Interview: The Backfires
Hailing from both sides of the Atlantic (NYC/ UK), the Backfires, an indie rock band, is composed of members Alex Gomez (frontman), Harry Ruprecht (lead guitarist), and Matt Walter (lead bassist). They formed under the name “Qualia Noir” in 2018, and the band toured copiously across London and the East Coast before rebranding to the Backfires this year.
On October 16th, 2020, they released their debut single “Anything,” and without a press campaign, it has since amassed over 42.7k streams on Spotify. “Anything” was then followed by the second single, “The Man,” which dropped on November 13th, 2020, and has accumulated over 13.5k streams since. Despite the challenges of being an international band (especially in a global pandemic), the guys have been working hard on their first EP, which is set to release in February 2021.
The Backfires draws influence from various artists, including Arctic Monkeys, John Mayer, The Strokes, Catfish and the Bottlemen, and Oasis. The Backfires recently received coverage from BBC Music Introducing and more.
How did you guys all meet and create the group?
Well it’s been a few years in the making and there’s always a few starting points that come up. The most obvious is when I (Alex) met Harry in London in October 2018. I was studying abroad for my freshmen year and the program was associated with Harry’s university. We happened to both join the live music society and we met at a “Battle of the Bands'' during Freshers week. We got to chatting and I mentioned I wanted to start a band. He agreed and then Qualia Noir was born (aka the dreadful name we called ourselves at the beginning of it all).
Before that though, Matt and I played together in a band in high school. We grew up in the DC area and played with some of our friends. The summer after senior year, and before I went to London, we went to Lollapalooza where we saw Arctic Monkeys, Catfish and the Bottlemen, The Wombats, and other British acts. We also watched the Kooks and the Academic earlier that summer back in DC. We had talked about me going to the UK so we sort of planned out that I would go over and meet some musicians and start a band over there. We loved the British indie scene and that sound.
After a few months of playing with Harry and Max (former drummer) in London, Matt came over and we got to recording some of the first songs we had written—‘Before the Sunrise’ and ‘Falling’. We worked with the delightful mix-engineer/producer Ian Flynn (@werkhouse on Instagram), for about a week out of a studio in east London. These songs have been part of our catalogue since we first started and ‘Before the Sunrise’ has opened almost every show we have ever played, so we’re thrilled they will finally be on the record.
Then, in the summer of 2019 we played a series of shows along the east coast US and more shows in New York in the Fall. Eventually we came to the realization that we needed something on Spotify for people coming to the gigs to engage with after the show .
After some planning, we recorded the other four songs on the EP just after New Years 2020 out of a few studios in London. We finished mixing all six songs of the EP remotely over the summer once the pandemic had taken grip of the world. Working with a London based producer the project was finished entirely remotely for Fall 2020. The new name, the Backfires, came to be as part of a rebrand from our old name Qualia Noir. We hated the old name and all our friends thought it was pretentious so we started the fall with a new name, new social media strategy, and a new EP. The EP that we’re about to release has really been a project that has extended over nearly 2 years.
You released your 2 songs, anything and the man back in 2020. Which song out of those 2 came first or was the easiest to make?
‘Anything’ was written and released first, but it wasn’t a straightforward process. The version that is currently on our Spotify was the third version of the song. Just after it was written we recorded an acoustic version, pretty much off the cuff, with one of our mates in London. It was our most listened to song under our old name (Qualia Noir) which made us think it had something to it. We eventually recorded a full band version and the second half of the song was written a year after the song was initially written.
‘The Man’ was written in Summer 2019 after I (Alex) lived in London. Originally came up with the melody in a Guitar Center and finished the lyrics one night in August. I had worked on different sections with both Harry and Matt. I worked on the bridge and main riff with Harry and I wrote the verse with Matt. In terms of time, ‘The Man’ had a much shorter writing process to ‘Anything’.
Being separated in your cities, New York, Charleston, and Sheffield because of Covid-19, how was it producing the songs? Did you guys record it all separate and either did you piece it together yourself or did someone else?
While the songs were all recorded in London in January 2020, the EP was finalised on FaceTime calls in the summer. We worked with a producer, sending notes back and forth, to craft the final sound. It was definitely more difficult than just doing it in person, but it’s definitely not the worst thing about trying to be a band from different countries. The international ‘thing’ is definitely much more cumbersome for rehearsals and gigs. While not being able to play together because of the pandemic has been really frustrating, we don’t want to complain because there are definitely people going through real adversity as a result of the pandemic. Being in this band at all is a privilege.
How did it all impact your music process?
Being from both sides of the Atlantic is certainly not easy with lockdowns and border closures. We have written a ton of songs virtually via Zoom and FaceTime since the beginning of the pandemic and are really excited about starting work on the next project. Beyond recording though, we will definitely continue to do live streams. When borders open again, I know that we plan to be altogether in person for at least a few months. The goal is to be able to be together in person by the end of the summer or by this Fall.
You guys have a new EP coming out soon! What kind of things can fans expect from it? Is there any special meaning behind the EP title, ‘Consider the Backfires’?
The title has a few meanings behind it. First, the title is sort of asking those who listen to our music or have listened to us in the past to consider this new idea or band name. The second aspect of the title is to actually ask people to consider the backfires in their own lives--the backfires of dating and going out that often lead to regret and loneliness. Lastly, the title was inspired by one of the early Beatles records ‘With the Beatles’ as a way to introduce the band to a wider audience.
Hadley Crow seems to do most of your cover art? What about their work catches your attention?
Hadley makes mixed medium art which we found particularly interesting. I (Alex) had taken a course with her in school which was how the idea first came about. We knew we wanted to work with an artist because we had no way of physically getting together to take photos of the three of us for the record. Hadley’s art is particularly unique and she was very receptive to our ideas.
The cover art created by Hadley is super cool. How did the concept for it come about?
When we were talking about the EP, I (Alex) knew that I wanted the art to reflect the connection to London (where most of the stories for these songs took place). It was probably on a FaceTime call when I first came up with the idea for it to be a tube station. Two of the songs have lyrics about the night tube so I thought it would be a cool visual.
What do you guys hope to achieve this year with the new EP coming out?
We are looking forward to the EP release and are going to continue making music videos for certain songs on the project with the next being ‘Going Gets Easy’. ‘Anything’ and ‘The Man’ are set to be used in a movie called Forgotten Writers Club--a film set to release later this year. Beyond this project, we hope to get together after border restrictions lift, and hopefully by the end of the year play live shows.
Beyond that, we have been writing a lot of new songs virtually and we are hopeful to record our next project beginning late Spring or early Summer. We want to release more music before the end of the year.
What would one piece of advice be for anyone looking to get into music?
Just do it. I think I (Matt) saw that on a t-shirt or something…
Watch their new video ‘Going Gets Easy’ below!