I'll make no bones about the fact i'm a big fan of Detroit's finest, Fireworks. The boys are over in the UK for a short tour before hitting the road in the US with Such Gold, Make Do & Mend and The Wonder Years. So it's no surprise that I was beyond excited to get to see them play this past weekend in sunny Bournemouth at the tiny ibar. I was even more stoked to get to have a little chat with guitarist Chris Mojan about their new record, Gospel (out May 24th), kicking off the UK tour with no equipment and the dilemmas of dating so many hot guys...
K: So Saturday in Kingston you had no equipment I hear?
C: Yes! We went from Lansing MI, to Chicago and then we had to fly to Newark and then fly to London. So we get to London but the flight from Chicago to Newark was delayed and our next flight was only gonna be 15 minutes apart so we literally had to run. I said to the guy “I need to make sure our luggage is on because that’s the whole reason we’re going over there with the luggage, please” and he was like “oh yeah yeah, definitely”
K: Who did you fly with?
C: Continental Airlines. We go to Heathrow. No bags of course. They were like ‘Oh they were last seen in Newark.” So while we were playing last night our driver Alex drove to Heathrow from Kingston, picked up all our guitars.
K: So did you have any instruments to play with yesterday?
C: We were going to use Save Your Breath’s guitars, but their van broke. So we ended up having to use a band’s called Loose Cannon’s guitars - I dunno if you’ve ever heard of them? They’re good, they’re from Kingston - and we ended up having to rent a drum kit for the night for £20. But Continental also broke one of our guitars about a year and a half ago.
K: No so good! So the rest of this tour is going to also be with Make Do & Mend ...
*Dave MaKinder (vocal) pops in and joins us*
D: Hey!
K: Hello! ..This line up is really good and you’re playing in America with awesome bands.
C: Kind of why we asked Make Do & Mend because we figured as everyone in the UK was hitting us up saying “oh that tour’s so awesome, come here” so we tried to bring at least one part of the tour here.
K: I was excited to see that you're playing in Florida when i'm on holiday there actually...
Dave: If you’ve got the money or the time, check out Discovery Cove. It will change your life!
K: Is that where you go in the flume with the dolphins all around?D: Yes, I went in the first time, it was good fun.
K: Is it not a bit scary and claustrophobic?
D: No, I was kind of worried about it but it was the best thing ever!
K: So do you guys get to choose who you play with over here, and over there as well?
C: That’s the cool part about doing a headliner because for once you actually get to be like ‘alright, who should we take?’ Make Do & Mend put out an amazing record last year - one of my favourites - and we played with them years ago in Connecticut. It’s awesome to see that band really come up and do great things, so they were kind of an obvious choice for us to bring them. We picked Save Your Breath too; we did a split with them years ago and always been in touch with them but never really got to play shows together though.
K: What would your ideal line up be then if you could really bring anyone?
C: I hate to say ‘I don’t know about that question’ but it is really rough. I dunno I think honestly tours we’ve done in the past if they could all just be one big tour. There’s really not that many bands we’ve not come off of tour with and became really tight with, really close.
D: If we could actually create a super band of like all the bands together...
C: It’s kind of like, say you start dating a girl or something? And it’s awesome and you get along really well and you think about, say, another girl. Or if you’re a girl and you date one guy and you’re like ‘Man! But...
D: ...Jake...
C: ...Jake’s fuckin’ hot as shit.
D: ...He had a great ass
C: He had a great ass ...
D: ...Bobby has a great ass too.
C: So you go to Jake or Bobby and you were with Tyler and when you’re with these other guys, you’re like ‘Fuck Tyler’s awesome too’. You can’t pick one you’ve got to have them all baby!
*Commotion while people try and collect their gear. Someone tells Dave he’s got something else to do...*
D: Ok I’ve got to go but I’ve had a really good time with you guys though.
C: Bye dude.
D: Bye Tyler!
K: So Sara Robbins wants to know about your bromance with NFG...
C: How it started was Triple Crown when we signed to them; Fred from Triple Crown was all like ‘oh Chad wants to start producing bands and stuff and you guys are a new band and he’s new to this so why don’t you guys just get together and see what happens? So we actually became friends with Chad and we really got along with him great when we recorded. Then New Found actually took us on a tour in Australia and two tours at home - they’re amazing, they really are. I know they’re like a ‘larger’ band but they really are just the best guys ever and they only wanna help out bands and have fun on tour and be awesome. Basically any band that we tour with are good dudes and if we just hit it off with them and can hang out like every single day for like 2 months we love them and support them.
K: There’s a really big pop punk scene emerging again at the moment, would you say it’s a revival of sorts?
C: I don’t really wanna bum people out, but we’ve never really been a band that’s been like “POP PUNK!!!!!” It’s just not our thing. We just got together and wanted to play more light hearted - not light hearted but more stuff we grew up on like The Desendents, Jimmy Eat World - that whole vibe.
K: So would you not go with the label of ‘pop punk’ then?
C: If people want to say that, that’s fine, but I don’t really know what to call our band. Personally I think that when people overuse that term as much as they do these days I think if anything it turns people away. In a way it segregates people because people will form these ideas. Like a lot of hardcore bands will be like “HARDCORE!!” and that instantly makes some people think ‘oh well I don’t like that kind of music so why would I ever listen to that band?’ We’d rather just be known as a ‘rock band’ but no, if people wanna call us [pop punk] then that’s fine I don’t mind. We never really pushed being a part of that whole movement or revival. I will say it is cool to see bands again doing what they want they want to do and writing song that they want to write regardless of what people think of them. I think for a while there everything got really saturated and everything. I think it’s cool that people can be like ‘I just wanna have fun, play music and do whatever I want’ and I think that attitude is what really brings out awesomeness from bands.
K: So Inga Harris has a three part question... What song defines you best (part one)...
C: I think I’d have to say - most people don’t answer questions like this - but I'd have to honestly say that I think the one song that defines us best is the last song of our record “When We Stand On Each Other...”. That was really a song where, as fast as we had to write... we didn’t really have much time to write the last full length but a lot of stuff I will say just went ‘Ok that sounds good, let’s rush a write it .’ But that song was really a song we just got together, the riff came out, we put it together, we wrote the lyrics - together- and that to me is traditionally a Fireworks song. That’s kind of what our band lyrically, sound-wise, mood-wise is. The new record is - and I don’t wanna hype it too much - but I honestly think it’s what I just basically said for the entire record. The songs just came naturally and I think it just represents us more than anything we’ve ever done.
K: Part 2 - What song are you most proud of? It could even be one we’ve not even heard yet.
C: Oh man! I feel like a lot of the stuff off the new record. I actually love the song we played tonight - Don’t Blame It On The Ocean Floor - from the EP. That was the first song we wrote when Brett joined the band. That was the song where when we all started playing all together and we started writing that song together. I was floored. I was like ‘Holy shit I can’t believe I wrote this, I can’t believe I’m a part of this band.' I have no shame in saying I listened to it over and over again, I loved it. I loved the mood of it, the feel of it, everything about it to me was just perfect. So honestly to this day I think the song I'm most proud of would be that song. I remember showing it obnoxiously to all of my friends ‘dude I've got to show you this!!’ Still to this day, that’s why we still play it, we just love that song.
K: Part 3: What song do you love playing live and don’t get bored of playing live?
C: Man, that’s hard. We get bored of a lot live, I’ll be honest. It’s hard when you write a whole new record and you’re extremely excited but it would make no sense to play so... I can honestly say, I don’t think I ever get tired of playing Geography the first song of the record. It’s faster paced, has a lot of cool parts and just flows really well so I dunno, there’s something about it so I just never really get sick of playing it. Oh! Holiday either. I love playing Holiday.
K: So tell me about the new album, Gospel, I’m looking forward to it.
C: I think the songs on this just came so naturally. Before we were just rushed and we were like ‘right we have to write a song that sounds like this, should write songs that sound like this.. ‘ This record was honestly different - we were touring and when we were home inbetween tour had melodies and riffs and we finally got the chance to basically put them together and actually write the songs. There was a day where Dave and I got together and wrote like 3 songs and we were like ‘oh cool!’. I just think it just sounds like the record we’ve always really wanted to make I’d say.
C: Who did you work with on this one?
K: Brian McTernan. He did the last few Hot Water Music records and he’s done quite a lot actually. If you want to look him up he’s amazing. But the record has more of a natural, not quite rawness, but kind of has a melodic feel to it I guess.
K: What’s behind the name ‘Gospel’?
C: People sing gospel music to feel better when their lives are in a little bit of a rut, or in turmoil and that’s what makes them feel better so to us our album is kind of like our gospel I guess.
K: Who did the artwork for that?
C: His name is Michael Burdick. I actually met him in my sophomore year of high school. He’s just been doing awesome stuff he’s a really good friend of ours and he did a sketch for us for the 7 inch and when we saw that sketch we were honestly like man this goes perfect with the feel of the new record. I felt and I’ve noticed that whatever you get out of looking at the artwork is almost what the record sounds like. I think the artwork perfectly represents the sound and vibe of the record.
K: So are you gonna come back anytime soon? Slam Dunk would be good...
Check out Fireworks on tour across the UK and US now.
C: Yes! We went from Lansing MI, to Chicago and then we had to fly to Newark and then fly to London. So we get to London but the flight from Chicago to Newark was delayed and our next flight was only gonna be 15 minutes apart so we literally had to run. I said to the guy “I need to make sure our luggage is on because that’s the whole reason we’re going over there with the luggage, please” and he was like “oh yeah yeah, definitely”
K: Who did you fly with?
C: Continental Airlines. We go to Heathrow. No bags of course. They were like ‘Oh they were last seen in Newark.” So while we were playing last night our driver Alex drove to Heathrow from Kingston, picked up all our guitars.
K: So did you have any instruments to play with yesterday?
C: We were going to use Save Your Breath’s guitars, but their van broke. So we ended up having to use a band’s called Loose Cannon’s guitars - I dunno if you’ve ever heard of them? They’re good, they’re from Kingston - and we ended up having to rent a drum kit for the night for £20. But Continental also broke one of our guitars about a year and a half ago.
K: No so good! So the rest of this tour is going to also be with Make Do & Mend ...
*Dave MaKinder (vocal) pops in and joins us*
D: Hey!
K: Hello! ..This line up is really good and you’re playing in America with awesome bands.
C: Kind of why we asked Make Do & Mend because we figured as everyone in the UK was hitting us up saying “oh that tour’s so awesome, come here” so we tried to bring at least one part of the tour here.
K: I was excited to see that you're playing in Florida when i'm on holiday there actually...
Dave: If you’ve got the money or the time, check out Discovery Cove. It will change your life!
K: Is that where you go in the flume with the dolphins all around?D: Yes, I went in the first time, it was good fun.
K: Is it not a bit scary and claustrophobic?
D: No, I was kind of worried about it but it was the best thing ever!
K: So do you guys get to choose who you play with over here, and over there as well?
C: That’s the cool part about doing a headliner because for once you actually get to be like ‘alright, who should we take?’ Make Do & Mend put out an amazing record last year - one of my favourites - and we played with them years ago in Connecticut. It’s awesome to see that band really come up and do great things, so they were kind of an obvious choice for us to bring them. We picked Save Your Breath too; we did a split with them years ago and always been in touch with them but never really got to play shows together though.
K: What would your ideal line up be then if you could really bring anyone?
C: I hate to say ‘I don’t know about that question’ but it is really rough. I dunno I think honestly tours we’ve done in the past if they could all just be one big tour. There’s really not that many bands we’ve not come off of tour with and became really tight with, really close.
D: If we could actually create a super band of like all the bands together...
C: It’s kind of like, say you start dating a girl or something? And it’s awesome and you get along really well and you think about, say, another girl. Or if you’re a girl and you date one guy and you’re like ‘Man! But...
D: ...Jake...
C: ...Jake’s fuckin’ hot as shit.
D: ...He had a great ass
C: He had a great ass ...
D: ...Bobby has a great ass too.
C: So you go to Jake or Bobby and you were with Tyler and when you’re with these other guys, you’re like ‘Fuck Tyler’s awesome too’. You can’t pick one you’ve got to have them all baby!
*Commotion while people try and collect their gear. Someone tells Dave he’s got something else to do...*
D: Ok I’ve got to go but I’ve had a really good time with you guys though.
C: Bye dude.
D: Bye Tyler!
C: How it started was Triple Crown when we signed to them; Fred from Triple Crown was all like ‘oh Chad wants to start producing bands and stuff and you guys are a new band and he’s new to this so why don’t you guys just get together and see what happens? So we actually became friends with Chad and we really got along with him great when we recorded. Then New Found actually took us on a tour in Australia and two tours at home - they’re amazing, they really are. I know they’re like a ‘larger’ band but they really are just the best guys ever and they only wanna help out bands and have fun on tour and be awesome. Basically any band that we tour with are good dudes and if we just hit it off with them and can hang out like every single day for like 2 months we love them and support them.
K: There’s a really big pop punk scene emerging again at the moment, would you say it’s a revival of sorts?
C: I don’t really wanna bum people out, but we’ve never really been a band that’s been like “POP PUNK!!!!!” It’s just not our thing. We just got together and wanted to play more light hearted - not light hearted but more stuff we grew up on like The Desendents, Jimmy Eat World - that whole vibe.
K: So would you not go with the label of ‘pop punk’ then?
C: If people want to say that, that’s fine, but I don’t really know what to call our band. Personally I think that when people overuse that term as much as they do these days I think if anything it turns people away. In a way it segregates people because people will form these ideas. Like a lot of hardcore bands will be like “HARDCORE!!” and that instantly makes some people think ‘oh well I don’t like that kind of music so why would I ever listen to that band?’ We’d rather just be known as a ‘rock band’ but no, if people wanna call us [pop punk] then that’s fine I don’t mind. We never really pushed being a part of that whole movement or revival. I will say it is cool to see bands again doing what they want they want to do and writing song that they want to write regardless of what people think of them. I think for a while there everything got really saturated and everything. I think it’s cool that people can be like ‘I just wanna have fun, play music and do whatever I want’ and I think that attitude is what really brings out awesomeness from bands.
K: So Inga Harris has a three part question... What song defines you best (part one)...
C: I think I’d have to say - most people don’t answer questions like this - but I'd have to honestly say that I think the one song that defines us best is the last song of our record “When We Stand On Each Other...”. That was really a song where, as fast as we had to write... we didn’t really have much time to write the last full length but a lot of stuff I will say just went ‘Ok that sounds good, let’s rush a write it .’ But that song was really a song we just got together, the riff came out, we put it together, we wrote the lyrics - together- and that to me is traditionally a Fireworks song. That’s kind of what our band lyrically, sound-wise, mood-wise is. The new record is - and I don’t wanna hype it too much - but I honestly think it’s what I just basically said for the entire record. The songs just came naturally and I think it just represents us more than anything we’ve ever done.
K: Part 2 - What song are you most proud of? It could even be one we’ve not even heard yet.
C: Oh man! I feel like a lot of the stuff off the new record. I actually love the song we played tonight - Don’t Blame It On The Ocean Floor - from the EP. That was the first song we wrote when Brett joined the band. That was the song where when we all started playing all together and we started writing that song together. I was floored. I was like ‘Holy shit I can’t believe I wrote this, I can’t believe I’m a part of this band.' I have no shame in saying I listened to it over and over again, I loved it. I loved the mood of it, the feel of it, everything about it to me was just perfect. So honestly to this day I think the song I'm most proud of would be that song. I remember showing it obnoxiously to all of my friends ‘dude I've got to show you this!!’ Still to this day, that’s why we still play it, we just love that song.
K: Part 3: What song do you love playing live and don’t get bored of playing live?
C: Man, that’s hard. We get bored of a lot live, I’ll be honest. It’s hard when you write a whole new record and you’re extremely excited but it would make no sense to play so... I can honestly say, I don’t think I ever get tired of playing Geography the first song of the record. It’s faster paced, has a lot of cool parts and just flows really well so I dunno, there’s something about it so I just never really get sick of playing it. Oh! Holiday either. I love playing Holiday.
K: So tell me about the new album, Gospel, I’m looking forward to it.
C: I think the songs on this just came so naturally. Before we were just rushed and we were like ‘right we have to write a song that sounds like this, should write songs that sound like this.. ‘ This record was honestly different - we were touring and when we were home inbetween tour had melodies and riffs and we finally got the chance to basically put them together and actually write the songs. There was a day where Dave and I got together and wrote like 3 songs and we were like ‘oh cool!’. I just think it just sounds like the record we’ve always really wanted to make I’d say.
C: Who did you work with on this one?
K: Brian McTernan. He did the last few Hot Water Music records and he’s done quite a lot actually. If you want to look him up he’s amazing. But the record has more of a natural, not quite rawness, but kind of has a melodic feel to it I guess.
K: What’s behind the name ‘Gospel’?
C: People sing gospel music to feel better when their lives are in a little bit of a rut, or in turmoil and that’s what makes them feel better so to us our album is kind of like our gospel I guess.
K: Who did the artwork for that?
C: His name is Michael Burdick. I actually met him in my sophomore year of high school. He’s just been doing awesome stuff he’s a really good friend of ours and he did a sketch for us for the 7 inch and when we saw that sketch we were honestly like man this goes perfect with the feel of the new record. I felt and I’ve noticed that whatever you get out of looking at the artwork is almost what the record sounds like. I think the artwork perfectly represents the sound and vibe of the record.
K: So are you gonna come back anytime soon? Slam Dunk would be good...
C: That was one of those things that we were really stoked to do Slam Dunk.. and we just never heard from them! I don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know if we’re playing or if we’re not so I can’t really say.
K: We should start a movement to get you on Slam Dunk!
C: Yeah! We love touring here for real and this is honestly one of our favourite places to play.
Check out Fireworks on tour across the UK and US now. Their second full length record, Gospel, is out in May.
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