Like a House on Fire: FireHouse is Still Going Strong

Interview by Jennifer Chance

Rock and roll took a decisive turn in the early 1990s as the “Seattle Sound” made its mainstream debut. For FireHouse, a relative latecomer to the “melodic rock” movement, the grunge bandwagon could have sounded the death knell. Instead, in January of 1992, FireHouse walked away with an American Music Award for Best New Hard Rock/ Metal Band, beating out fellow nominees, and rising icons, Alice in Chains and Nirvana. However, the face of music continued to change, and there was soon little place for the soaring guitar riffs, pure vocals and melody-driven tunes popular a few short years prior. FireHouse, unwilling to throw in the towel, pressed on doing their music, their way…with success. The band continues to tour, and continues to rock. StageShottz recently sat down with guitarist Bill Leverty to get the word on the past, present and future of FireHouse.

StageShottz Magazine:  You guys are currently touring. How does the experience of touring now compare to your touring days back in the early 1990s?

Bill Leverty:  Our touring is different in so many ways. First, instead of being on a bus all week long, we fly out on the weekends and then fly back home. The biggest challenge is that we usually have to wake up at 3:30 a.m. on Friday morning to catch the 6:00 a.m. flight in order to get to where we need to be in time to set up, sound check, eat dinner, take a shower, then play. Last Friday, it took me 18 hours from the time I woke up until the time I hit the first note. We used to be able to finish a gig and then get on the bus and go to sleep. Now, we have a couple of hours to sleep in a hotel room and then we have to get up again to catch the early flight to the next gig. The airlines don’t make their schedule very compatible to a rock band!

SSM:  FireHouse really made their splash in the early 1990s, when rock and roll was moving in a new direction. Did you think about that at all as your albums were being released, and what if any impact did it have on your career in the U.S.?

BL:  When we put out our second album, Nirvana had literally changed the face of the music industry. We still had a very successful touring cycle selling out big venues in America for nine months with Tesla, and then supporting Status Quo in Europe for another sold-out tour. After that, we took off a few months to write our third album, but stayed true to our melodic rock roots as far as the songwriting was concerned. The only thing we did differently was to bring in a classic rock producer named Ron Nevison who was great. Ron made our third album sound more live and less slick. I have never been the type of artist to take the temperature of what’s popular at the moment and then try to emulate it. I try to write from the heart. The music that I’m exposed to obviously has some impact on my creativity, but it’s more of a subconscious thing. I think that if you listen to our albums, you’ll hear that we haven’t jumped on any bandwagons to try to fit into the flavor of the month.

SSM:  FireHouse was signed to Epic Records in late 1989/ early 1990. What was that experience like?

BL:  I can remember that when Michael Caplan came down to North Carolina to see us for the first time, and he left saying that he was going to set the land-speed record for the shortest time in signing a band. We immediately went up to New Jersey to record some demos with David Prater, who then produced the first and second albums. During the recording of those first Prater demos, our lawyer called and told us that he had the recording contract for us to sign. I am amazed that we didn’t get speeding tickets on our way into the city! After we signed that contract, we still didn’t have any money. All of the money was put into a recording fund and we spent every penny of it. Everybody got paid but the four members of the band. We later signed a publishing deal with Sony, and only then did we have a little bit of money to split after we paid for our legal fees, accounting fees, and paid back some people we owed money to. I sold my 1979 Datsun 310 GX, put all of my property in storage, and lived on a bus or in a hotel for the following two years.

SSM:  FireHouse triumphed over grunge heavyweights Nirvana and Alice in Chains, taking home the trophy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Band at the 1992 American Music Awards, and the band continued to garner success into the mid-90s (which wasn’t necessarily the case for many others). To what can you attribute that?

BL:  I don’t know. Something that we did resonated with our fans. Maybe it was the fact that we were a little bit less like rock stars and a little bit more like normal people. We hadn’t come from a big city, so we didn’t have the rock star vibe. I think that we had good songs, but many other bands did too; so looking back, I can’t figure that out. I only know that I’m very thankful that our fans were so supportive of our band. We couldn’t have made it without them.

SSM:  In spite of the ever changing U.S. market, there is still room for rock and roll, as is evident by the Rock Never Stops tours and festivals such as Rocklahoma. You have been involved in both. Can you describe these experiences, and give your thoughts on the continued popularity of these events?

BL:  These festivals remind me that there are so many people who still love melodic rock music. My favorite story is that of Rocklahoma. That promoter had been doing a successful country music festival for a few years and wanted to expand to rock music. He asked around and everyone advised him not to do it. “It’ll never work” is all he heard, but he followed his dream and bought top-dollar bands and decided to take the risk. 80,000 people showed up from all over the world; it was a huge success. The fact is that people still love this music and there are very few places they can hear it. There are a handful of festivals around the country that have been doing it for a while; and now, thanks to Rocklahoma, there are even more sprouting up all the time. I like to say that we are a part of a decade of music that transcends generations because our genre is about having fun, and the music isn’t something that you hear every garage band sing and play.

SSM:  Even though the U.S. market has changed, as it does often, FireHouse has had continued success in the Asian market. What can you attribute that to?

BL:  When our genre dried up in America, our record company sent us overseas. We did many tours over in Asia, and I think that all of that work helped to cultivate the audiences and expose people to our music. I believe that our music has something to do with it too. Our melodies and lyrics are what the people are there for. We don’t really have an elaborate, theatrical stage show that people come to see. I think that our songs are more of what our band is relying on to get people to come out.

SSM:  Was the band’s success in the Asian market part of the decision to go with Japanese label Pony Canyon, or was it the reverse?

BL:  Our time at Epic Records had run its course. We hadn’t gotten one penny of promotion on our last album with them. We asked if we could be released from our contract and they granted our wish. I still have a great respect for Michael Caplan and everyone who was at Epic at that time. They were just trying to run a business in an extremely difficult and ever-changing industry, one which was not exactly friendly toward FireHouse at the time. Once we parted company with Epic, we thought that finding different companies around the world to license our next album would be the best business move. Pony Canyon was, and still is, a very powerful and well-run record company in Asia; we felt that working with them would be ideal. We signed a licensing deal with them for Asia, and that left the rest of the world open for other companies.

SSM:  Even for all the fickleness of the U.S. market, FireHouse is still a solid draw at tour stops and very beloved by fans. Why do you think that is?

BL:  Again, I don’t know. I can only think that our fans have an emotional attachment to our songs. We try to meet our fans after every show, which I think helps to make an impression on the people who come to see us. I think people get to see a little bit more than the band on stage. They see that we are regular guys with a cool job. I think that this helps people to relate to us a little bit more than just watching us play and then leave.

SSM:  Given that you all are still so beloved, any plans for a new release or new material here in the U.S.?

BL:  We’re going to record something this winter. I am really looking forward to it. It’s been WAY too long!

SSM:  You guys have longevity, being almost a completely original lineup, but everyone has their own individual projects going on as well. What impact do you think this has on the band’s relationship, with members being able to stretch out and explore different avenues? How important do you think this is, as individuals, and to the cohesiveness of FireHouse?

BL:  I think it’s healthy. When anyone wants to do something outside the scope of FireHouse, they can always do it on a solo album. I like putting out solo albums because I write, sing, and play a lot of stuff that doesn’t really sound like FireHouse. Putting out side project recordings is a way for me to keep growing as an artist without trying to turn FireHouse into something that it’s not. I always have another artistic outlet.

SSM:  Speaking of solo efforts, your latest project Deep South has a real “roots” feel to it. Can you talk a little about the inspiration for the album?

BL: In the middle of January of 2009, I realized that FireHouse wasn’t going to be recording a new album until the following winter, so I thought that if I did a cover tunes album, I could come out of the slow touring season with a new CD. I decided that I wanted to do something completely different and get out of my comfort zone, but still make an album that I could believe in and really enjoy listening to for many years. The idea I came up with was to go way back to the period in musical history right before the birth of rock and roll, and to cover songs from that era. My challenge was to find songs that would fit my style. There are three genres from the late 1800s and early 1900s that helped give birth to rock and roll: gospel, country and blues. I decided to do these kinds of songs.

SSM:  This album tells a lot about who your influences are as an artist. What does it mean to you?

BL:  The album helped me grow as an artist by learning from (and having a lot of fun with) what the pioneers in music left us. I recorded a bunch of instruments that I had never recorded before. I bought a Dobro on Craig’s List and recorded it. I bought a lap steel guitar on Ebay and recorded it. I recorded my banjo that my uncle gave me before he died. I recorded my old mandolin that I bought in 1995. I recorded my six string ukulele. I also recorded my Telecaster a lot on this album, as well as my Stratocaster. My signature Grem guitar is all over this album, but I used the other instruments as much as I could, just to try to get sounds different from what I was familiar with. The end result is an album that doesn’t sound like what the listener might expect from me. Having said that, I really feel that it’s my strongest solo album.

SSM:  You’ve produced the last FireHouse albums; how does that experience differ for you, and what do you think it adds to the effort?

BL:  My relationship with each band member allows me to help each guy get the best possible performance out of them. I don’t have the greatest knowledge of engineering or technology, but I do have a way to help the guys get their best performances with as little stress and difficulty as possible. I try to create a comfortable vibe for them, and my years of friendship help me to know their likes and dislikes. At the end of the day, I help the team deliver a good sound. My role is that of the facilitator. I organize the sessions and take the responsibilities of seeing the entire project through to the finish. The difference is that an outside producer can move on to the next project and work with other artists. I live and die by the same sword as the other guys in the band. Since I’m the guitarist of the band, I have the band’s best interests at heart, even after the life of the record. Ultimately, we are a democracy, and we vote on all issues related to the creative process and business. I’m by no means a dictator as a producer. I just try to get the recording to sound its best in a reasonable amount of time and make it as enjoyable as possible.

SSM:  So, what does the future hold for FireHouse?

BL:  We hope to be doing this well into our seventies. With that in mind, we’ve got a lot of writing, recording, and touring ahead of us!