Girl On Fire – Interview

Keith S | October 1, 2011 | 0 Comments

By Max Giffin and Hannah Lintner

Girl on Fire is a band formed in 2007 in Seattle,Washington. Austin, the vocalist of the band, believes in hugs over handshakes. We found a quiet spot inside of the Marquis Theater to sit down and interview him.

CMB: For those who have never heard of your band, would you introduce yourself and explain your music?

I am Austin Held, I sing in a band called Girl On Fire and our music I would say in my personal opinion is alternative rock. A lot of people tend to say that it’s hard rock and I think that I can agree with that swell but it’s rock and roll.

CMB: Does your band have and pre-show rituals?

We like to jump up and down and hug each other and then we put all hands in and say a word. We don’t really know what the word is until like 5 minutes before we do it so it could be like ‘blah’ would be the word. Or it could be like, ‘jump’. It’s whatever it is. It’s fun.

CMB: What was the word tonight?

The word was actually kind of inappropriate. Can you put penis in this interview? It wasn’t penis. It was boobs, but I just wanted to say penis.

CMB: Where would you like to see your band in the next 5 years?

No matter what, we’re gonna be playing music. We wanna overall do something big. Like in the set earlier, we have a song called Waiting For Life and that song is about dreaming big and going big or going home. We want to do something huge. We want to get out there. We want to play music and whether it’s winning a awards or being on TV or movies and all that silly stuff or whatever, I mean that’d be great and everything, but if that doesn’t happen and say it all ends tomorrow we’re still gonna go home and we’re still gonna play together. We want to see great things in five years but we just want to stay together and hang out and do what we love doing.

CMB: So how is touring with Get Scared and Dr Acula?

Oh my god, oh my god. It’s amazing. These guys are such goofballs. It’s so funny ’cause I was so nervous. Dr Acula is heavy, they’re super heavy. I was so nervous because I thought they were gonna be like tough dudes. Then Will from Aiden who’s our producer told me “oh they’re a bunch of nice guys” and then we get out here and I meet everybody, everybody’s like really scary looking. I was just like, “alright” then we get along and it’s like, “awe you guys are just goofballs like us. That’s fun!”. Same thing with like Get Scared, they’re sweethearts. We’ve all just gotten along like it’s one big family for this tour. We’ve had several bonding experiences and it’s been amazing.

CMB: What were some of those bonding experiences?

Drinking. Drinking. I just had my butt squeezed by the Tour Manager. So that’s part of the bonding experience. We watch each other’s sets and like we definitely sit there like, “dude you did awesome” even though we kinda feel like we didn’t do so great. We’re always there for each other, it’s so cool to be on tour with such nice guys and sleep in the same bunks. Sit there and cuddle for a second. It’s fun, it’s a good time.

CMB: How is tour life different than you expected it to be?

It’s not really that different than what I pictured. When I was 15 I can say that I pictured, “Yeah! You’re in a rock band! You’re gonna make money!” but now I’m like, “Yeah! I’m in a rock band! I’m… not making any money.”. But it doesn’t matter, it’s doing what you love. I can also say the gas. The gas is a little different than I excepted. I expected it to be way more expensive. It’s a little cheaper. I was kinda happy about that.

CMB: What influences your music?

Everything. I don’t mean to be vague about it or too broad and have a lame answer like ‘everything’ but really we are music junkies. Like I listen to Adel and Frou Frou and like Tears For Fears and Led Zeppelin and Nirvana. We listen to literally everything. We all grew up with Blink 182 and Green Day, stuff like that. Then our musical direction, we wanted to be more rock. We wanted to do something different but also similar to what maybe has happened before and maybe bring it back a little bit in a since but do it differently. I don’t know really how to explain it but we sit there and we listen to just ACDC all day and like Twisted Sister, then we’ll pop in Katy Perry and later Lady Gaga. I have no issue with that. We just love everything. So it’s hard to say what’s one influence. It’s really everything. We just try and incorporate as much as we can into one song and make it work.

CMB: So if you could design a tour with any bands our musicians dead or alive, who would you want to play with?

I want to play with The Doors. I want to play with Nirvana, and I want to play with Aiden ’cause that’d just be fun. Those are my buddies.

CMB: Who personally are your favorite bands?

I can definitely say 30 Seconds To Mars is one of my favorite bands. Shine Down. Definitely ACDC. Definitely Poison back in the day. Good old ‘every rose has it’s thorn’ type of thing going on. Definitely Nirvana. Definitely Alive in Chains. PearlJam.I like mySeattlemusic.

CMB: How did you guys begin as a band and how long have you been a band?

We’ve been playing together for four years. it kind of started when Harry, Nick, and I worked together and I was actually their boss. Nick had bugged me about playing in a band or jamming and I was like, “eh I don’t wanna jam. I wanna write music.” and he was like “Well we could do that too.” and I kind of sat on it for a few months and then approached him a little later. It was us three and then we brought in Josh and went from there. We started playing shows and recording and just tying it out and seeing how it felt. Then boom we’re here.

CMB: What’s the story behind your name?

You really want the story? We’d come up with several different ideas for names but we didn’t think any of them really stuck. Then one night we sat around with a case of beer, a Bible, a thesaurus, a Koran, a dictionary, and a notepad. Someone had mentioned that it should be something on fire because that just sounds good. Burn something! That’s fun. We kept talking about different names and it just sort of comes through. Then Harry made a joke about his ex girlfriend calling her a ‘girl on fire’ or something and we wrote it down. We actually went with a different name for like three days then we all kinda came back too it and decided it sounded kind or right. It fit. It fit us more than this name that we had before. The name before was a little controversial.

CMB: What was it?

Fall Like Planes. I just figured the whole 9/11 thing.. didn’t want to do that, didn’t want to offend anybody. We just sat there and said, “let’s take a week, see how this Girl On Fire name works.” It seemed to stick and we really liked it. It wasn’t that big epiphany with huge meaning behind it. It’s just something we felt like we all liked and it was the first real thing we sat there and all collaborated on. That’s just how our band works. We all collaborate.

CMB: If a genie gave you three wishes, what would you wish for?

Scarlett Johansson.

CMB: You have two more.

I have two more? Damn. To tour around the world like tomorrow, and then I don’t even know. Maybe a cheese pizza. Because you gotta eat.

CMB: How is time spent on the tour bus in-between cities.

Awesome. Somebody’s sleeping, somebody’s on the computer, other people are chatting listing to music. Otherwise we just sit there and play games and hang out. It’s just a fun time. We’ll sit there and chit chat or play guitar.

CMB: What has been your favorite city to tour in so far?

SurprisinglySalt Lake City. It was awesome, I liked it. It was kind of weird, but it was new. Every place that we’ve gone to has been really fun because it’s all new to me and I haven’t stepped foot off the west coast so it’s been new and fun every night. I can’t really say one night is better to tour in than another butUtahwas really cool. I just really liked the city. For some weird reason, I liked it.Denverreminds me ofSeattle. I’m kinda weird like that but it reminds me ofSeattle. I feel at home, it’s nice.

CMB: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve learned about one of your band mates on tour?

Really nothing they tell me surprises me anymore. There’s really nothing. We pretty much know each other in and out anyways. It’s kind of like asking what’s the weirdest thing your brother does and you don’t wanna say because it’s your brother. I’m trying to really think of anything, but I can’t.

CMB: What is one personal item you can’t live without?

Soup. Soup. Soup. I love soup.

CMB: Of all of your songs, which is your personal favorite?

It’s kind of a coin toss, but Close Your Eyes which is the last track on the EP or Revenge which is the first track. They’re both my favorites because they’re really fun to play live. I get to like yell. I love yelling. It’s so much fun. It’s so much better than screaming, ’cause I used to scream but yelling is way more fun.

Girl on Fire has an incredible stage presence that began the night. Their sound possesses a captivating, powerful energy. Dr. Acula, who started their set with an array of circus music and golden flashing lights, followed them. The chaos really brings the listener into the right mindset for his show, a collection of beautiful, rough noise that makes the crowd dance. The band Dr. Acula has a heavy sound composed of deep screams and deathcore style guitar. Get Scared, a band fromLayton,Utah, ended the show as the headliners. In addition to being visually appealing, the band’s sound was very polished. Get Scared has an alternative rock type sound that brought the crowd to their feet. The three bands compliment each other well, with their similar style yet diverse look and sound.