Introducing: fire_sign

London-based atmospheric electronic duo fire_sign drop their nine-track Bronze Recast EP on the 28^th of June. Chris Stickland (production) and Sarah Glayzer (vocals, lyrics, cello) spoke to us about the release, their inspirations, and much, much, more. It’s a great read, plus, they have great taste in music!

Tell us a bit about fire_sign?

fire_sign is two dreamers who find sad music to be the most beautiful. We’ve known each other since 2011 when we worked together on another musical project. In 2014, we struck out on our own to make electronic music with a darker and stormier feel.

We’ve had the pleasure of performing our ‘doomtronica’ alongside some artists we really love including Digitonal, Plaid’s Andy Turner (who DJ’d for us at the launch party for our Sweet Oblivion EP), Marconi Union, Alex Banks and Rival Consoles.

While our music is maudlin, we actually wake up cheerful most days.

What inspires you to write?

Chris is driven by the desire to discover something new, whether that’s working with a new synth or piece of software, or just by taking a different approach to the last time. Listening to records is the other main source.

Relationships, events and internal murmurings are what inspire Sarah, who started writing music as a way to process her emotions. Sometimes she will read or hear a phrase bursting with story and develop it.

Who has had the most influence on your sound?

We’re both classically trained – Sarah on cello and piano and Chris on piano and drums. Somehow from that we’ve ended up with a sound that is a kind of mechanical blues.

Originally, Chris wanted to make either Boards of Canada records (like a lot of other people) or Autechre/Gescom records. These days he likes a lot of techno – listening techno, as opposed to nosebleed – and cites Claro Intelecto, Telefon Tel Aviv, and Digitonal as inspirational. His favourite ever label was probably Merck Records.

Sarah is inspired by the creativity and freedom of Bjork and David Bowie. Vocally, her influences have been jazz and blues greats like Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington and Ella Fitzgerald. Lyrically, she goes on her own determined quest for expression that leaves space for interpretation so that listeners all hear something unique.

What has been the biggest challenge in your music career so far?

Balancing everything else in life against putting in the time and effort to make music we’re proud of can be tough. But the biggest thing has been figuring out how to promote our music so that it reaches the ears of people who might like it. With so much music out there, you can feel a bit like a grain of sand on a beach. It’s a hard industry that attracts its fair share of well-meaning flakes and cynical scammers. But we have also met some really supportive and generous people who have guided us.

How does the creative process work within the fire_sign?

It varies. Chris writes loops or something a bit more structured and sends it to Sarah who takes it for a walk or a drive. Or Sarah writes at her piano, creates a basic track in Ableton, and sends it to Chris for rearrangement. We’ve always been open-minded about how we make and change music so each of us gets their creative fix. Reimagining what we’ve written to find out what else might be hiding in it is also lots of fun for us, hence making Bronze Recast.

What has been the nicest thing ever written about you?

We were set aglow by DJ Mag Espana’s review of our Bronze EP in which they said we were characterized by “mucho glitch y unas harmonías preciosas y experimentales que lo hacen aun más peculiar.” They also very kindly said we had perfectly captured ambient, big beat and the most avant-garde electronica styles. Being naturally a bit weird and then being appreciated for sharing that oddness with the world was wonderful.

What was the last piece of music you listened to?

For Chris it was the Main Attraction remixes of Ninjaman and Flourgon’s Zig It Up. For Sarah it was Samantha Crain’s A Small Death.

Could you tell us a bit more?

Samantha Crain is a Choctaw musician with a versatile voice whose songs are like novellas. Listening to her feels like catching up with an old friend. Sarah also listened to a long-time favourite recently – Love’s album Forever Changes – which she just got on vinyl. There’s always something new to discover in its portentous lyrics and mishmash of musical styles.

Chris has always loved Jon Carter/Monkey Mafia, and wishes he’d made more albums after Shoot The Boss. Zig It Up was one of Chris’ favourite tracks from his Essential Mix from years back. These records are quite old now, but one of Chris’ lockdown habits has been to browse through Discogs finding out which vinyl releases are still available. The bass line is from Aaron Neville’s Hercules. Chris wants to get a copy of that record too, but space issues stop him buying every vinyl on sight.

What other bands or musicians do we need to be checking out right now? 

If you want some serenity, try a little Benji Robot. We really like Jane Weaver’s new LP Flock (particularly The Revolution of The Super Visions). And Chris is currently waiting on a Norman Records delivery of: DJ Python – Duice Compania, Andy Bell – See My Friends (with Pye Corner Audio remixes), Murcof – The Alias Sessions and Lucky & Easy – Cheepy Speaker. From the past, he just ordered One Blood by Junior Reid (Discogs trawl).

Give us a few hints on what’s in store next for fire_sign

We made some radio edits of three Bronze Recast tracks that we’ll be releasing exclusively on Bandcamp in the three weeks leading up to the Recast full release. After that, we have an album written and ready to be mixed. (Typically, we mix ourselves and like to use Calyx in Berlin for mastering). Our current title for that is Eyes Closed Listening. Chris is also working on a drum n bass mix for Mixcloud planning to feature our track They’ve Spoken alongside some old John B, a touch of 1985 label stuff and all sorts of other bits and pieces.

Bronze Recast is now up for pre-order. Head over to the duo’s socials, which include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to find out more abut the band, their music, and upcoming gigs.

Photo by Bruce Wang