fIRED Interview
Packing out the VFW in Redondo Beach, CA, Female fronted punk band fIRED celebrated the release of their CD Drowning on August 1. Featuring 13 explosive tracks, Drowning is fast paced energetic and angry showcase of the simultaneously melodic and raw songs that define fIRED’s style. By the Barricade was on hand to talk with the band members to see what gets them fIRED up. Learn more about the momentum driving this band in the interview that follows.
- Alisha Truman: Vocals
- Sean Conniff: Guitar
- Mike Angulo: Guitar
- Mushroom Mags: Bass
- Bubba McMackin: Drums
By the Barricade: I read in your Facebook band description the line about being fired from other bands and fired up about this one. Is that how the band came about? How did you get connected?
Sean Conniff: We (Mushroom Mags, Mike and Sean) were in a previous band called Scattergood but the lead singer decided that there were better people than us. Even though we had been a solid band for a while, she fired us all. We decided to stay together as a band and got Alisha to sing for us and we called it fIRED.
Mike Angulo: I was playing for another band back in the day and that didn’t work out for me and the others and I was let go from that band. Then we (Sean and I) hooked up a few years later. He (Sean) was in a band called Retread. I liked what they were doing and hit him up and he said they could use another guitar player. I Immediately said, “Ya, I’m in!” We worked together for maybe six years after that. We have played in a lot of bands since then. It’s been a good match. We understand what we are doing and playing without even saying anything. We know where we are at all the time and we click well. At the time we were in a band that kind of went crazy and the bass player, Sean and I got fired from that band. We wanted to continue playing so we started this band up and we decided what better name than fIRED.
Mushroom Mags: We were with another singer and we were fired from her. All of a sudden Sean said, “We’ve got this cool singer and it’s like fire.” So, we called ourselves fIRED and we were able to do it again. Alisha wasn’t sure about herself so it was really cool to be a part of her discovering herself in this band. When we all think about it and look back, we just think how fun it is to do this, but not only that to do it with someone who has never done it before. She is so stoked and it is a good thing.
Alisha Truman: Pretty much it’s about being fired in life. Everything fails you, everyone gets rid of you. You are disposable and you are just fired. You’ve got to come together with all of the rejects, the fired degenerates and get together.
By the Barricade: What musicians or bands were big influences for you when you were growing up?
Mike Angulo: Well there is the usual: Circle Jerks, Black Flag all the old beach city bands. I was really into Flipper at the time and I have a more diverse taste in music. It ranges from some hardcore metal to hardcore punk rock, and you can even throw some Tom Waits and Johnny Cash in there as well. They were my influences. Right now I have been listening to a lot of Flipper.
Sean Conniff: Greg Ginn, Pete Townsend because he liked to smash shit, and Chuck Berry.
Mike Angulo: (sarcastically) We really like musicals like Sound of Music.
Alisha Truman: I’m into the new wave. There are so many but I do like the B-52’s, Oingo Boingo was huge, Talking Heads, Kurt Cobain – I’m into that at that age where I am looking up to Kurt, Shirley Manson is a big idol, Gwen Stefani, Debbie Harry, Patty Smyth. I listen to everything.
Mushroom Mags: Pantera with Dimebag Darrell was amazing. Back in the day it was also Alanis Morissette and all of the old school stuff. I liked The Dickies and other punk bands. Misfits and Black Sabbath were gnarly ones that empowered a lot of my life. Still to this day I can listen to Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd with their vocal solo and I feel it inside, when I play music that is what I feel, I am the person that I am because of these bands. Now these people I am around make me who I am because they brought this forward. When I was a teenager I wanted to play, but having these people now make me excited and play music every day.
We played with Pennywise and it was amazing because for my first show ever I saw Pennywise at Van’s warped tour! My girlfriend won some tickets from KROQ and my mom drove us there. We were listening Pennywise and all of a sudden it went crazy. I lost my shoe and got tossed around and a guy tosses me out without my shoe. My girlfriend was worried that we almost got killed, but I thought, “Are you kidding me that was so much fun!” The awesome thing was that I got to do a show with them. It was awesome, and I couldn’t believe it.
By the Barricade: It comes full circle. Alisha, did you aspire to do this when you were young?
Alisha Truman: I always loved music when I was young. I dance. I usually am in the corner so it is crazy to po
ke my head out and finally have someone hear my music. I’m always the ghost writer where my words are heard, but it’s out of everyone else’s mouth. It’s nice to finally get credit. It’s pretty cool. It’s also absolutely terrifying.
By the Barricade: Some of your song lyrics have themes of not caring and being in your face. What inspires your aggressive style?
Alisha Truman: My brain just rattles on and I can’t control the thoughts so I just grab a pen and put it on paper. It is therapy. It started as some inside jokes and making fun of certain situations and it is fighting back at snide remarks that people do. Whatever pisses me off, I write back. It just happens.
Mike Angulo: A lot of the lyrics come straight from her (Alisha) and we provide the music for it. Sometimes we collaborate on it. Sean has even written a few, but it is mostly (Alisha’s) influences and things that have happened in her life.
By the Barricade: Does the songwriting process start with the music or with the lyrics?
Mike Angulo: We work together. Usually it starts with the music but a lot of times Alisha is right there with us. She has a lot of things written down already and she listens to what we are playing and fits things into it. She gets into her own world and fills in the gaps. We let her do it. She works better that way and it works for all of us.
By the Barricade: You are releasing your CD Drowning today. What was the process of recording like for the band?
Alisha Truman: It was intense for me because I am not used to this. I don’t know how you are supposed to act. It was anxiety ridden. I like to do it one time and one time only, kind of raw. It’s weird doing it over and over because you don’t get the raw feeling, that raw emotion. It’s different, I thrive on the live, and so it was intense. It was a great experience and something I would have never expected to have happened. It’s rad.
Bubba McMackin: For me the process was simple; all live one take on drums! I laid 21 tracks down in 4 hours.
Mike Angulo: It was a long process. We originally recorded it with a great guy named Fabio (Rob Fabio) who originally got us in and did a lot of the recordings with us. We had a little bit of a break in there and decided to get it re-mastered with Ian (Peterson) from Screaming Leopard Studios and Fletcher (Dragge) from Pennywise was part of that as well. He contributed to pushing them to get the recordings done. Our drummer Bubba is the brother of (Byron McMackin) the drummer of Pennywise. They really liked what we did and they hooked us up with a gig opening for them at the House of Blues in San Diego and from there it took off. We were getting a lot of people backing us to finish the CD so we finally did and of course everyone’s life changed. Alisha got married and moved but we are still doing it. A lot of people thought that we were done, but it’s not true. It’s only the beginning. We just don’t play as frequently. We don’t want to saturate the scene.
By the barricade: Now that you have the recording, people can enjoy it between the live shows. Which song on the album is your favorite to perform and why?
Alisha Truman: Right now I love them all. I change and go through so many different moments. “Fever” is awesome but it’s like looking back and taking me back to that time. Once you get over those certain emotions, you feel it but you feel it differently. It’s like I’m not kickin’ dope again. I’m not doing it over and over. I am past that so “Fever” doesn’t mean the same. I really like “Muertos”. It’s different phases, I write songs as life goes so it’s rad. It’s just a timeline of poems and I like to look back and think that I am progressing. It’s nice to have this album release and I do have progress. I’m talking about death and killing myself and now I’m happy and it’s rad. I still have those dark thoughts but it feels good to see the progress. In music you should always progress and not stick to the same stuff.
Sean Conniff: I like to perform all of them.
Bubba McMackin: “Drowning” because it is a rad, fun song to play.
Mike Angulo: There is one cover song we do called “L.B.A” which is also a Crash kills Four song that we do with Bosco (Calabro). But I would say of our own, “Drowning,” the title song from our CD is my favorite one to play.
By the Barricade: What do you want people to take away from your live shows?
Alisha Truman: I want you to let go of your inhibitions. I want you to understand that we have all felt hurt. We’ve all been fucked off, I want unity. We’ve all been fucked whether it is by your dad or the government. You can do something about it; at least you can express those feelings. I’m thankful that I get to do that with my band. They help me, they brought me in and taught me to let it out and have some fun. You only live once so, live life and have fun.
Mike Angulo: We want people to have had a good time and to like what they have heard. No violence of course, enjoy themselves. We are having fun so if everyone enjoys it that just makes it sweeter for us.
Bubba McMackin: Seeing people react to the music! It is a rad thing.
By the Barricade: Switching gears, there are plenty of bad jobs out there; is there a job you would like to be fired from?
Alisha Truman: I wouldn’t ever want to be a pig. “Please fire me!” I never thought about it, that is a tough question but there are a lot of shitty jobs. All of the jobs you have to deal with the public are shitty. I wouldn’t want to get fired for doing something you love and trying to make a change and then being fired senselessly.
Mike Angulo: Cleaning out outhouses maybe or if I was a fireman I’d want to be fired.
Sean Conniff: Transitional manager because you have to fire people or if I was in The Donkey Show.
By the Barricade: If you could “Donald Trump” any star in the music business, who would it be and why?
Mike Angulo: Well, Bruce Dickerson from Iron Maiden. He is definitely fired.
Alisha Truman: I don’t pay attention to mindless bullshit. Everything MTV and mainstream I would fire. Everything on the radio too! I want to fire everyone and fire society because it sucks. Everyone is fired.
Sean Conniff: I don’t know. I don’t focus on negative shit, but ok, Insane Clown Posse fire them and the whole juggalo festival.
By the Barricade: Anything else you want to say to the readers of By the Barricade?
Sean Conniff: Anyone can get a bunch of people together and perform a bunch of cool songs if they just do it and don’t have any expectations. No one in fIRED had any expectations, no one was in charge, and everyone contributed what they could and made it work. Hey, The Ramones did it.
Mike Angulo: Come check us out, we think you will like it. We could use the support. It is original music, it is raw and we put a lot of heart into it. We may not be the finest musicians in the business, but we like to play like we are and we like to give it our all.
Alisha Truman: Do what you want, live life have fun. Fuck the rest. Be happy or at least try.
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