Interview with Fire Sale: ‘The melodic punk, the harmonies always come naturally to me’

LA and Richmond, Virginia-based punk rock band Fire Sale released their two singles ‘A Fool’s Errand’ and ‘We Dance For Sorrow’ earlier this month, giving us their take on tackling mental health and moving on from things that make you unhappy.

The band consists of Pedro Aida on vocals (Ann Beretta/ShotClock/The Iron Roses), Chris Swinney (The Ataris/Brazil/Underminded) on guitar, Matt Riddle(Pulley/Face To Face/No Use For A Name/The Implants/22 Jacks) on bass, Matt Morris(Darlington/41 Gorgeous Blocks) on drums and new guitarist Brad Edwards. ‘One of our songs was called ‘Southern Gothic’ and we were called that for a while but it didn’t fit,’ Aida said. ‘Chris came up with Fire Sale. I met Chris for his podcast called ‘That One Time On Tour’, I ran into it randomly and started listening to it retroactively. He’s very punk-orientated, he likes all the bands I like, and we started messaging on Insta. He knew my other band Ann Beretta – we all play in several bands. Chris started writing songs out of boredom during the pandemic (laughs) and asked me to put some vocals on them.’

Earlier this month, they released their single ‘A Fool’s Errand’, which kicks off with a dynamic bass line that pushes the melody all over the fretboard. With plenty of “woahs” to go around and melodic, layered harmonies, fans singing along in front will be squished against the stage by the inevitable circle pit: ‘I wrote the music to this song while I was extremely ill about 10 to 12 years ago,’ Riddle said. ‘The bass line came about by testing myself, to see if I could still play at all. It has a weird picking style, kind of a banjo-ish thing, thumb and first two fingers. It’s a pretty simple chord progression, but when I showed the guys, they seemed to really like it. Pedro wrote this killer vocal melody with rad harmonies, Chris tracked the guitars and Matt laid down these insane drums and I was like, wow!’

‘The thing about all the songs we write is that they have titles before they come to me!’

As Aida puts it: ‘Matt’s a really good songwriter, he’d had this tucked away for a while. The thing about all the songs we write is that they have titles before they come to me! We don’t often go back and change the title. ‘A Fool’s Errand’ is sort of about a job or a relationship and you’ve had enough of it, you’re ok saying goodbye to it or them and burning that bridge. I had a desk job at the time – I haven’t since – it was a kind of “Fuck you” to that! I love writing harmonies, I’ve spent a lot of time in bands singing and playing second. The melodic punk, the harmonies always come naturally to me, it’s easy for me to find where to put them.’

As the track goes: “When everybody’s lies are unconventional (Whoa, oooh, oooh). And we commit these crimes to understand the cries. It’s not intentional. So take back your worth, and know what’s at stake. Make matters worse, so burn down that bridge.”

Aida was born in Lima, Peru and describes himself as ‘a quarter Swiss and a quarter Japanese, Italian and Peruvian’: ‘I’ve thought about doing songs in Spanish, we’d like to crack South America,’ he said. ‘Maybe I should write some?!’

The B-side, ‘We Dance For Sorrow’ is a mid-tempo romp that has a “hey! hey! hey!” in the second verse and a repeating “whoah!” in the chorus that is so catchy, it’s designed to get a crowd bouncing. The jangly, driving guitar riff pulls you right in, as do Aida’s vocals: ”We Dance For Sorrow’ started off as just the verse,’ Swinney said. ‘I have had that riff knocking around for years but could never turn it into a song. One night last year, I couldn’t sleep, so I went out to the studio. I wrote the chorus progression and the chromatic bridge riff. When the other guys wrote their parts, it really took shape. We have written and recorded a lot of songs over the last couple of years, but this is one of my favourites. It has a cool melancholy vibe to it, perfect for the fall.’

‘It’s about that it’s ok to sometimes not to feel great mentally’

Aida adds: ‘Chris is a guitar teacher, he’s really good with that. I took his idea and put together a theme, the harmonies and the “hey hey’s”. It’s just sort of pieced together. It’s about that it’s ok to sometimes not to feel great mentally. Sometimes, it’s really ok to be sad. It’s important to recognise the signs. Also, with men, there’s a stigma to admit you don’t feel ok, although luckily that is changing. I’ve had the support of friends and family, it helps to lose that stigma. It’s important to do things that are good for you, don’t stay in bed all day, easy though that can be. That song touches on those themes. At the end of the bridge, it’s about people leaving town to get away from their problems but you can’t, you’ll never get away from those issues. It’s ok to go home again once you recognise that and face them head on.’

As the chorus goes: “Same old story, wasted glory. We had to suffer, so you could recover. Same old story, wasted glory. Don’t need to reconcile what you can call your own.”

‘I grew from there into other styles and genres but the punk influences are still there’

Aida has an impressive array of influences, running the gamut from folk to grunge rock: ‘In the last decade, I’d say Jason Isbell, lyrically, guitar-wise and his songwriting, his overall good attitude to how to be an artist. We love his music, we see him play a few times a year.  I’d love to write a song with him, the man’s been honing his craft for so long and I feel like I’ve watched it transform over the years following his career. It would be a great learning experience and likely a lot of fun as well. My parents played Latin folk music and as a teenager, I was into grunge and Nirvana. I bought a Sex Pistols tape in a thrift store (laughs). In high school, I got into Epitaph Records (a German rock band), The Descendents, Face to Face – West Coast punk. I grew from there into other styles and genres but the punk influences are still there.’ I ask if he is a fan of Frank Turner, who has straddled both folk and punk: ‘He did a tour with Jason Isbell a few years ago. I would love the opportunity to play with him in any capacity!’ My other band The Iron Roses did a tour with Frank Turner in early 2022, before I was in the band. I hope we get to do it again!’

Next up will be two further singles around the autumn before releasing their debut album next year. ‘Everyone has done their parts and we’ll be doing the mixing and mastering in the next month,’ Aida said. Incredibly, he also plays in five other bands: ‘ShotClock are a three-piece pop punk band I play for, it’s a passion project,’ he said. ‘The Iron Roses is my other band, it started off with Nathan Gray solo and has morphed into a collaborative band. I joined in late 2022, we’ve got a record coming out this fall and a European tour announcement coming soon.’

Aida’s go-to guitar is a 1980’s Les Paul Standard: ‘I’ve had it for about 20 years, it weighs around 80,000 lbs! I don’t take it on the road anymore. I have a custom Les Paul Junior in TV yellow with noise cancelling P90s, you’ll see me playing that a lot. My dream guitar would probably be a ’56 Les Paul Junior in TV yellow, it has a nice crunch tone, I fell in love with it.’

‘Just a microphone, just a voice, that’s it, that’s when you know it’s a good song’

I ask him which musician he’d most like to go for a drink with: ‘Is it a session (laughs)? Let me see, Jason Isbell doesn’t drink anymore, so it can’t be him! I think it would have to be Prince. He was on a different level mentally, a different plane of existence. I would just let him talk (laughs). Ask any guitarist, they love Prince. Ask any songwriter, they love Prince. Ask anyone who loves fashion, they love Prince, that’s the huge appeal he has.’ I ask him if he knows Prince’s album Piano And A Microphone album, which features pared back versions of some of his songs with just his vocals and him on piano. He doesn’t, so we put it on and he’s jubilant: ‘Just a microphone, just a voice, that’s it, that’s when you know it’s a good song,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘I love it when people are creative. Yesterday, I saw a video of a guy who lives in Ukraine, he was using the air sirens in the background when he was playing a melancholy riff, he was waiting for the sirens, it sounded very cool!’

He has been lucky to meet some of his real-life heroes: ‘I met Dave Grohl once and that was cool! We talked about being from Virginia and growing up in the same area. Another is Jim Adkins from Jimmy Eat World but that was just him signing a poster after a show and less personal. Both were really friendly and outgoing.’

His dream line-up would bring all the energy to the room: ‘For a band like Fire Sale I would say NOFX, Bad Religion, Lagwagon, and Face to Face. Not only ‘cos it would be amazing to be included but also ‘cos I feel like that crowd would respond well to us!’

(Top photo from left to right: Matt Morris, Chris, Matt Riddle and Pedro.)