Arrows To Fire – Photo Credit: Brian Watkins
All the way from Austin comes indie rock duo Arrows To Fire with their latest single ‘A Million Miles Away’. Centered around some very catchy guitar riffs, this song was apparently the result of pondering about the many struggles people have experienced during the current pandemic, presented through a more personal prism.
The upbeat and tuneful track is accompanied by an engaging music video that highlights how a song can be performed in separate locations during the pandemic, in recordings studios and sometimes from the comfort of your own home that’s outfitted with guitar gear and other instruments.
Arrows To Fire offers up a sound that is bound to fill in the cracks for anyone craving that early rich span between 80s American college rock and the early 90s sound that spawned such bands as Counting Crows, Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, and Spin Doctors.
Why is it no surprise then to learn that, for this particular release, the musicians enjoyed the guidance (and mixing expertise) of one of the one and only Tim Palmer, one of the most prolific and impactful producers of our day, having worked with such legends as David Bowie for his Tin Machine project, not to mention ample projects with other leading artists such as The Mission, HIM, U2, Robert Plant, Tears For Fears, Ozzy Osbourne, Goo Goo Dolls and Pearl Jam.
A US-French collaboration, Arrows To Fire is Austin native John Joyo on vocals and French/American guitarist Chris Lavigne (guitarist, composer), who originally met in 2016 during a meeting about medical devices. The two biotech entrepreneurs soon discovered they shared a passion for alternative rock and strong desire to use alternative rock as a forum to address varied subjects – both personal and political. It didn’t take long for them to find common ground in sound and grow a path that led to releasing their 2016 debut album.
“This release means a lot to us. 2020 has been a total cluster f@$%. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the music industry at all levels, and we have all had to work so hard to adapt to a new way of life, and a new way of creating music. ‘A Million Miles Away’ was inspired by moments and struggles during the pandemic. It was written, recorded, mixed and mastered 100% during the pandemic and represents a shift in the way we are approaching music,” says John Joyo.
“For this single, we worked with mix-master Tim Palmer, an industry veteran that has worked with so many of the bands we look up to. Rad. We’re so excited to share a piece of how we spent our pandemic time that we’ve all been forced to endure.”
The band has since blazed its way onto the alternative rock scene with their 2018 album ‘Here We Go’ and a series of YouTube videos that have racked up nearly a million views collectively, most notably for ‘This is Here’, underlining the song’s call to action for planetary preservation. Indie Rock Cafe listed Arrows to Fire a band to watch after their 2018 South By Southwest debut. Amazon’s music curators were equally impressed, including their cover of Golden Earring’s ‘Radar Love’ in their epic Open Road Amazon Original playlist.
Their sound and aesthetic is influenced by Pearl Jam, Kings of Leon, The Killers, Foo Fighters, The Presidents of the United States of America, Band of Horses, The Hives, Fu Manchu and Weezer, but Chris Lavigne notes, “It’s important to us that we don’t box ourselves in too much or stick to the same sound all of the time because we like to approach music like we approach life – be adventurous, try new things, and be open to inspiration that could come to you from anywhere or from any type of music. We like to think that comes through in the variety of sounds you’ll hear in our new music.”
‘A Million Miles Away’ will be released on January 15 and will be available everywhere online and can be ordered at the band’s website
CREDITS
All songs and lyrics written, performed and recorded by John Joyo & Chris Lavigne
Recorded at the ATF World headquarters in Austin
Mixed by Tim Palmer in Austin, Texas
Mastered by James Bacon in Sheffield, UK
Also catch up on their previous singles for a richer perspective on their background
Arrows To Fire
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