"It's a belligerent scene," drummer Joe Killian says about the band's Pittsburgh, PA home. "There's no music venues in the neighborhood where Pitt is, so you have to cut your teeth on the basement scene." In their Tape Swap appearance at Shards, the three members of White Like Fire recalled the challenges that come with playing in a town with mostly DIY spaces. Drunks picking fights, people stealing instruments, flooded basements, collapsing roofs, and sprinkler systems soaking the band mid-set were just a few of the stories that the guys shared with us.
Brothers Blake and Tyler Clawson along with Killian have shaped their band over these past two years by winning over the mostly-punk and hardcore Pitt audiences with a pop sound--not an easy task. The trio's dedication to White Like Fire is starting to pay off: the band recently won a contest hosted by Sonicbids and was selected from over 6,000 entries to perform at a South by Southwest Festival showcase. The Sonicbids performance then garnered the band even more sets at the 2014 festival. It was after this whirlwind experience in March 2014 that the band stopped by Shards on their way back from Austin, TX. For this session, the trio was joined by Aaron Duda and Jesse Weygandt from fellow Pittsburgh band, Josie McQueen, who helped White Like Fire perform songs off of their new album, Apocalypstic.
1. Witness (0:03)
2. Fallout (3:38)
3. Under Covers (7:22)
4. Play That Funky Music -- tease (11:29)
5. Still You Drown (12:08)
6. Interview (15:19)
Cold Fronts (Band Pick):
http://coldfronts.us/
White Like Fire:
http://www.whitelikefire.com/