrne cover with Vacant Andys— is the attention you get for a band like Rocking Horse Winner is enough to offset any kind of weird obsession with your work those backing vocals with Chris?
I think so. It's cool to see that a lot of people found out about Rocking Horse because of that work that I did there. I was actually asked to do things with Owl City, I'm sure you're familiar. That was because of Dashboard. So it's fine. I'm proud of that work, too. That was a very good memory for me. The attention that Rocking Horse gets doesn't have to offset anything. It's all things that I did. I don't feel like it's offensive that people focus on that, if that answers your question.
Totally. I don't know what that's like for the artist...
I think it's cool. He's told me people will sing my parts at shows.
Oh yeah, I've seen him a bunch — they sing those parts loud.
Cool. I think that's awesome. That's something that I did, something I am proud of.
I don't know if any of this makes it to the record, but I saw that Indonesian zine interview that you did. You’re pretty adamant about the idea that our elected officials care not for us as individuals. You’ve been clear about your stance on voting, etc. — does any of that make it to the Darling Fire record?
I would say that the lyrics have a lot of personal emotion. There's also a lot of social commentary. Not so much political, but social. So there's a variety there. We're not really a political band, per se.
So Mike obviously has to send more stuff, and the record needs to be fleshed out, etc., but you have a show coming up, so is there anything you want people to understand or know before you go on this Florida run?
Well, we hope to be touring a lot this year; we'll see how it goes. It's still new, so right now we're just taking it day by day. We're looking to the shows we have. We're really excited about Microgroove. My favorite kind of show is the kind in an intimate, small space.
It's going to be very packed in there.
I hope so. I'm most excited for that one, I would say. I love small shows and being on the same level as everyone. We're gonna do whatever we can to get the word out about the album and any touring behind it.
