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| Popular hardcore act Boy Sets
Fire heats up music scene |
By
Kevin DeLury
Staff Writer |
Special to The Appalachian
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Wind-Up records,
the independent label turned major media force has released
some of the most popular bands in the past few years. Their
roster includes such acts as Creed, Evanescence and 12 stones.
Now, at long last, Wind-Up has decided to sign a group worth
lis-tening to.
The band in question is New-ark, Del.’s Boy Sets Fire.
The group has been an underground favorite in the hardcore
scene for years, releasing albums that have since gone on
to become classics in the independent community.
Recently, the band released “Tomorrow Come Today,”
an album that takes the band’s political message, ideas
of revolution and fight against oppression of all kinds and
shapes them around beautifully written sing-alongs and overwhelming
breakdowns.
Like the rest of their catalogue, it only takes one listen
of “Tomorrow Come Today” to feel the passion Boy
Sets Fire puts into every song.
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In 2001, Boy Sets Fire made the
decision to leave Victory Records in favor of Wind-up. “It’s
been just like every other move from every other label we’ve
been on,” said vocalist Nathan Gray. “Labels are
labels, and Wind-Up is obviously helping more with distribution
and stuff like that. They sort of have all the good points
of an independent label but all the good points of a major
too … and some of the bad points.”
Those bad points include Wind-Up’s reluctance to push
“Tomorrow Come Today” in light of the war on Iraq.
“They’re scared of our politics,” Gray said.
“They weren’t expecting what they got, and we told
them. They knew damn well what they were going to get. They’re
just scared because of all this war stuff and they chickened
out.”
To save face, Wind-Up decided to place an advisory sticker
on every copy of “Tomorrow Come Today” stating very
clearly that the views and opinions on “Tomorrow Come
Today” were solely those of Boy Sets Fire. Essentially,
the ideology of Boy Sets Fire is more dangerous than any curse
word in the eyes of Wind-Up.
Gray looks at the situation in a humorous light, though.
“It’s the best marketing ploy, because kids will
pick that up and go ‘ooh, that’s dangerous,’”
Gray said.
With better distribution comes a wider array of fans. It’s
not uncommon to find a mix of nu-metal fans and hardcore fans
at a Boy Sets Fire show. Likewise, it’s not uncommon
to see fights between the two factions.
For reasons such as fighting and a lack of motivation Gray
holds many in the hardcore scene in contempt.
“I can’t keep up with these 16 year olds who only
care about dressing up cool. They’re 16 and they’re
just as boring and conservative as their parents except for
the way they look.
“It drives me nuts because I’m 30 and I’m still
pissed off. I’m like ‘Why aren’t you pissed!
You just don’t care anymore. As long as you’re wearing
tight pants and making out it doesn’t matter.’ It
drives me up a wall,” Gray said.
Instead, Gray looks to the mall metal kids of America when
it comes to starting a revolution.
“I’ve always loved those kids a lot better than
the jaded hardcore kids. I think those kids are amazing. The
kids who come in wearing Limp Bizkit and Marilyn Manson T
shirts, have way more drive and way more ambition in life
when it comes to making a difference, Give me one of those
kids to 100 jaded D.I.Y. kids.”
Boy Sets Fire will be touring throughout the year in support
of “Tomorrow Come Today.” They can also be seen
on the Lollapalooza Tour in select cities.
For more information on Boy Sets Fire, visit their Web site
at: www.boysetsfire.com |
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