Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! are an experience.

I first discovered the band when I heard their song, “Little Cowboys, Bad Hombres” sometime last year. Looking back, this song made its way onto every playlist I made in 2010 – playlists I made for myself, parties, car trips and ones I made for friends around the world, this was a song that I could confidently send to people and think, “Thank me later.”

Being able to capture Fire! Santa Rosa, Fire! while they were touring was an absolute delight. We managed to steal some of their time between sound check and their performance at The Forum Theatre, supporting Kimbra on her national tour. We wandered towards the location we’d chosen, Hoboken Café in Melbourne, with a band of six and gear to boot, only to find that it had just closed. The benefit of turning up to a closed café with a full band meant that we caught the attention of the staff. With the limited time we had, they oh so kindly let us in for the shoot. Later we found out staff member Liv was a bit of a die-hard fan of Fire! from back in their hometown, Adelaide. Thank you, Liv.

What I noticed instantly was the dynamic between F!SRF!; their chilled energy, they came in relaxed, joking and laughing, jamming and even helping themselves to a couple of left over croissants from the café. They were down to earth. They chose to play their killer new track Panther Shrine for the shoot. The recorded version of this track was mixed by Gareth Parton from the UK (Foals, Holy Fuck, The Go! Team) and mastered by Nilesh Patel (The XX, Bjork, Air), and if you’ve ever listened to Australian radio station triple j, then you’ve probably heard it.

The light hearted mood changed as they started playing; I was blown away by the magnetic rhythm the band had created with clicks and claps. After quite some time touring and performing together, what stood out to me was the friendship that glued them together, these guys were tight and it showed both musically and socially. Youngest member, only female and lead singer of the band, Caitlin (21) has a voice that swoons. I loved her humble nature; throughout their performance she was honest and a little bit shy – I left feeling like I had witnessed one of the most real bands I’d seen in a long, long time.

This song has been stuck in my head since we recorded it. In a good way.

Read more about the band on the Viceroyalty website.

Words: 
Eliza Hull
Charlotte Abroms