By Janet Adamana
Detroit, Michigan’s rising pop punk quintet, Fireworks, has been steadily climbing the pop punk ladder since their formation in 2005. From their DIY approach to touring, later joining the ranks of New York-based indie label, Triple Crown Records, to the more recent years of entertaining crowds as far as Europe and Australia. The band will kick off the new year continuing to break into foreign ground, hitting six major cities across Canada, opening for pop rockers Yellowcard and All Time Low on their co-headlining Canadian Tour.
“We’ve never really had a true Canadian tour,” says Fireworks’ lead vocalist, Dave Mackinder. “We did a short round with Living With Lions, but we just did Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal.” The 26-year-old says it’s a dream of his to drive across the Great White North. “To us, Canada is very foreign, so we’re all really excited. Even if this tour fell through, I wanted to just take a drive trip across Canada and up to Alaska, with very little money and go camping.”
Fireworks began when Mackinder and his high school friends, bassist Kyle O’Neil, drummer Tymm Rengers, and guitarists Brett Jones and Chris Mojan, all decided they wanted a creative outlet for their shared love of punk rock. “We were in bands that played more extreme genres. Chris played in a band called Let It Die, and they were straight mosh metal,” states Mackinder. “We all love catchy punk bands, so we thought, let’s try to have a project like that and it ended up being something we really wanted to put more effort into.”
That effort quickly translated into a spot on the Run For Cover Records roster and a debut EP, We Are Everywhere, in 2006 and a follow-up EP, Adventure, Nostalgia and Robbery, in 2008. Within the next few years the band moved to Triple Crown Records and extensively toured the United States. In 2009, the boys worked with producer and New Found Glory guitarist, Chad Gilbert, to create their debut full-length, All I Have to Offer Is My Own Confusion.
Their current full-length, Gospel, was released in 2011 and garnered rave reviews all over the web, capturing the hearts of pop punk lovers new and old, and becoming one of the most notable records in the current American pop punk scene.
“We didn’t really know what to expect,” Mackinder explains. “We knew the record was going to be significantly different than the others. It still had that similar influence but it was the first record where you really thought we put 100 percent soul into. We knew it was going to be a different approach, and I think it took a lot of people off guard, but our fans actually liked the things we did differently. That meant a lot to me.”
For those who have grown with the band, one can easily detect the stylistic and lyrical differences from their start with We Are Everywhere through to their latest, Gospel — changes that Mackinder says is a direct translation of their progression through life.
“Our music is reflective of our age and as we’re getting older, we’re slowing down. Not writing ballads per se, but we’re realizing that we do have other influences. We’ve also become more honest with our music and just like an author releases a book, every novel is a different story and I think what we’re doing is exactly that.”
The stories may change but there’s one strong recurring theme that is frequently woven into their most recent records.
“Being in your twenties you do have that inevitable internal debate of holding onto your youth, or growing up and letting go.”
With songs like “Oh, Why Can’t We Start Old and Get Younger?”, “Again and Again,” and “Summer,” Mackinder douses the albums with an honest and sometimes pessimistic outlook on the battle between doing what you love or doing what is presumed to be better for you.
“Like, seeing some of our twenty-something-year-old friends have houses and kids, yet the fact that they aren’t doing what they truly want to do still haunts them. It’s interesting when I see people ten years younger than me feel that realism of growing up. Regardless of your age, the uncertainty of your future is unsettling.”
Despite the growing success of his band, Mackinder admits, the other, more simpler life does seem tempting at times.
“Regardless of how popular your band is, I think you’re always going to be questioning it. It’s funny to me because my friends who aren’t in bands say to me, ‘What you’re doing is so great, I’d trade places with you and the life you live,’ but at the same time there are some days where I would love to be an accountant, work nine to five, go home to my cat and watch CSI and it would be great,” he explains with a laugh. “But on the same token I know I’d still always want the other thing. The grass is always greener, but I’m very happy with my life and I know that even though the pressure still exists, the fact that people think what we’re doing is cool, is enough motivation for me to stick it out until I physically can’t do it anymore.”
Catch Fireworks on January 21, 2013, at The Burton Cummings Theatre, when they open for Yellowcard and All Time Low.