Singer Dan Grattan: The story behind "Summer Fires" is about a transition period, where you know the future is inevitable but a certain part of you wants to hang onto the moment that you're in. The elongated title "Summer fires are autumn's ashes" is representative of something that burns so bright and feverishly but eventually burns out and becomes nothing more than a memory. The idea for the melody came pretty easily. I usually try to counter what Mike Rathfon's guitar is doing so that the two parts come out side by side to tell the story. I knew from the start that there had to be two vocal parts. We tried other members of the band but something was missing from the sound. Luckily for us, Mike isn't the only musically inclined member of the Rathfon clan. His sister, Michelle, stepped up to the challenge of recording with us and her sweet, yet haunting, vocal part that really adds to the eclectic nature of the song. We knew we were onto something with "Summer Fires" and it has turned out to be one of the most popular tracks from the album.
Bassist Cody Moyer: As I remember it: I had the idea for the drum part first, then came up with the keyboard part, which is, to me, really the heart and soul of the song. Next, Mike added the guitar part and then we followed that with the simple bass riffs because there was so much going on in the verses. Because the verses were so busy, we decided to make the chorus simple and kind of let the one guitar lick stick out. The original idea was for the song to be a long song with the general idea of building a ton of texture and sounds.
Guitarist Mike Rathfon: We wanted to change it up and do something really fresh. We laid it down with some simple electronic drums which Cody wrote up and ended up liking the simple drum part so much that it stuck through much of the song. The big idea for the second part of the song, was intensity. By the time the song ends, it's going through a huge, intense ride with a good deal of extra instrumentation (organ, piano, many guitars, lots of bass layers, female vocals), which is something we like to do because it can make a song a lot more powerful and moving.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album - right here!
Preview and Purchase Lakeherst CDs
Travel News, Trips and Tips: Road Trip Essentials
Hot In The City: Carin Leon Will Open For The Rolling Stones in Arizona
Caught In The Act: Ministry Rocks Chicago
Sammy (Hagar) Super Sunday Coming To TV
Anthrax Reuniting With Dan Lilker For Upcoming Live Dates
NEEDTOBREATHE To Livestream Red Rocks Concert
Bruce Dickinson Making Appearance At WonderCon For
Joe Bonamassa Plays Jimi Hendrix's A Vintage 'Band of Gypsys' Rig At Nerdville
Vampire Weekend Stream 'Mary Boone' Visualizer
Paul Di'Anno's Warhorse Deliver 'Stop The War' EP
The Exies Return With 'For What It's Worth'