Friendly Fire was originally instigated by Paul, who back in 1993 decided he was tired of playing in your run-of-the-mill garage bands, set out to assemble the best possible group of musicians he could find.
So what do you do? He put out flyers in the Hampton/Newport News area music stores to see what kind of response he could get for the style of music that he wanted to play. He also tapped the resources of friends to see who might be interested in forming a band. Numerous auditions were held over about a year with people who seemed interested, all to no avail.
Then there was the call from Marty, who had played locally in bands in the past. This guy can play the killer bass! With Marty in the fold, we looked for a Drummer, second Guitar player, and Vocalist (this had to be a two-guitar band!). Again flyers were posted in the local music stores. After a while they got their second guitar player who was influenced alot by Eddie Van Halen. They got together in Paul's living room and things were going pretty well, with the exception of finding a competent and talented drummer. Several auditions were held, yet none seemed to really fit the bill. The second guitar player knew of a good vocalist, and we decided to ask him to join the band. Two months later, the vocalist and guitar player decided that they wanted to pursue a different direction. They left the fold.
Now Paul and Marty were back to square one. Marty recommended some friends of his that he had played in a group with before. A couple of calls later, we had the basis of what would become Friendly Fire. At first they played strictly cover songs from bands such as Metallica, STP, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. The flyers went up again in the music stores, and they tried out a few singers before settling on one. He was not the get-in-your-face kind of guy, but would do for what they were doing at the time. It was now 1994. A few months of practicing, writing, and rehearsing followed and they were soon doing gigs at some of the local bars in Hampton. About a year passed by and after getting tired of the singer not showing up for practice, the band broke apart again.
1995 saw a new beginning to Friendly Fire. This time no flyers were posted for musicians, Paul and Marty went to people they knew to see if they were interested in joining the band. First into the group was the drummer, Mike. The perfect match for the music that they wanted to play. Quite the impressive drum kit, too! We brought in a couple of guitar players to try them out, but nothing seemed to work.
Charles would soon enter the fold. Charles is influenced by Eddie Van Halen. Kinda plays like him, kinda sounds like him, and even kinda looks like him! So we had our band back together in a working package. Now we needed the singer. Charles knew of Doug and called him up to see if he would be interested in trying out. Doug was very entusiastic aboout the music we were playing and things worked out well. The second generation of Friendly Fire was solidified.
Towards the end of 1995 they were out playing the local club scene again, with many shows at the old Purple Haze in Newport News, a couple at Petro's and others to good responces.
1997 has seen Friendly Fire expand their horizons to Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and still good-ole Newport News and Hampton. Each time they played they performed some new material, along with the best of what they knew already. The crowds got more and more responsive to the band and the music. Things were going well. The Highlight of the year would have to be being asked to perform "unplugged" on FM99 WNOR on Dec 27th during their "Hairband Heaven" show. Doug, Paul, and Charles went down to the studio and performed Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" and the original song "Babe". They also were able to do some promotion during the show for their upcoming New Year's Eve gig at Towne Point Pub in Portsmouth. The Show went off without a hitch and the band is growing ever-stronger. They also played that Friday and Saturday at Towne Point, and these shows also recieved all the energy that the band could muster.
Now after being together for two years, Friendly Fire has decided to take a break to kick back and relax for awhile. But never fear! They will be back in February to practicing and finalizing new original material.
1998 promises to be even better for Friendly Fire. . .
--UPDATE 3/07/98--
Back in January of 98, Mike decided to quit the band, leaving the rest of us searching high and low for a new drummer. We put out flyers in the music stores from Virginia Beach to Williamsburg, but didn't get alot of response. We had shows scheduled and were really in a jam. One show had to be cancelled, and luckily that was all.
Charles had played in the band "Eruption" for a while and knew of a drummer who had played in the band while he was a member. Charles made the call and soon Eddie would become our new drummer.
Now this guy has got the monster kit and can sure as hell play 'em! We holed up in rehearsal for a couple months, getting used to Eddie and giving him time to learn a bunch of the old material that the rest of us knew. There were also some brand new songs that we learned together as a band. It seemed like just a couple of weeks, but we were out playing the clubs again, and with Eddie, we didn't miss a beat from where we were previously. Possibly even better now than ever before!!! We are continually trying to book more shows in the area, and when we come to your area, make a point to come out to the gig, 'cause if you like the music that we play, you just gotta see us!!!
--UPDATE 9/30/98--
Since the last installment in the bio, we have played alot of shows, but the highlight would have to be Hampton Bay Days. We only had an hour to play, so we broke out the best of our material for that show. I have seen on the MEONA page that Friendly Fire got an honorable mention from them for our performance. Too bad it was over so quickly!
We showed up early since we opened the show on Saturday, set up all of our gear, and had a little time to wander around. Then showtime came and just that quick, it was over. Somehow, we got all of our gear off of the stage in 10 minutes. Too bad we can't seem to do that in the clubs! To all of our friends and fans, thanks for coming out to see us, and special thanks to Dale for being our guitar tech, roadie, and do-it-all stagehand.
--UPDATE 12/31/98--
Our web site celebrates it's first anniversary!
As you've seen posted elsewhere on this site, We are taking a break from playing the clubs through the winter. This gives Eddie a chance to build his house and not have to worry (too much) about practice.
The remainder of the band is working on writing new original material in the hopes of getting a CD out by July 4th (tentatively). The goal is to write enough material to have a full-length CD, not just a 4 or 5 song demo.
There are also the live tapes from the December 12th show at Towne Point Pub that are going through final mixing and will be available to the public. This will be the band's first actual release, and we're making sure that it does the band justice, even though it was recorded on a 4-track machine. Preliminary mixdowns of the tapes sound pretty good!!!
So until we see you in the spring, we hope that the new additions to the website and the release of the live tape will keep you rockin' with Friendly Fire!!!
--UPDATE 04/05/99--
We're Back!
We just got done playing our first show in four months, and things went pretty well. I have to admit that we're a little rusty, but it's good to be playing as a band again. We'll see you soon!
--UPDATE 09/01/99--
Well, after playing a few more shows since the last update, Eddie has decided to leave the band (at least for awhile) for personal reasons. We hated to see him go, but we all wish him well in his endeavors.
Now the band is again going into "practice mode" to give Marshall time to learn some of our existing material. We will be back in November with a whole new show (including new songs). Be sure to expect the same energy-filled and action-packed show that you get get from no one else but Friendly Fire!
--UPDATE 11/22/99--
First things first - Congratulations to Doug & Brenda on the birth of their first child, Sabian Lee. He was born on November 18.
A huge thank you goes out to Allen Uehara from the local band Black Rose for stepping in to do lead vocals for us at the Petro's show November 19th & 20th. Doug did come out to perform one set with us on the 20th, and everyone was appreciative of that. Needless to say, there are many rumors flying about Doug being replaced in the band, but they are not true. Doug is an integral part of the Friendly Fire machine, and we'll be continuing on after the holidays.
Another MASSIVE thanks to Marshall Taylor for sitting in on the drums for the Petro's show - excellent job! We couldn't have done it without ya!
Alot of people have asked us why we're not playing out on New Year's Eve this year, and the answer is simple - all of us want to hang out and party with our families!!!
So we'll see you Saint Patrick's Day at Petro's (or maybe sooner?) and we'll hang out, drink some green beer, and play a little rock and roll for ya!
--UPDATE 03/28/00--
Well, Y2K came and went without any problems. After taking the holidays off, we've started playing out again. We're trying to play some new places, and so far we've been to Sea Ray's at the beach, and Tom Katz in Newport News. The band is getting tighter, and knocking some of the rust off after taking such a long break.
We've met some new friends and had a blast so far this year - let's hope it keeps going! See ya at the next show. . .
--UPDATE 06/13/00--
By now, Eddie is probably a proud papa, so he will be taking some time off from the band. We don't know at this point if he's coming back or not, so in the meantime, we've found another new drummer and are currently rehearsing to prepare for the upcoming shows! With all these drummers coming and going, can you say "Spinal Tap"?!?!?!?
--UPDATE 06/17/00--
Well, we've finished the first set of shows with our new drummer, Tony. I'm glad to say that most of the tunes went off without a hitch. We'll be returning to rehearsal mode for a short while, and we'll see ya in a month-and-a-half back at Petro's with some new tunes to rock ya!
Thanks to the other bands that participated in "Petropalloza" on Sunday, things always go well when we all work together! Charles was offered 100 bucks from someone in the audience for us to play "No More Tears", but we didn't have the keyboard with us!
And to Jodi (sp?), if you ever see this, we should have went ahead and played "Fly To The Angles" for ya. But I promise next time, we'll play it for ya. Thanks for the dreams and compliments!
--UPDATE 10/24/01--
Tony's time in the band was indeed short-lived. He played a few shows with us, but decided that he had to leave the band, because of prior commitments.
We approached Eddie again, asking if he wanted back in, which he agreed to. Friendly Fire was back again!!! We played several more shows in 2000, the highlights would have to be playing in September at Tom Katz in Newport News (dontchya just love standing on the PA speaker stacks while playing guitar?!?!?! LOL), playing at The Veteran's Club in Wakefield for their Halloween costume party, and the New Year's Eve show at Petro's. Personally, i was also psyched about playing at the Surry Dirt Drags, although that show was unorganized, dirty from all the dust flying around, it was a Sunday, we had just played the previous two nights at Petro's, and we were playing early in the afternoon while the races were happening, so the crowd never materialized for the band...i didn't care...it was still fun!!!
After the New Years Eve show at Petro's on 12/31/2000, the band members decided that we were going to have to replace Doug. We then lined up several singers to audition for the job, all fell through. We tried to coordinate auditions, but nothing ever got done. So we were basically doing nothing as a band, and I happened to get caught up in my own problems with my personal life, which i will not discuss here, since this website is not a forum for my own personal manifesto, this website is about the band.
After a couple of months, the members of the band decided that maybe it was time to try to get back together with Doug, and express our desire to become a better band. After a couple more months of the band doing nothing, not communicating, not practicing, not anything, it came to our attention that Doug had moved out of the state to Florida.
Then the unthinkable happened...
The aircraft that were hijacked by terrorists that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York, another that took out a wing of The Pentagon in Virginia, and the plane that plunged into a field in Pennsylvania, claiming up to 5000 or more innocent civilian's lives, mostly Americans, but from many other countries as well.
One of our local radio stations, FM99, had been in preparation of having their 5th annual "Lunatic Luau" concert at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater, featuring both national and regional bands, when these tragidies occured. The powers-that-be of the radio station and the bands decided to go ahead with the concert, yet renamed it "The Concert for America". Friendly Fire was one of the local bands that were placed on the FM99 website, for web surfers to vote for 5 local bands to play at the concert. I, for one, was VERY excited about the possible opportunity to play this show, yet we did not have a singer. So I made all of the phone calls to eveyone in the band, talked to an interested singer, and everyone agreed to play the show if we were given the chance. It turned out that Friendly Fire did not make the list, but thanks to all of you who voted for us!!!
Until VERY recently, nothing else has been spoken amongst the band members about getting back together with a different singer. It now appears that there is a possibility of Friendly Fire re-emerging once again. Keep in mind, this is just a POSSIBILITY!!!
--UPDATE 5/28/02--
Well, I don't have much of anything to report, except this:
I have spoken to Charles. We agreed that it would be fun to play in Friendly Fire again because we both realize that we were playing the music that we love the most, not to mention that we were involved in one of the best bands in the area.
I have also spoken with Eddie. Eddie mentioned that he is very busy with all of his other commitments right now, and really doesnt have the time to put into being in a band at all. So maybe if things slow down for Eddie, we can all get something together.
Wishful thinking??? Maybe, but I know that I would love to play music with the lineup that we had "back in the day"...we shall see...
Check back right here for further updates regarding the past, present, and future of TIDEWATER'S HOTTEST ROCK AND ROLL BAND - FRIENDLY FIRE
UPDATE May 13, 2003
Well, well, well...it has been a long 2 1/2 years since Friendly Fire has played as a band - ANYWHERE. But everyone knew that you just can't keep a good thing down.
After the various band members went their separate ways, with fun things happening to each of them such as: moving out of state, children being born, divorce, prison time, etc, etc... (ok, just kidding about the prison time - i think)...
WE ARE BACK!!!
The band has been in rehearsals, after searching for a new drummer. Eddie informed us that he had WAY too many things going on in his personal life (see the previously mentioned prison time - lol...ok, ok...just kidding ya Eddie!!!). After an audition, and a vow of dedication, we now have Greg Johnson on the drums. Things are progressing well with the band, and we are working our asses off to prepare for the show June 6th at Hoss' Deli...
stay tuned...
UPADTE Jan 05, 2004
After extensive rehearsals and playing shows throughout the summer and fall of 2003 (with the exception of the time frame otherwise known as Hurricane Isabel and her aftermath), personal matters have come to the forefront of various band members' lives, and we have decided to take another extended break.
Just for entertainment's sake, here's my own quick reviews and notes from some of the recent shows that we played:
June 06, 2003 - Hoss's Deli - The crowd was out IN FORCE for this show!!! all of us in the band had a GREAT time, and we were all amped up to be playing again and see all of those faces in the audience. Personally, i dont remember ever seeing that many people in Hoss' for a band. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU!!!
July 25, 2003 - Damon's - This was a good show. According to Marty, who has played at Damon's before, we had a good crowd, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Until the end of the night when someone (who shall remain nameless in this writing and in all of our minds...) decided to show their true colors and just how psycho they really are. Thanks for screwing up an otherwise good time.
August 08, 2003 - Hoss' Deli - Once again, the turnout at Hoss' was overwhelming. We had some problems in the beginning of the show with the PA popping the house circuit board, but the stage amps still worked, and the crowd did a great job singing along to take up the slack of the band not having vocal mics for half a song...THANKS!!! Once the problems got sorted out, things were great once again. NO THANKS to the psychos out there...you know who you are. You all deserve a pink satin jacket with your nickname embroidered (in red no less - lmfao) on the left chest lapel.
September 13, 2003 - D.D.'s Corral - Not what anyone expected. Maybe everyone was getting too concerned about Hurricane Isabel churning away in the Atlantic???
November 21, 2003 - A.J. Gator's - I had never even been in this place before. I was a bit surprised at the lack of space for the band to set up and play in, but we got around that and had a good time. Greg really stepped it up for this show, and the band played very well. From what i hear, we did a good job with the crowd there...we kept the place busy during the entire time we played, so that's good. The bad news was some B.S. that went down after the show with a certain waitress...but from what i understand, that all got worked out in the end.
December 19 & 20, 2003 - Hoss' Deli - I was REALLY looking forward to the shows at Hoss'. I had a great time. Admittedly, the crowd was not as big as the other times we played at Hoss', but that's not a big surprise since it was the weekend before Christmas. The band played well, but it became obvious that something was wrong...
Hence the decision to take a break for awhile. Let's face it...sometimes life is more important than ANY band.
I want to take this opportunity to personally extend thanks to Marty, Charles, and Doug, for getting Friendly Fire out playing again. I have always had a great time playing music with you guys - you're the best. I send out loud, Loud, LOUD appreciation and kudos to our drummer, Greg Johnson. The man worked his ass off learning all of the material in a short time frame to be ready to play the shows that we did, and i must say that each time we played as a band, he got better and better at not only the drum parts themselves, but bringing the energy and power of the music to the forefront in his playing. GREAT JOB GREG!!!
Friendly Fire may resurface once again, possibly in a couple/few months. As of this update, i cannot say for sure, but i hope that all of our friends and fans enjoyed themselves and the music that we played. Judging solely by the response that we got from the crowds, i'd venture to say that ya did!!!
Stay tuned for future updates...cause ya just never know when we might show up at a club near you to give you what NO OTHER BAND IN THE AREA can...a healthy dose of 80's rock and metal!!!
Paul