19 May 2025
Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with London/Los Angeles band Firebird Union to find out more…
Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
We’re brothers; we’ve been playing music together as long as we can remember. Our musical relationship was forged in a small bedroom in Watford, listening to the likes of Cast, the Pet Shop Boys and Blur.
We’d been in a band and then gone our separate ways, but somewhere along the way we’d come up with this concept of ‘Firebird Union’. Our earliest memories are of Queen, Elton John, and The Beatles. Vinyl is a magic toy when you’re a kid. Ross initially used Firebird Union as a solo name, until he decided to keep it in his back pocket for a band. We liked Firebird because it comes with a lot of cool mystic folk imagery that suits our sound. Union was chosen as we always intended this project to be collaborative; we’d like to leave the door open for guests.
Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
We were brought up in a household shaped by music from Joni Mitchell to Black Sabbath, The Jam to Queen and Kirsty MacColl to CSN&Y. We grew up during Britpop, so British bands like Radiohead, Cast, Oasis were formative. These days we lean on artists like Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, HAIM, Frightened Rabbit and Fleet Foxes.
How would you describe your sound?
We try to blend the best of American and British guitar-led indie music, but with an electronic twist. We try to let the songs guide us. We’ve released dance tracks, acoustic songs and out and Dad rock, as well as upbeat indie. Our view is that if the songs is good, why try and force it into a genre? If we were going to support anyone, it’d probably be Doves as they’re pretty close to where we end up!
What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
Our newest release is ‘Stand & Wait’. It’s twenty years old. We first tried it when we were in a band called Cedar, but we could never quite nail it. Despite a few attempts, there was a general feeling that it wasn’t good enough, and it was discarded—surfacing only on an acoustic EP and during a few open mic nights. It’s taken all this time for it to be moulded, panel-beaten and cajoled into its final form.
What’s your local music scene like?
LA is bouncing, as it always has done, and always will do. Walthamstow is definitely having a moment. The Trades Hall are putting on incredible gigs, there’s open mic nights galore, and there’s a theatre pub called the Rose & Crown which has a sensational line up of shows every week and, there’s a weekly folk club which gets some of the best acts in that scene.
Capital Salvage and We Can Be Heroes put on all ages shows locally too, which is fantastic for helping young emerging artists get stage time and build a fanbase. Doing that is no mean feat and really adds incredible vibrancy to the area.
What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
We’ll continue putting singles out regularly, but there might be a physical release on the horizon, so watch out for that. Gigging as Firebird Union is difficult, given the geographic distance, but Matt’s always got a show up his sleeve.
Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Wow, that’s so tough, there’s so many. Can we pick three?
There’s a Spanish artist called Kari who’s got a wonderful voice and has a knack for writing beautiful heartfelt songs. (Go check out her album Sin Miedo, it’s brilliant).
At the other end of the spectrum, David Holmes would be someone who’s also a big influence on us.
The other would be Doves. Their original incarnation as Sub Sub, and subsequent reinvention as one of the best indie bands of the 2000’s (and now!) means they’re probably the band we’re closest to.
Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
When we’ve played live, we’ll let you know!! In our previous band we had an instrumental called The Spanish Horseman’s Apocalypse we played live a few times. First time out, Matt tried to count-in in Spanish, only to realise he didn’t know the Spanish word for ‘Four’… (whoops).
What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
Interpret our songs how you like and make them your own. It’s really arrogant to create something and then go “this is how you will consume and enjoy it”. You’ll have a good go at interpreting the song from our perspective, but let the song mean to you what you want it to. ‘Higher Ground’ for us is about the planet’s time running out – to you it might mean something totally different. There’s a Strand of Oaks song called ‘Jimi & Stan’ which is about Tim’s cat Stan dying and hanging out with Jimi Hendrix in heaven. To me that song’s about the importance of family and being with the people you care about most. It’s all about your own context.
You can find out more about Firebird Union on their website or via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, Spotify, Threads, TikTok or YouTube.
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