Residing in Brooklyn, Farrah Fire has been balancing life responsibilities with her creative drive for years, but has recently found her musical interests evolving and expanding. This evolution, it turns out, has been the conduit for an exhilarating journey to the threshold of worldwide r Farrah Fire's award-winning work recently had this to say about the rising star: ‘When we hear taut tracks like 'Darkness City' we're mystified at the seeming disappearance of the anguished, unapologetic alt-rock ragers that once reflected our collective discontent.’ Added to these honors, her debut radio single ‘Darkness City’ is rapidly ascending the international charts. Reporter Andrew Edwards recently caught up with Farrah Fire to learn more about this intriguing alternative rock artist, her unique musical vision and plans for the future.
ANDREW: Let's just get this out in the open- What is the craziest thing that has happened to you in your music career?
FARRAH FIRE: To keep it simple I have to say the first time I ever got vocally loud in the 80’s (my first lead singer experience the one that started me on this road…) I did an unplanned performance, well aware as I spontaneously began that I was doing a performance of sorts. I was around 17 or 18 years old, shacked up with my first live in boyfriend who was a musician and we went to a Punk Rock party bringing my 14-year-old brother who was staying with us. We felt we were really bad ass because we considered ourselves to be hard rock people sort of hippie types and we knew the Punk Rockers would be sneering at us so we thought we would sneer back and have fun at the party. As the evening progressed we discovered there was a roof so we went up there and set up a bunch of upside down buckets and the guys started to beat on them making a rhythm while the buildings created a load echo reverberating down the long street in Brooklyn, it sounded super intense and powerful. Then out of the blue black night I got the idea to do some scream therapy that I heard John Lennon had done and claimed it really worked. So I was definitely down with that so I began to scream with the beat behind me and the echo was absolutely fantastic ripping down the street and then back to us again. I loved the way it sounded so much I kept letting out these blood curdling screams over and over again while my brother my boyfriend and another friend were beating on the buckets so hard it sounded ritualistic. We could not stop our performance it seemed like it should go on forever but then the Police came and we were told to stop so we went back downstairs to the party feeling cool as hell and the Punk Rockers gave us respect.
ANDREW: Your song ’Darkness City’ is receiving a positive listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard your song playing on radio?
FARRAH FIRE: I wondered, who is this band I really dig it... oh shit it’s me.
ANDREW: What was the inspiration behind your debut radio single?
FARRAH FIRE: The song Darkness City was inspired by my late night schedule of not seeing daylight often and all my good times spent roaming the city at night with groups of friends or going out alone only to run into a specific friend.
ANDREW: It is often said that great art arises from difficult experience. Is there something in your life experience thus far that you would describe as the ‘catalyst’ or ‘fuel’ for your desire to create music?
FARRAH FIRE: At the time when I began to sing it happened more as a result of hanging around musicians and then one day discovering how cool my voice sounded in a stairwell. If there was a catalyst that was motivating me to make moaning sounds in a stairwell to my boyfriend playing the guitar I was definitely not thinking about it at that time. As a matter of fact, I managed to avoid any negative thoughts and disturbing realities going on in my life and on the planet for many years thru my enjoyment of music. If weird, angry or upsetting stuff came out in a song I might have noticed it later and thought wow that’s really cool and kind of confront it by elaborating on it. Inner emotions that came out melodically or lyrically I played with to feel good because getting satisfied creatively is something I always want to feel.
ANDREW: How would you characterize yourself as an artist/musician? (Ex. Down-to-earth, serious, fun-loving, complicated…)
FARRAH FIRE: I would have to say I started out as the fun loving type running from hangout to rehearsal to show to show looking for a very loud experience that had to happen in a dark murky bar or at a party. Then years passed and I became more serious yet still not serious enough to see beyond the experience part of tonight’s fun and cope with the necessary decision to move forward unaffected by outside forces of doom. It was not until recently upon my return to music last year that I forced myself to move beyond the moment to moment experience phase’ face the doom feeling head on and say, ok my idea of fun has now changed and I need a bigger Rock and Roll battle to fight.
ANDREW: What has your experience been like working with the other people on your team?
FARRAH FIRE: Early on, my musical relationships came out of love relationships and strong friendships. If there had been no love or friendship in my life, there definitely wouldn’t have been any music. Over time due to experience I have become more discerning about who I will deal with in a band situation or for that matter a personal relationship. I only work with straight up people in my immediate band core. Snakes I keep on the outskirts but still work with on occasion knowing what they are…because after all it is Rock and Roll not necessarily the music of Saints.
ANDREW: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
FARRAH FIRE:
There are some random musicians in my family here and there. I remember one that floated thru town when I was in High School to visit the family and was never heard from again. She was very nice and hung out with me in my room and we listed to Pink Floyd which she said scared her. She was into Country and Bluegrass music and had a band. My Uncle the black sheep of the family was a big Rock n Roll fan and told me that if a certain band could make it that lived across the street from him in Georgia so could I cause they sucked sh.. (I won’t say who they are but I don’t think they really suck). There are rumors also about some very olden day musicians from my Dad’s side that nobody knew. My immediate family tends to be more fine art and literature oriented.
ANDREW: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
FARRAH FIRE: I find the most rewarding part of being an Artist is it keeps the mind busy on something productive and positive, I like to think about songs a lot, like every situation is a song even if I never write it. But when I do write it and record it with friends even better, now we have frozen a little piece of time…For me the most challenging thing about being an Artist has been to finalize everything, tie up all the loose ends and bring it out to the public for them to enjoy. I literally had family and friends and even random people in and out of my world yelling at me for years saying, “get your shit together” and offering all kinds of solutions that had nothing to do with my idea of fun. Then after my 14-year hiatus away from band life I thought of the name Farrah Fire and kicked myself so hard in the butt every day for about three years to get beyond the production point of forever just creating (like 50 drawings for a logo etc..), creating (wanting to re-do every song I ever wrote), creating (cutting up and altering every outfit I had made for Rock and Roll). Finally, I just had to put my neurosis to rest and with the encouragement of my long time drummer John Lynch going back to my very 1st band I decided to move ahead as is.
ANDREW: Who are your role models in music?
FARRAH FIRE: Well I have such a vast love of Rock N Roll starting with the 60’s. But my role models and the specific albums they created that gave me extra inspiration which made me feel like getting out and doing it for real in the beginning are: Grace Slick from the Jefferson Airplane and the “Surrealistic Pillow” album, Marianne Faithful for her “Broken English” album and Patty Smiths album “Horses”. Of course I have many other role models from Heavy Metal, Rock N Roll and the Blues, but I wouldn’t have thought I could actually front a band if it wasn’t for those 3 contemporary woman who showed it was possible to go on this path and Rock hard, strong and nasty as you want!
ANDREW: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
FARRAH FIRE: Well I have such a vast love of Rock N Roll starting with the 60’s. But my role models and the specific albums they created that gave me extra inspiration which made me feel like getting out and doing it for real in the beginning are: Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane in the “Surrealistic Pillow” album, Marianne Faithful for her “Broken English” album and Patty Smiths album “Horses”. Of course, I have many other role models from Heavy Metal, Rock N Roll, and the Blues, but I wouldn’t have thought I could actually front a band if it wasn’t for those 3 contemporary women who showed it was possible to go on this path Rock hard, strong and nasty as you want!
ANDREW: What advice would you give to young, aspiring artists out there who are unsure and need guidance?
FARRAH FIRE: I would say be yourself, work on your craft and on what you are saying. Play with a lot of musicians and see who you really can roll with day in and out. All that image stuff will be there for you later reflecting who you are once you truly and sincerely know who you are. The road is long so love the process. Self-preservation is key to your safe, healthy, happy worthwhile destination …in other words don’t trash yourself too hard. You need to be alive and functioning when you arrive so you can enjoy the gifts of the musical journey within your life. Ultimately it’s who you are as a human being that separates and alignsyou with everyone else in the World and that is who is listening.
ANDREW: What's next for you as an artist? Is there a new single in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it?
FARRAH FIRE: Currently I am in the process of putting together a video for my song “Darkness City” with Chris Savo my new guitarist directing. I am also planning to do a few other music videos one to the song I wrote and recorded in the 80’s called “Theater of Love” with a different director who found me in Backstage. There are more songs from my past I am feeling a strong urge to release as singles over the next year possibly with something visual to each one. Of course, any music videos I do will be on my Farrah Fire YouTube channel. “Theater of Love” will also be released as a single to join my other two singles “Darkness City” and “Time Will Tell” once I make the video.
ANDREW: That's wonderful! Thank you so much for letting us get to know you a little better. We wish you the best of luck and continued success.
http://www.farrahfire.com
