- Smoke or Fire
Infobox musical artist
Name = Smoke Or Fire
Img_capt = Fest Five, October 2006. Photo by Brian Kelleher.
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Background = group_or_band
Alias = Jericho, Jericho RVA
Origin = Boston,Massachusetts ,United States
Genre =Punk rock
Years_active = 1998–present
Label =Fat Wreck Chords
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Current_members = Joe McMahon (singer/guitarist)
Jeremy Cochran (guitarist)
Dave Atchison (drummer)
Past_members = Ken Gurley (bassist)
Nick Maggiore (original drummer)Smoke or Fire is an American
punk rock band fromBoston, Massachusetts .The band originally formed in 1998, when western Massachusetts natives Joe McMahan (lead vocals and bass, got together with Chris Brand(guitar), Bill Ironfield(guitar) and Nick Maggiore (drums), hailing from New Hampshire. Originally calling themselves
Jericho , the boys released their debut album, When the Battery Dies, in 2000. After the release of this record Chris Brand left and Jeremy Cochran replaced him. Their fan base grew as they played DIY basement shows and small clubs throughout the Northeast.When living in Boston proved too expensive, the quartet moved to
Richmond, Virginia to explore the punk rock scene and to work on their second album. This is when Bill Ironfield left the band, and Ken Gurley joined on bass, with Joe McMahan taking over guitar.It was at about this time that band was contacted by a 1970s-era Christian rock band from Australia, also called Jericho, to inform them that the name was already taken. To avoid confusion and legal action, the boys politely amended it to Jericho RVA. The initials were a nod to their adopted hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
Jericho RVA is the name that appears on their 2003 EP Workers' Union. An older version, released under the original name (Jericho), does not include the song "Oxygen" that is on the Jericho RVA release. The other 6 songs of the EP are the same on both records.
Worker's Union caught the attention of reviewers and established bands interested in taking them out on tour. Due to pressure from Deep South Christian fanatics that complained about the religious "blasphemy" of a bible-derived name, Jericho RVA changed their name again to Smoke or Fire.
Due to the strength of the "Worker's Union" EP, Smoke or Fire were approached by esteemed California punk rock label
Fat Wreck Chords [http://www.fatwreck.com/] in late 2004. Their debut album, "Above The City", was co-produced byFat Mike ofNOFX and was released in March 2005. Since then the band has toured the US and abroad many times over. The band released their second album "This Sinking Ship " on February 20, 2007.External links
* [http://www.fatwreck.com/band/index/41/ official Fat Wreck Chords band page]
* [http://www.myspace.com/smokeorfire official MySpace page]
* [http://www.latenightwallflower.com/site/2007/05/15/interview-with-joe-mcmahon-of-smoke-or-fire/ Late Night Wallflower Interview with Joe McMahon (2007)]
* [http://citybeat.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A144002/ band review by Brian Baker]
* [http://www.aversion.com/bands/interviews.cfm?f_id=280/ April 4, 2005 band article by Aversion.com]
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