Tongues of Fire

Plover and Tongues of Fire frontman and guitarist Lowell talked their most recent record, Burn My Body Clean and how the pandemic helped shape it. They also deep dived into the Asheville house show and punk scene and how Tongues of Fire used to sell hot sauce.

Creators & Guests

P

Host

Plover

What is Off the Record?

Off the Record features interviews with local and national musicians as aired on WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2.

0:00
What's good everyone you're listening to WKNC 8.1 FM HD one Raleigh. We are a student run nonprofit radio station based out of North Carolina State University. I'm plover and this is off the record here with me today is lol from tongues of fire. How're you doing?

0:14
I'm doing good. How about you?

0:15
All right, thanks. How's your how's your day been going?

0:18
It's been good. Just been working on a local show we got tonight. Was that a? It's an Asheville. We're playing with pictures of Vernon.

0:31
Well, who exactly are you what exactly is tons of fire? And where are you from? You mentioned Nashville.

0:38
Yeah. I'm little. I'm in terms of fire. Like, I guess, a post punk band. That's what you want to call us? We're out of Yeah. Right. I've actually been around for like, a while since like, 2016. That was a while. Yeah, I know. You know, I wrote an album over pandemic like a ton of people. And we've just been trying to get out and play. That's the big thing. Just since we couldn't play for so long.

1:09
For sure. So how exactly did you kind of start making music and getting into I guess, like the foundations for dumpster fire.

1:18
Um, I know, I always like, played music. But it was actually kind of through pitches of Vernon that I realized I wanted to be part of like the DIY scene and like tour, because I didn't know too much about it. I came from like a small town. And there's I don't know, like classic rock cover bands and stuff. And you know, they they play the Bar and Grill. And it wasn't anything that interests me too much. And then I went to college and started going to house parties. And in like 2016 2017 pitches, a variant was doing a lot of stuff around town, and doing things like touring down to South by Southwest and stuff like that. And I was like, wow, like, you can do that. I just did you I didn't even know.

2:05
Because yeah, who are pitchers of Vernon Exactly. Identify. I know that.

2:09
There are Midwest emo bands. They're pretty cool. I know. So they did a lot of stuff around, you know, 2016 2017 2018. And then the drummer actually joined Prince steadying the hyena just Yeah. And I know, the guitars page is in save face now. So they want to be like a part of some really cool projects. And they kind of do pitches a variant in like when the stars align, and like everything works out.

2:41
Yeah, that's awesome. I love the cross pollination between all the all the different groups. What instruments do you play exactly are in your band, I guess.

2:51
I play guitar and sing.

2:55
And where exactly did the name tongues of fire from come from? I know. Is it like a biblical reference?

3:01
Yeah, I mean, I just thought it sounded cool. There's no real like, meaning behind the name or anything. I heard it in the Bible and thought it sounded cool. And our band has nothing to do with the Bible at all.

3:15
So this isn't a Christian rock project. Switchfoot um, so yeah, you mentioned you're a post punk band. Now I know you're on Bandcamp you have a lot of other tags and kind of, there's a lot of labels that I guess you could throw into that kind of area of music. So how exactly would you I guess describe like the sort of sound that you're putting out there.

3:39
It's interesting, you know, like, it's a good thing I think to find a genre that fits your music so people know what that it sounds like there's just a lot of the genres we fall into there's just like so many different facets to them which I love it's just a it's kind of hard to work with sometimes like post punk like there's there's bands like idols and stuff and then there's also the cure, you know, or whatever. And then even like we're going into post hardcore baby and there's like foo Ghazi and the fall of Troy, you know, and then there's just like other like, kind of just basically metal core bands that are like call themselves postare core is definitely wasn't it's just like email to there's like, different waves of email. But I guess we'd be like, somewhere between post punk post hardcore and garage rock, you know?

4:35
Very like, like, like, you mentioned the DIY scene kind of leaning into like a more like Lo Fi kind of sound.

4:43
Yeah, I mean, I think the beauty of DIY is that you can do it yourself. So sometimes you record it yourself, you know, and there's not as much of a emphasis on having a polished sound is perfect, you know, like I know pitches a virgin they did their first EP They were in high school, like on in their drummers basement, you know, and that like got them there like first like, bit of traction. Have to hear that.

5:13
Yeah, I actually I interviewed Secret Sharing last week. Yeah. Yeah. Asheville postbox thing that kind of meant. We kind of talked a bit about the Asheville local scene they mentioned there were a lot of punk bands, but like not a lot of post punk bands do that kind of lane.

5:29
Yeah, I mean, I'd say secret shame is like one of the only other post punk bands in Nashville. And they're on just like another side of the post punk spectrum, too. But yeah, there's lots of I don't know, like, kind of, like Bad Religion type punk bands in Nashville. Which I don't know. It's it's not really it's not really our scene or anything we resonate with too much. So we got to get creative, and just kind of play with different kinds of bands.

5:59
Yeah, why do you think there's so many more of like a bad religion ask bands in Nashville than kind of your sound?

6:07
I think Asheville has become a lot of a very touristy town. So there's no there's there's not too many people that. Like, it's not too too profitable to be in Asheville and not be in like, cover bands and like Grateful Dead jam bands and stuff. So you have to do it because you really like it. And then there's just like, yeah, lots of like, older people in Nashville. It's there's not as many like, I know young people that are like trying to do like serious bands that are like, out of Asheville.

6:48
Older people do love their funk music. That's very true.

6:52
Yeah, literally, Wednesdays from Nashville to

6:55
Yes, yes. Well, we we love Wednesday here at WKNC. So you mentioned the recorded album over the pandemic was, Are you referring to burn my body clean here? So yeah, nice. Nice. Yeah, can you tell us a bit more about like, kind of what that record was, was it like, born of the pandemic?

7:16
Kind of it, it started out with my mom actually dying of cancer and going through like a big, like, isolation kind of period. And I started writing songs about that. And I was like, Oh, wow, these songs are a lot more relatable now to just because everybody's being isolated right now. So I was like, isolating, like, cuz of myself, and then just like the whole world ended up being isolated because of outside forces.

7:49
Yeah, that's a very sad, but very weird coincidence there. Does that kind of represent like a change? Like I have, I guess, tongues of fire kind of evolved into that as sort of a continuation of your original kind of very rootsy sound or is it anything different?

8:12
Yeah, I mean, I think it was a bit of a metamorphosis in a few different ways. Because I know when I started the band in like, 2016, and I was like, Oh, we want to be a garage, rock band. And then just like looking into the scene, and like the people around it, and stuff, and I'm like, I don't, I don't want to be associated with these people for the most part, or, like, work with that. So I was working on changing the sound. That's also when the whole like burger records thing came out. That there's just like a ton of people that were like, abusing, like underage girls and stuff like that. And just like a whole, like, cover up culture. And I was very glad that like, you know, I distanced myself from all that. And just like just just music evolves and you want to become a better band over time, hopefully.

9:02
Yeah, how did you pick your singles especially room was one of the more prominent tracks how did that like kind of move to the forefront of your record?

9:11
I think rooms kind of like really representative of the whole idea of how the album was became more relatable, because I just kind of figured out how to take what I was feeling. And then like other people were feeling that and then we also took a video of like our first show, when like the CDC guidelines are lifted, and it was like safe to play venue shows again and stuff. So we made a music video just like people going off to our music live. And just kind of just like put that together because I thought it would just resonate with people and work. Yeah, that definitely must

9:57
have been cathartic for sure after after all that time. Martin?

10:01
Absolutely yeah, musics like super cathartic in a ton of ways for me. Um,

10:10
you kind of tie into sort of a pandemic era performances, you have a release out on Bandcamp called Live from a parking lot, which I understand was recorded during the pandemic and sort of the, I guess a more socially, distance performance. Yeah. Do you have any details kind of about that? Performance?

10:27
Just talking about how you know, music is cathartic for me and the people I play with, you know, we're just like, we really want to play music, you know, and it wasn't, and it wasn't safe to play music at that time, in front of real people. So I just wanted to at least have some kind of content or something to put out. So we just played in a parking lot and got it recorded and just videoed really well. I just found like, the best people I knew. I was like, Let's make something that's cool. And like, has quality. And like, debut a new song. Like, we've been working on a new song and just like, blasted through a set.

11:12
Awesome. Yeah, that sounds very, like so some of them were all content you can possibly put out which is, which is really cool. Do you have a favorite show you played either, since the pandemic is lifted a bit or just kind of in general in your career?

11:28
I mean, the show for the room music video was great. It was it was cool. Because yeah, we'd not really we played a we played an outdoor show, like, at our drummers house. And that was like the first one we did like, after like, the CDC guidelines were like, telling us it was good to just do stuff and then they're like, Okay, like, no masks, and you can gather as many people as you want indoors. I was like, Okay, I mean, if the CDC says we CDC says we can do it, let's do it. And like we had some really good bands on that show. It was like a really solid venue. And just people went, people went crazy. And it was super fun. That's awesome. What venue was it? Exactly? It was it was the Gray Eagle.

12:24
Sorry, I don't know that. That sounds really cool.

12:27
It's cool. It's like a I think it's 450 Cat venue. I used to work there for a while too. I run the sound.

12:34
Thanks. Nice. Until recently, you were planning on playing at Ruby Deluxe size. Is that a cool venue that you're like?

12:43
I actually don't know too much about Ruby Deluxe. I know. I'm friends with this guy. Tom who's in core deluxe and Zack, Mexico. And we were planning to like meet up at the show. He said some pretty cool things about Ruby Deluxe. I think it's like a queer Club, which is cool, too. As it sounded like it would have been a really fun time.

13:07
It's I really wish I get in but it's like only probably one plus, of course for all the shows. Very close.

13:16
Yeah, I hate when there's no restrictions on who can come to shows, I think some of our best shows have been just kind of like all ages, we played in San Antonio, and a vegan cafe over so it's like the outside of a sober vegan cafe. And it was one of our it was probably one of my favorite shows. Because like a ton of kids just showed up and it was just outside no stage like, just like a really raw show. And then like crowd surfed off the roof. Everybody was super into it. I just loved it like that. Where it's just like not about substances. It's not about like anything else but just music.

13:59
Yeah, cuz if they're if the music is good, you should be able to appreciate that no matter what neuron Yeah.

14:06
Yeah, for sure. We're not a straight edge fan. Like I don't care if anybody does your thing. I just don't like you know culture where it's not about anything else.

14:17
Yeah, so have you all been like how shows and stuff kind of that that kind of

14:21
scene? Yeah, plenty. We have a booking agent now. So it started to kind of be a bit of a hybrid thing. But I don't think I ever want to stop playing house shows. I think the ideal situation you know, is we get like good venue shows with guarantees and stuff we get taken care of. And if something drops, there's like a gap or anything like that. Like we will gladly do a house show. Just like that I love the energy of just like small DIY house shows and stuff

14:50
like that for sure. That how do you only record the music then is it like kind of like a home recording like DIY thing like that or do I like to have a low All right recording studios,

15:02
we actually have a producer in Atlanta that we go to. I just, I looked at, you know, records that I really loved and found a guy named Dan, who just like had a has a garage studio down in Atlanta. And he's, he did bring my body clean. And our latest singles that we've put out and stuff. It's just cool to work with somebody who really like understands the genre and can also pick up stuff that you can't have that like impartial year.

15:34
Yeah, for sure. Like, obviously, for recording DIY is a really cool part. A really big part of that. But also, I guess, like the the mixing and mastering is such a big part some that's interesting to like, kind of mixing those two, like, I guess philosophies together. Yeah, cuz

15:51
it's, you know, are the album's not high five, I don't think by any means, but it's dynamic. And it hits really hard, you know, and that's what I really wanted to shoot for. Like, we still recorded it, like live together in a room. So it has the qualities I like, and lower fi recording. You know, we didn't like program drums or use triggers or anything like that, that we just like, did it together to click track, you know, so we had, like, we had really tight, and we're able to edit it how we wanted to. But we still had like a lot of the aspects that we still enjoyed about DIY recordings.

16:34
Thanks. That's a really cool fusion. So do you have any, like plans for upcoming music? Or is it mostly like pushing the record right now?

16:40
Ah, yeah. So we did a we did a split with Venus twins, who are anti mortgage who are like two bands that we really enjoy that here in the area. And one of the songs for this split, we've planned to make into like a single with a music video and put that out, and we got a lot of new music. We're just trying to kind of get a little, like, point of just peace for a second. So we can like work on the songs and get things together. I know we got we got a lot of shows coming up. Like we had, we had that that tour that we were supposed to come with y'all got cancelled. But you know, we have another tour right after that we have a show in Atlanta. And then we're actually we're actually playing with ceremony and gel locally, next month, November 7. So we just got lots of stuff that we were basically just trying to get through this month and get all this stuff out of the way, which is like it's not like we dread it, but it's just, it's a lot of work. So we get through that. And then we're probably going to work on new material, just out here suffering from success

17:49
just to postulate its problem. So it's like the next show you have planned out and I guess like the second like Tori, right.

17:58
So tonight, yeah, we're playing Asheville. And then we're popping down to let me check my shows are playing Charlotte, I know. The 20th at Bart's Mart ever had going on up to Boone and playing lilies and then the 22nd We're playing Atlanta and also the 14th we're hoping for 1000 band Fani is like a pretty prominent rapper in Atlanta, which will be very interesting.

18:31
So it's a good little fusion there. Like that.

18:36
Just kind of skipped around the southeast right now. It's cool because you know, we've done like month long like almost full us tours and just kind of just popping around throughout the state is a nice just like low pressure way to just keep around keep presence up and have fun.

18:55
Where se like where else were you like touring around?

19:00
Where are we? Yeah,

19:02
yeah, like in like previous stories you mentioned.

19:05
I know we go to South by Southwest like every year. So we go up down to Texas and then find some way to go back. Last time last March, we went down to Texas and then just like hit the Midwest pretty hard. And then went to like New York and went down from there to we've never been to the West Coast though. We want to but it's just such a long drive. If you're really deep into it like on the West Coast.

19:34
That that'd be a dream, but I mean, it's really cool. You had the magic last year I got to put the Midwestern Midwest emo I was out to strangle your BEN Bandcamp page and I noticed you used to sell hot sauce at some point. Yeah, that looks really cool.

19:51
Very on brand I feel like lends itself to it.

19:57
It's already a very sort of DIY I started creation there. Yeah. I, I love it when artists kind of do like, not exactly what regular merch but but something that they remember them by.

20:11
Yeah, you gotta stand out. I mean, it's just it's everything is so saturated right now with the internet is the DIY is a wonderful thing, but it also Yeah, doesn't I wouldn't say lowers the bar but makes it accessible to everyone, so anybody can put it recording on it, you know, was create some amazing stuff, it just makes it hard to get seen sometimes.

20:37
Yeah, this have you noticed, like kind of like a, I guess, like a less coherent scene or, like harder to describe, like regional scenes is it was more like, I guess I'm watching it there.

20:49
Yeah, I mean, it just, it depends on the genre. I feel like, you know, like, I feel like, you know, probably probably rap is more like terminally online than like hardcore punk, or something like that. And it's like, become more about, like, niche genres and stuff like that. Yeah, so there's still like a regional sound for music, even in the digital age.

21:21
For sure, and I noticed I interviewed someone who talked about like, sort of the like, I guess, more electronic side of DIY. And I was really cool. Like, because a lot of those artists didn't have local scenes at all, like that kind of the Internet became the locals in a way, which was really nice. Yeah.

21:36
I know, we've gotten to the point actually, where more people listen to us in different cities than our own. Which is interesting. I guess this kind of like the process of coming from a local bands and more regional band is like, you know, there's still we still have plenty of people listen to us and Nashville, but like, our, our Spotify, like, similar artists, like went from other local bands to like, bands throughout the country that sound like us, which is cool. I feel like it's an interesting change to go through.

22:12
So yeah, it's like more like representative of like, who you are rather than like, the person down the road. Yeah.

22:20
Yeah, cuz, you know, like, I love I love making friends and like, the personal connections I make on the road and everything, but I don't want it to just be about personal connections. You know, I wouldn't want somebody to only listen to my music because we're friends for people listening to our music, because it sounds like something that they like, and they don't know me at all. It's just really really just amazing to think about.

22:47
Let's see, the person has a lot of Asheville talk I'm definitely planning on visiting to Asheville pretty soon what are some good like, things to do to check out because I understand a lot of people say to Asheville is kind of a very touristy or more visiting city, you know?

23:00
Yeah, definitely. Um, listen, awesome stuff to do. I'd recommend West Asheville, like the area around the double crown has a lot of just lots of like, cool, like local stuff going on. I really, I really like Battle cat coffee is lots of good food on that side of town. Um, if you want to go hiking, lots of stuff there. Then like on the tourist side of things like the Biltmore House is pretty cool to visit this chicken gigantic house is always fun. And then the there's a free spot. I actually ran sound there the Carl Sandburg Memorial house he was like a author. It was like his childhood house and it's got like a goat farm and it's just like a really pretty area. It's very like western North Carolina. So if you if you wanted to go from like the flatlands to the mountains really check out like the the nature around the mountains you go there

24:06
it'd be pretty sick. Yeah, that sounds really cool and like because because as I understand it's very like a mountainous out there area is there like that? Does music ever kind of like spill out into the like surroundings? Is there ever like a like a wood like bonfire type of show?

24:25
Um, there's a pretty solid house show scene in Nashville. I know I've actually yeah, I've been to and I've worked a few shows to it like this kind of commune place like 20 minutes outside of town called the fallout Art Center. That's been pretty cool. Because yeah, it's like out kind of in the wilderness. It's actually in the so they it used to be a school. The area and the school burned down and they have like a stage in the in the burnt out basement of the school. It almost looks like It's like an old like like an ancient amphitheater kind of place. Well just like the ruins of burnt out school is pretty sick

25:09
that's crazy yeah definitely want to check out some more like I guess underground haunt so that is pretty underground so yeah that's that's probably worth yeah there's really

25:17
no like nice connected how show seem to I feel like that's some of the strongest parts of the actual scene are just like really fun just like college house shows

25:29
yeah that's where a lot of the I guess the new kind of stuff kind of like bubbles up from like

25:34
yeah those are like the punk bands I really enjoy come out of two because there's there's like a couple of punk scenes. It's like, it's like dudes like in their like 30s or something I'm doing like the Bad Religion stuff. Which is fine. You know, it's just not really my thing. And then there's yeah, there's like, like people in college and stuff doing like, weird punk bands and stuff like that. That house shows and just like how shows are just a fun energy is there anything else

26:06
you wanted to talk about? I think we had no a lot of stuff.

26:09
Yet we had a lot of stuff. I'm not really noticed the I can think Yeah,

26:15
thanks, guys. Do want to let people know where to find your music or like social media or anything like that.

26:21
Yeah, it'd be like, we're tongues of fire. You can find us on Spotify, YouTube channel, we just keep up with the Instagram. Mostly we like to ask posts. I don't know if I can say bad words. We post stupid memes and stuff. And just like it's the best place to keep up with what we're actually doing.

26:44
Is that just like at like tongues of fire?

26:48
Yeah, it's just tongues of fire on Instagram should come up pretty, pretty easy. That's the easiest way to find us. If you look up tons of fire on YouTube. You get a ton of religious stuff, unfortunately. With Jesus in the algorithm,

27:04
yeah, there's there's a lot of money in that.

27:07
No, no money in punk.

27:12
Well, yeah, thank you so much for talking with me. This is some good time. For sure. Thank you. I'll do a quick outro real quick and then we'll be good to go. I appreciate y'all for tuning in. And you can check out all the interviews I and everyone here does at wknc.org/podcasts and click on off the record. I'm DJ plover and I've been here with lo from Tongues of Fire on WKNC 88.1 FM HD one Raleigh

Transcribed by https://otter.ai