THE DARLING FIRE Discuss Their Recently Released Debut Album ‘Dark Celebration’!

Get to know The Darling Fire! The band is made up of Jolie Lindholm (The Rocking Horse Winner, Dashboard Confessional) on vocals/guitar, Jeronimo Gomez on guitar (Poison The Well, The Rocking Horse Winner, As Friends Rust), Steven Kleisath on drums (Further Seems Forever, Shai Hulud, Useless Things, Strongarm), Gregg Moore on bass (No Fraud, Slap of Reality, Pull) and Matthew Short on guitar (Jasperwal, D_Composure, Rival Science).

Looking at the band’s impressive roster, their debut release, Dark Celebration, released via Spartan Records earlier this summer on June 19th, is in many ways what you’d anticipate — energetic, powerful, melodic, and heavy; however, it is far more nuanced than you would imagine. The collective sum of the parts and the alluring heart-on-sleeve lyrics produce a more intimate, spacey and bewitching experience — an authenticity that speaks to the true cathartic nature of the project.

Connect With The Darling Fire Here: Website

Learn more about The Darling Fire in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! What is on tap for the rest of your day?

We’re getting ready for a full weekend – a show at Inchoate Art Gallery Friday night and Crowbar in Tampa Saturday night.  We’re so looking forward to these shows!

Now that we are into the 8th month of the year, how would you say that 2019 is treating the band so far? What have been some goals this group has had this year? How close are you to reaching them?

This year has been crazy… Beginning in January, we managed to record and release a full length – Dark Celebration – on Spartan Records and completed and released a video for our single, “Saints in Masquerade”, with director Ian Fursa.  We’ve been playing all over Florida, our home state and had the opportunity to play in Nashville, Knoxville and NYC.  Our future plans include touring for this album and continuing to work on new music.  We’re very close to completing plans for a tour in late fall.

Can you recall the moment when you thought you could be in this group together? Was it hard to think of a name that you could agree on? Has anything surprised you about this musical journey so far?

Yes, I remember vividly when this began to take shape as a full band – when we first reached out to Steve Kleisath and asked him if he’d be interested in joining us.  We sent him Omaha – the second song we wrote and recorded a demo for at home – and he asked if we intended to do this full time, or just as a one off.  We told him it would be full time and he seemed excited for the potential!  The rest is history.

As far as the name, Jeronimo and I can’t remember who coined it – it was one of us and it stuck.

Every single thing about this adventure has surprised us.  There’s not one thing that’s happened that we haven’t been thankful for or humbled by.

How do you think your hometowns have influenced the sound and how you all carry yourselves in this group? If not, what do you think does influence this group?

This band is definitely influenced by our collective musical tastes and backgrounds.  We grew up in a thriving South Florida scene – or in my case a partial NY hardcore/punk scene prior to that.  We were fortunate enough to be around during that time and had a taste of it.  I think we carry all of that with us and use it for this band.

How would you say that all of your previous band experiences has elevated Darling Fire?  How does being in this group compare to those other groups?  

I’ve said this before and I’ll say again that the main thing I recognize now, personally, was my lack of appreciation for everything that my previous band The Rocking Horse was given as it was happening.  My head wasn’t fully in it, as much as I felt as though it was at the time, which makes the experiences with this new band that much more vivid.  Part of that was Immaturity, part distraction and part inexperience.  Without listeners – without people like you who take interest in the band and what we’re doing, as far as I’m concerned, we don’t get to exist.  So thank you for that.  We have great people helping us at this moment in time and it only helps us propel forward and keeps us focused and grounded.

I always like to ask bands if you all hang out socially apart from the music? In other words, when you aren’t working on music, do you guys enjoy hanging out for fun? 

Absolutely!  These guys are my brothers and of course my husband Jeronimo is one of the guitar players.  We share interests in gaming, movies, music and we have a strikingly similar sense of humor.  So when we get together outside of the band, it’s always entertaining!

Let’s talk about your debut release, “Dark Celebration.” What was it like putting this collection together? 

Well, we actually wrote several other songs that didn’t make this album and will most likely never see the light of day.  We picked our personal favorites, which were pretty obvious to us as we were developing the sound.  Our home demos for both In Twilight and The Constant were completed within just a couple of weeks of recording and we decided they had to make the cut – Steve played those two on drums for the very first time on a drum set in the studio, so it was exciting to hear that for the first time in that setting!

Can you talk about the inspiration behind some of the songs on this new album?

Inspiration was drawn from the oddities of this place we live and is somewhat of a social commentary.  We went through some dark times and that fueled Jeronimo and my desire to begin to work on music together – then learn how to record home demos to share.  “For the Loveless”, for example, was written for a particular segment of the Japanese population that are essentially shut-ins and are isolated from a society they choose not to be a part of.  “Saints in Masquerade” is my Fuck You song… I’ll leave it at that.  It’s my personal favorite because of the meaning behind it.

Generally, how do you guys go about writing your music? Do you write together or separately? 

For this album, Jeronimo and I generally wrote the structure and home recorded, then we’d give them to the guys to add their touches.  We had most of them nailed down for live – although we didn’t play many shows at all before recording with J. Robbins – but we didn’t get to fully hear those touches until we were in the studio.

Where do you think you are all happiest- in the studio recording new music, on stage performing or elsewhere?

Both are equally exciting for me actually – they’re completely different experiences.  There’s nothing like being on stage and having an affect on other people though.  To be able to give that to someone that’s embracing it — there’s nothing like it.  Even if it’s just one person.  That’s one of my main driving forces and the reason I wanted to get back into it fully.

Where can fans see you perform next? What do you think makes for an ideal show? What has been a favorite show of yours in the past?

This may come out afterward, but we’re playing at Inchoate in Oakland Park tomorrow night and Crowbar in Tampa on Saturday.  There’s no formula for me as far as an ideal show.  We usually like the bands we play with – both musically and personally – so we’re lucky in that respect.  If I see just one person enjoying themselves, I’ve done my job.  There have already been several memorable shows, but one that stands out time and again is one that we played at Tea and Poets in Miami.  The energy those kids brought was intoxicating… from the very first note, they were moving to the music whether it was familiar to them or not and it was a very clear turning point for me performance-wise.

How has social media impacted this band? How often are you all on your different sites interacting with fans? How have you been able to utilize it through the years?

Social media has been a crazy learning experience for us.  There’s a balance – and we’re still navigating how to get the word out, without over saturating. We try to share a variety of content to keep it interesting, but there’s no way of knowing if it’s reaching everyone that’s following and would want to know what we’re doing.  If a listener reaches out to me personally, or through the band, I always try to respond as soon as possible.  Over the years, I’ve only used my personal Facebook page solely.  Every once in awhile I’d get a question about what I’m up to from someone who followed mainly my old band, The Rocking Horse Winner.

We are currently living through a very trying and politically charged time right now so I am curious to know how you all think being musicians and in this band still gives you the most joy in life today? Do you find that your music is an escape to all the current events?

We are not a political band by any means – we are focused on what we’re doing musically and although I do have my personal opinions on a lot of issues, I’m having the best time creating and sharing music and that stuff doesn’t permeate my ability to do that. It’s a definite escape from everyday challenges though – as is any form of art.

What musicians have really been inspiring you since you first started making music?

This is such a difficult question to answer, because my musical taste can sometimes be all over the map.  My melodic sensibilities have come from so many different sources, but I guess I could say I sang along to a lot of Beatles music when I was very young and those are some of my earliest memories.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

I think that although there are some dark themes here, something creative always comes out of that.  The struggles define us, teach us and give us the drive we need to get off of our asses and do something to better ourselves.  How boring would life be if we didn’t have that to balance us out?

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers about this group? 

We’re in this for the long haul, so look for us on tour the rest of this year and next and follow us on Instagram, Facebook and our website if you’d like to know what we’re up to.  Can’t wait to see you on the road!