i know.

its taking too long.

but its still real.

1. The Path of Most Resistance (ft. Randy Wheeler)
2. What Means the Most (ft. Rick Preacher)
3. The Moral Eclipse
4. I Have Wasted Every Word (ft. Vigil The Ghost Inside)
5. Survivor
6. Curse of the Quixotic
7. Collapse: An Overwhelming Sense of Grief and Despair Upon the Realization that We Did This All for Nothing
8. Graveyards Adrift
9. Faith-Healer / Death-Dealer
10. Sticks & Stones (ft. Jamie Those Who Lie Beneath, Derek Valor)
11. Illusions and Dead Ends

Produced by Ahren Lanfor, Randy Wheeler, and Steve Jackson
Engineered by Ahren Lanfor, Randy Wheeler, and Steve Jackson
Mixed by Randy Wheeler and Ahren Lanfor

"the moral eclipse" - new song up now

new song posted. listen at:

http://www.myspace.com/openfirewa

download it at:

http://openfire.bandcamp.com

in summary of this record

call us a dick tease if you must

Sticks & Stones TEASER by openfiretacoma


but take a listen.

shit.

its been a month. we took a while to start vocals, thanks to randy wheeler's ass backwards method of getting his life in order.............just kidding. we all had shit going on so yeah.

but we're about 20% done with vocals. im stoked. got a guest spot tracked. gunna get some back ups done tonight (fisch & chug) then i get back in it tomorrow.

i think for the few people who actually do read this, i will post a song on here in a couple days. just for you select few fucks. <3 all 2 of you

steve and company.

ps. also daniel quit incase you didnt know. here we go again.

wmtm

every day i wake up and i ask myself...

why the fuck do i bother?

CYBERMETALLLLLLLLLLL

bass is done. the album as slid into second base, leading off and ready to take off for third starting next week. the big mountain........vocals.

not going to lie, im nervous. after our 7 month break, i didnt do vocals til around march or april of this year, and because of chug missing most practices prior to the recording of this album, i would guess that i have only practiced my vocals the same amount of times we've played shows since returning. 4, 5?

i dont even have all the lyrics down, but thats nothing really new to me. i write and rewrite and rewrite until my arms fall off...and until the moment im doing the words into the mic to be recorded. its always a bit up in the air and a taaad bit freestyled, but nothing outrageous.

but while doing bass we noticed a couple misses: we forgot a couple guitar parts and upon major scrutiny (i have listened to a bounce down of the album probably 20 times in the last week), we have decided a few riffs need to be rerecorded, and like i said, add a last couple touches on guitar.

along side that, vocals should begin next week and we should be facing the home stretch (mixing and mastering) very very soon. i am blown away by the quality of this album. i wouldnt ever say open fire is a great band or original or better than so many bands, but i will proudly say this, i dont think anyone will see this coming. from start to finish we are just doing a lot of things i didnt think wed ever do, nor do i think anyone will see coming. im so fucking proud of it, its unreal.

thats not to say its a perfect album. i mean, this is open fire right? we have plenty of flaws, some reflected on this very album. i wont get into the specifics of each one until we get the final mix (trust me, ill gladly critique my own album for you), but there are moments im disappointed. but the scope of the album absolutely washes over those missteps. im happy, and i would be more than honored if you are too once you hear it. cant wait.

steve

currently listening to:
nails
the starting line
black breath
owen hart (best band in NW)
iatc (its true)
irreversible

Fuck nickles

Oh...

Just to clarify, we only have one track your one song left to do on guitar. So stoked!

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So close...

So last night, I finished all of my guitar tracks. It was tough but I feel so accomplished and it sounds so good! Big shout out to David from The Cancer Bros, for letting me use his Orange. Chug/Steve only have a few more songs to finish and then we move to bass. John is telling us he will finish the whole record in 20 minutes. Wish him luck cuz the record is 58 minutes long. Thats right. 12 songs, 58 minutes. What's up?

I gotta poop. Get mooshed!
-fisch

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ghost, just leave

sorry for the severe lack of updates. i will not spend a thousand words per subject, as im known for. ill just brush briefly on each topic.

RECORDING
we are still in the process of recording guitars. everyone in the band has a full time job of sorts except john, but he is busy with circle of defeat and filling in for sixes, as well as having a part time job from home and a girlfriend who lives 2 hours away. needless to say, we are all very busy dudes, so recording during the week has been nearly impossible.

we are about 70% done with guitars. its sounding fucking phenomenal. when i dont have a bunch more to talk about, i will break down some details of it, but suffice to say, we've spent a total of about 5 10 hr days on guitar, really working on making it sound as good as possible. should wrap it up this weekend or early next week, then we move onto bass.

next, as some of you read the note from chug, he has been going through a lot of personal issues. mostly health related, but it causes a serious serious depression that i think almost all of us have faced at one point or another in our lives. its not easy to overcome and im proud of him for pulling out.

as for the future of open fire & chug, it remains to be seen. we've always been a pretty open book. if you talk to us or know us, we dont hide behind the bullshit lines or anything. frankly: none of us have a lot of faith in chug's dedication right now as it rests on shakey foundation. he is only recording a few songs on guitar as he hasnt been to many practices over the last couple months to learn the 2nd half of the record. and for those of you who saw us july 10th in centralia, you saw john our bassist filling in on guitar.

so, for now, we dont know where we're going. we are spending every second we can on this album and thats basically all that is infront of us, except...

THIS SATURDAY. LAST VIADUCT SHOW EVER.
our friend shane from MIRROR THE GHOST and MONSTER MONSTER is filling in on drums as daniel is gone on tour with his other band idols, so please come out and make shane feel welcome for this show. plus, the show is only $5 donation...as in if you dont have it or dont wanna pay, you wont be turned away. but all proceeds go into opening a new venue in the heart of tacoma. why the fuck wouldnt you support that?

Here we go

Yeah I fucked up. Most people that know me don't understand that I live life with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, and Panic Disorder. Basically unmedicated I have no drive or sense of feeling towards accomplishing anything. I've been struggling with this for years and when it seems like everything is under control something happens which causes me to go into a downward spiral ending with me either A) "Quitting the band" or B) Ignoring/coming up with excuses not to practice or play shows. The last couple months have been hard for me due to running out of Klonopin which is one of the medications I'm on that fights panic disorder. The cause of that effect was me going into another depression where I wouldn't/didn't do anything and stayed home ignoring how it took a toll on those around me who cared for me. This lead to me ultimately not going to practice and missing a show with no warning towards the rest of the band. Steve and I had a short but meaningful talk which in turn helped me realize how much this band means to me and how much I love being around everyone involved with it. I've been given another chance to prove myself to them and show that this is what I want to do with my life right now besides work and I'm not going to fuck it up. Going into the studio today to start tracking guitars and getting myself back into the loop. I love you guys more than I show it and this band is one of the things that keeps me going.

-Chug

guitars day 2

well, yesterday went a little more smoothly. and considerably thicker.



theres the rhythem section set up. suffice to say, this record is sounding better every day, hour and minute we spend on it. we spent a couple more hours tracking, testing, sampling, fucking around with and fine tuning the amps and guitars til we locked down what we think is a pretty fucking gnarly, perfect tone.

but we are still a long, long ways from this being done. we knew when we started this that it would be a long and painful process but so utterly worth it. i cant wait to progress.



this guy is keeping us busy and on our toes (avoiding poop) meanwhile being the "God of Wisdom, Poetry, The Hunt and Victory"

and this post wouldnt be complete without a fuck you.



also: new video update coming soon ;)

not a lot done last night.

did some testing for tracking guitars for a couple songs, to try out some tones. we're gunna do more of that tonight. we are aiming to have a rich, thick wall of guitars that drives this record home, and we wont settle for mediocre guitar tone. so it may be a couple more days of fucking around until we find what we really want.

hope you all can stick with us through this long process. <3

steve

GUITARS

start TODAY.

like gorilla biscuits

holy shit

like the 8th time watching that video, its still funny. everyone watch that video below. or get MOOSHED

K10 MIOBI from the future

-fisch n john

step 2: guitars

so drums are done completely. im thrilled, listening to them and practicing the guitar riffs is making my head spin in the best possible way.

on that note: we are recording guitars come monday. im pretty stoked to start this process as it really shapes the tone and vibe of the record. we are trying to get a a really thick, slamming guitar tone, and to do that we're trying out a LOT of different shit. for amps we'll be using (we'll get specific gear specs up come monday when we start tracking) a marshall jvm 410h, a peavey vtm60, a peavey 5150, a framus cobra, a soldano (avenger i think), an orange (i wanna say it was a rockverb? dont remember), and possibly one more.

as you can tell, we're gunna be getting pretty damn nutty with our guitar tones. :) i cant wait. if the guitars sound half as good as daniels drumming, we're in really good shape, people.

whos trying to see inception this weekend?

a side note

our old vocalist Rick Plasencia got married a couple weeks ago. if you havent already and have the means to (phone, internet, etc), congratulate him! heres to him and pam. and josh's fucking classic looking picture.



ps josh is taking pics of us in the studio.....so lets hope we look half that good

yesterday

we finished drums on the album yesterday. lot of fuckin songs. its wild.

the show last night was cool. other bands were rockin. we did okay. thanks to anyone who stuck around and watched us.

we have weird news to put out soon.

Motherfuckas show respect!

So today, Daniel is finishing up the drums tracks. Fixing the little errors(there werent many!), doing samples, and finishing our secret song. He is a beast! He blew through 7 songs in one day and finished the other 4 the next day. Over an hour of music in 2 days, incredible! We start guitars next week! Wish me luck!
-fisch mioli

Tomorrow in Centralia

ps

daniel finished 60 full minutes of drums in 2 days of tracking. one and a half, technically. what a mother fucker. applaud the man.

fuck you part 4 of 1000

yeah, its back

no sleep til...tacoma.

260 minutes later, i am barely what i would call "rested". im fucking exhausted but i suppose its for a good cause: we were in the studio til about 1030 last night. im struggling to keep my eyes open but i got a big smile on my face, because i keep thinking about how the drums are turning out. one thing that i have to say first and foremost: DANIEL MATSON IS A FUCKIN BEAST.

honest to god, i know dude is good and is very tight, but yesterday he tracked 7 songs. thats over half of the record...and trust me, it is a long ass album, so the fact he nailed that is inspiring. im proud to have that dude holding up our rhythm section.

songs he recorded: "The Path of Most Resistance", "What Means the Most" "The Moral Eclipse" "Curse of the Quixotic" "Graveyards Adrift" "Faith-Healer / Death-Dealer" and "Sticks and Stones". the drums sound fucking awesome and gnarly, so stoked on the toms!!!

also, fisch and i are bringing back the flip off posts of earlier days in this blog. get stoked kiddoz, this album is gunna sound pretty fucking huge

-steve

For all you psychosocials!

you idiots!
-fisch mioli

well today is the day

Open Fire! start recording I Am The Curse today. We have been waiting a long time to get to this point! It feels good to know we are actually going to get this recorded and put out. I am most stoked to hear the final versions on Curse Of The Quixotic and Graveyards Adrift. These are my two favorite songs on the record, but I think the whole record is gold.

We also have a show this saturday at the Quesadilla Factory in Centralia with To The Wind, Like Trumpets, Breaking Ground, Seahaven, City Of God, and Troubled Coast. $5 at 7pm! I hope some kids roll down and mosh like idiots!

-fisch mioli

you would think john b posted this

but he didnt, its me stelo

studio in 24 hours

weird. really fuckin weird.

on the topic of weird shit:

6 days.

its kind of surreal that we're going into the studio in 6 days. we're actually tracking our fucking album. its been so long. ive written this record almost 3 times over, with many many scrapped riffs and songs and parts with additional input from many many musicians.

rick, kenny, brent, ian, nick, nicky, have all contributed big and small to this record and its important for me to acknowledge that. as much work as ive put into this thing (and about to put in way the fuck more), it wouldnt be possible without those other people. so to them, thank you. i love you guys.

i havent posted a tracklisting yet because its sort of still up in the air. we have 11 full songs, SEVERAL interludes, and a song me and daniel have worked on that may or may not be recorded, and the arrangement may or may not change over the process. but rest assured, i will tell you this.............shit is long. looking at about 60 minutes running time. ill be surprised if any of you listen to the whole thing.

-steve

ps......we are looking into the possibilities of merch. im paying off a shit ton of debt so we can play a few out of state shows, but in the meantime it leaves us short for money for merch.........but we're looking into possibilities. cross your fingers for us. <3

I just went through all of Steve's recent posts, and I just have one comment to make.

The breakdown at the end of I Have Wasted Every Word is good, minus the stupid ass squeal/bend combo. If you made it into a strummed chord or a picked chord, it would be awesome.

Moving on, recording is just 8 days away, and I don't think I can be any more excited than I am. If anyone keeps tabs on the Tacoma hardcore scene, you probably know that I'm a relatively new face. The only experience I've had with playing in hardcore bands is X-Wing and xStay On Targetx, both of which haven't practiced in about a year (I'm calling you out Randy). I'm a huge fan of melodic hardcore, but playing it is completely different than any style I've ever played. I feel like I've made a pretty good transition from metal drumming to hardcore drumming. One of the major differences is the muscles that are worked out. In my other band, I do a lot more with my feet, and that's the basis of the majority of the drumming. In Open Fire, the tempos are faster and it's primarily based off of my hands. It's awesome though because I know that it's helping to round me off as a musician by playing a different style. Oh, and for some reason, Steve decided to set the tempo for Moral Eclipse at like 2,000 BPM, so that's going to be a lot of fun to record.

At the Quesadilla Factory show on the 10th, can someone please take a few pictures of me on drums? It gets really annoying having only about 10 pictures to sort through from about 5 years of local shows.

-Daniel

8 days until studio.

there are the things at night i prayed i'd never feel

god damn, june 22nd and the sun pops back out. i know everyones bitching about the weather, but its hot as shit on the day i try to take a nap in my car. i nearly fucking melted.

john's band CIRCLE OF DEFEAT is playing in olympia tonight. if youre in the area or wanting an awesome show, go. their demo is fucking awesome, be sure to look out for shows with us and them together soon!

in the meanwhile, the rest of us are getting together at daniels to play the album all the way through a couple times. i guess this is what "practice" is now: play your 50 minute album. stop and bullshit about video games and girls and food, then play our live set. its weird but it works. im pretty fucking happy 9/10 of the time at practice. except when chug doesnt show or someone fucks up. then i get straight murderous.

kidding...kind of.

the album is long. like really long. longer than any of us expected. but the surprising thing is none of us are bummed. we're all really stoked. yes, most good hardcore short and fast and to the point. and a lot of bad metal is really drawn out and boring. in my mind, id like to think we reside somewhere between there. does it mean we compromised? sold out? watered down our sound? no. not at all. these songs are exactly how we want them. if theyre long (3 songs hitting or breaking the 7 minute mark), then fuck it. as long as we're happy with what we play thats all that matters. if people like it, if you like it, that is fucking amazing and makes us proud as fuck. but we dont write music for you. i didnt go through the worst time of my life and persist and get one of the best line ups we've ever had just to write what the fuck someone ELSE wants to hear.

this album is very very much for us, by us. im proud to say that, and im proud to say i love every moment of this album. except that fucking stupid breakdown at the end of I Have Wasted Every Word.
-steve



ps fisch chug daniel and john may or may not start posting on this. if you want them to, bug em.

welp

this is a really good EP.

gold

more people should listen to this band.

http://www.myspace.com/throatsofgold

rants and reviews by STEVE MIOLI!!!

my back is still killing me, but its felt better over the last couple days. id chalk that up to me stretching every morning, and every lunch break. that and a pillow.

im about to sit down and eat fisch and chips with my parents. on my mind im thinking about last night's show, and i feel like taking the opportunity to speak up.

last night we played with oblivion, idols, monsters, i declare war, dr. acula, and molotov solition. some of the behaviors of certain kids blew me away. kids having sorta tailgate parties listening to the band theyre about to go see, singing along like theyre in the crowd already. i get it, theyre stoked and excited, but it was baffling to me

another is the whole sexual plastering with death core merch. im far from pc, and i dont find it offensive, but fuck, whats with shit like "im touching every fucking titty in every fucking city" or shit like like that? should we be impressed by a clever rhyme scheme? please. i thought this was played out in the "kill my gf" phase, but apparently its still enough to catch some of your hearts.

im blown away at how every one of those bands seems to switch gears at the same time. they all change styles, lyrics and visuals at the same time.

in the recent times, uniforms have crept into the "scene", and become more and more prevelant. to what end? what purpose does it serve? professionalism? excuse me? since when did music - one of the most easily acceptible forms of ART - become a profession? i know this is a faceitous notion, but honestly - what effect does have except that of VANITY? of your visual aesthetic...how you look. are you a fucking model? are you really that prosthetic? your music should be an attatchment of yourself. an embodyment of self. whether its anger, love, fun, jokes, whatever. if you have to dress up to "get into it" your heart was never in it from the get go.

some might be quick to say well what about slipknot? their masks and suits have been a gimmick from the start. 99% of these deathcore bands that are just starting to do this have been bands for years and years prior, and are just looking for more ways to get popular and get people to remember them. well, what about kiss? kiss openly say they arent about the music theyre about the show. about a performance, like a play or a musical. well whats one thing you can discern from that? that its fucking FAKE. it isnt real life. thats one thing thats always drawn me to really aggressive music - it comes from some place real within the soul, or the personality of those who create it. no matter whats being expressed, its a true, cathartic expression. that is fucking art, to me. to have to wear eyeliner, to have to have matching black shirt and pants, to have to have choreographed stage moves to make people appreciate you, you are proving your heart was never truly in it. or at least it sure as fuck isnt now. you are proving that all you want is for people to remember you. all youre proving is you know your music is boring and sounds like every other fucking band you play with so you gotta do something visual to stick out. if your music doesnt speak for itself, and if your sole goal is to just make music so people fucking give you attention, you are pissing on everything good that has preceeded you that you claim to love. death metal bands. would cannibal corpse wear matching uniforms? would slayer plan squats and synchronized bangs at the breakdown in raining blood? no. why the fuck would you?

on that note, thank you to anyone who came and headbanged, moshed, or sang along with us, we had a blast and so did oblivion. good to see the idw guys at home again, travel safe. seattle, we'll be back soon. <3

on that note, this movie looks good:

fiat lux

theres a nutri-grain wrapper in front of me. strawberry. it was delicious. maybe it wasnt, my brain and head were throbbing worse than ive had in years, so i ate something to try and feel better. i should be wearing one of daniels "BANGOVER NOT HANGOVER" t-shirts. my body hurts for some reason. ive been trying to get healthier: eating less, eating healthier, working out, staying active, etc, and now my back, muscles, bones hurt worse than ever. and not in the "oh man my muscles are breaking down and slowly reconstructing" hurt. just straight "fuck my life i cant sit, stand, lay down, or move without pain" kind.

anyway. last night we played the whole album from start to finish. it was really weird but awesome. the album is long as fuck. 11, maybe 12 tracks...we'll see. we get underway with recording in 3 weeks exactly with Ahren Lanfor (of The Astronauts Lounge, recorded the Oblivion demo, Cowardice, Cool Runnings, To the Wind, and many many more) at Randlerawk Studios in Tacoma. its right around the corner from the Viaduct, so we'll probably be stopping by there frequently for a break from the recording. that and we'll be hitting up the dollar store for super cheap pop on the reg. just saying.


TONIGHT we're playing at STUIDO 7 with daniels other band IDOLS, our other band OBLIVION, and then a big tour package with I DECLARE WAR somewhere in the middle of it. come out, mosh, have fun. itll be a decent night for sure.

some good honest reading: http://www.theonion.com/articles/i-tell-ya-until-ive-had-my-morning-coffee-i-am-jus,17618/

also:

konami code

www.marvel.com

when there, using your arrow keys, type

up up down down left right left right B A

then the enter key. enjoy

survivor

the things we do just to stay alive...

studio time

so we finally have the time booked, off work and school and are fledging our full heart into recording our long long long coming album "I Am the Curse". We are getting together with producers Ahren Lanfor & Randy Wheeler on July 7th in Tacoma to begin tracking drums! we'll be in there for a few days until we finish drums. Most of the way through we'll be stopping to play a show in CENTRALIA with our friends to the wind, breaking ground, like trumpets, and more. hot diggity fucknuts, tacoma reality is at it again. anyone seen Q around tacoma lately? trying to eat BBQ and drink rootbeer the entire time recording. ps no shaving rule goes into effect july 7th. gunna be a hot summer! <3

JULY 7TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 8TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 9TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
JULY 10TH - show @ Quesadilla Factory in Centralia!
JULY 11TH - RANDLERAWK STUDIOS
BREAK
JULY 17TH - BACK TO THE STUDIO...

the path of most resistance

may 15th, we destroyed the 7 months behind us and finally played a show at the viaduct. it was with our friends: awaiting ruin, wolves, swinglow, lenore, and to the wind. it was a pleasure to share the stage with those dudes, and we had a blast playing some old songs and some new songs. we know some of our friends want to hear old shit like trend terminal, illusions, etc. but we have spent this whole time off working on the new album, and we feel we need to share it. if we weren't playing these new songs, we wouldnt be playing at all.

we also played last night with it prevails, close your eyes, something about airplanes, to the wind (again?!), and vacate. vacate played some new songs showing growth, and a sweet offspring cover. ttw played heavy jams and i had fun singing "reaching solid ground" with them. SAA played and im pretty sure they ended with their little hatebreed jam. CYE played and a lot of kids were stoked. we played and played WAY fuckin better than we did on may 15th. im glad a lot of poeple were into it. we had a blast. then IP played and played a killer set. stoked on their new 10".

we have a few more shows coming up. hopefully some at the viaduct. go there, buy a shirt, buy some food, donate a couple bucks. ENJOY THE VIADUCT WHILE WE STILL HAVE IT. ONLY A MATTER OF DAYS, NOW...

boom shaka la

MAY 15TH
VIADUCT (5412 S. TACOMA WAY, 98409)
7PM $5

open fire!
to the wind (music video shoot)
lenore

more tba

~

JUNE 4TH
BLACK LAKE GRANGE (6011 BLACK LAKE BLVD, OLYMPIA, WA)
7PM $8

it prevails
open fire!
close your eyes
something about airplanes
to the wind
vacate

~

more tba.