artist Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire is Darrell McBride, his sister Kelly McBride and their best friend Alison McBride, hard rocking Algonquin Indians from Timiskaming Nation in Northern Quebec. Their story is one of a deep commitment to music, tireless work and overcoming the odds. They have been playing music together since 1995, in an assortment of bands, coming together as Friendly Fire in 2001. Veterans of over 200+ live engagements, Friendly Fire has is garnering a lot of attention from Canadian,European and US music labels and generating a lot of word of mouth buzz.

“We come out to play shows for two reasons”, says Darrell McBride “to rock hard and to make people happy”. They come from the land of poutine and rebellion and their music is mix of the Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, Green Day and the space gypsy rock of the Mars Volta. “Our sound is rooted in punk and grunge, stealing one thing in common from both – HART” says Darrell. His life experiences make for powerful lyrics, often touching upon the isolation and the conditions facing young native people. The supporting vocals and the interplay with the lead vocals remind the listener of the rich Pixies harmonies.

Friendly Fire have traveled countless dark snowy Canadian winter roads to play shows and garner success.They have began to build solid fan bases in The North Eastern Cities of North America and have played in cities such as Toronto,Ottawa, New Jersey, Montreal,Washington D.C and New York.

Other accomplishments are: First place in the Ontario High School Band Competition, the semifinals of the Spirit North Festival, finalist in the University of Ottawa Band Wars and Finalist in the Emegenza Festival are among the awards they have received.

This hard work is paying off for Friendly Fire, they have received praise by A&R representatives from Sony,Emi Canada,Arbor, Capitol, Island and CODA Music Placement, to name a few. Jordon Zadorozny, of Blinker the Star and producer of Sam Roberts,Hole and Mellisa Auf der Mar, has produced their first demo.
This year they have played with a very impressive list of punk bands such as Propaghandhi, ZUKU, Straight Face,The Rebel Spell,GFK and Kill Cheerleader!

A new 4 song EP will be recorded by Toronto producer rising star John Drew(Tokyo Police Club,Magneta Lane,Zuku). Recently, Pierre Killeen, an Ottawa-based businessman/lawyer has begun to manage the band, introducing them to contacts in the music business in Montreal, Los Angeles and Vancouver.

Friendly Fire is (finally) set to burn bright this year with the announcement of a tour on the West Coast of the United States.They have also began to work with London's Rock is Religion agencies that will bring Friendly Fire to The U.K in November 2007!!!

Its starting to get good...Stay tuned!!!

Kelly McBride Drums
Darrell McBride Guitar
Alison McBride Bass