Features

Southern California veterans Pulley have teamed up for a split 7" with Fire Sale, who got their start during the pandemic but have roots in bands like Face to Face, No Use For A Name, and The Ataris. Ahead of the 'Split Personality' 7" release this Friday on Negative Progression Records, we asked both bands to interview each other. Answering for Fire Sale is guitarist Chris Swinney, while Pulley vocalist Scott Radinsky fielded Fire Sale’s questions.

Pulley → Fire Sale

Pulley: You guys have members from some legendary punk bands—Face to Face, No Use For A Name, The Ataris. How did Fire Sale come together, and what did you want to do differently from your past projects?

 

Chris Swinney: We came together during the pandemic just as a fun project. I wrote a couple songs during lockdown and asked friends of mine to play on them. Then labels started hitting us up and the rest is history! Many of our other bands were pretty high stress and pressure. We have always wanted Fire Sale to just be fun. We feel very lucky that we have another chance to express ourselves like this and people support it. It’s a special thing to us.

“We have always wanted Fire Sale to just be fun. We feel very lucky that we have another chance to express ourselves like this.”

Pulley: “An Archaic Construct” really challenges the idea of how we’re expected to behave. What inspired you to dig into that theme, and how does it reflect your perspective as a band?

Chris: Pedro came up with the theme and wrote all the lyrics/melodies. I can’t really speak for him, but I interpret it as bucking the system. There is not one right way to do anything. Sometimes we fall into patterns of doing what society expects us to do and it can be hard to break away from that. I think it embodies the spirit of what punk rock is to me. It’s not really a music genre, it’s an idea. Be yourself and do things the way you want to do them.

“Punk rock isn’t really a music genre—it’s an idea. Be yourself and do things the way you want to do them.”

Pulley: “Call Of The Void” has that dark but relatable idea of intrusive thoughts—did that come from personal experience, or was it more of a storytelling exercise?

Chris: Matt Riddle came up with that idea. The term “Call Of The Void” actually talks about those crazy intrusive thoughts. Like if you are driving and go over a bridge… your mind wanders off and you see yourself jerking the wheel and skidding off the bridge. Or you are at the Grand Canyon and picture yourself jumping into the abyss. We all have those feelings or thoughts from time to time… but hopefully never act on them.

Pulley: You’ve been getting spins on SiriusXM and have toured across Europe, Canada, and the U.S. How has the response been compared to what you expected when Fire Sale first launched?

Chris: The response has been amazing! The radio play has really been beneficial. We have had 7 songs added into heavy rotation, which is crazy to think about. The shows have been great as well. No matter how big or small, we have met so many wonderful people that support our band. We just got back from Europe for the first time, and it was unreal. We met so many stellar people… we cannot wait to go back! We really didn’t have any expectations when we started, but we could not ask for anything more. It’s been quite a journey. We are very appreciative to anyone and everyone that checks us out.

“We really didn’t have any expectations when we started, but we could not ask for anything more.”

Pulley: We have always tried to keep one foot in melody and one in skate-punk grit—how do you balance that in Fire Sale, especially with members coming from slightly different punk traditions?

Chris: Riddle and I write most of the music, with Pedro writing the lyrics and vocal melodies… so I can only speak for myself. I write whatever comes out. I have many influences—metal, punk, indie, grunge, emo, etc. I have like 50 demos done currently, but they aren’t Fire Sale songs until everyone puts their stamp on them. I don’t really think about fitting into any particular scene when I am writing; however, melody is very important to all of us. Since I don’t write lyrics or sing, I try to make the music just as catchy and hooky as possible. Pedro kills it every time, so I want the music to match what he brings to the table.

Pulley: What was the most exciting or challenging part about pairing up with Pulley for this release?

Chris: It is super exciting as we all love and respect Pulley so much. Also, they are our buddies. I think the most challenging part was getting the songs ready for the split. Writing and recording, knowing that Pulley are such a classic band. We wanted our songs to hold up. We are still a fairly new band… we just wanted to hold our own. I feel like we did. I think our bands compliment each other very well.

Fire Sale → Pulley

Fire Sale: Pulley has been going strong since 1994, through different eras of punk. How do you keep that spark alive and continue creating music that feels fresh?

Scott Radinsky: The spark is burning due to the desire and passion to write and play music together. When we started out that was the goal—keeping it fun and writing what we feel. I guess time just goes by too fast and it’s now been over 30 years of doing it. Gotta enjoy the moment and not get too far ahead.

“The spark is burning due to the desire and passion to write and play music together.”

Fire Sale: “Torn Apart By Time” hits on longevity and commitment—was that written as a reflection on Pulley’s own journey, or more as a universal theme?

Scott: I think it’s more of a universal theme hitting points that could reflect on many different moments throughout a lifetime, different subject matter. Most of the time the idea is to have a few different lines that can hit home for everyone individually and take a small piece of the song to allow the listener to interpret it however they want to make sense for them personally.

Fire Sale: “Write A Note If You Leave” feels deeply personal. How do you approach writing songs that come from grief while still making them accessible for listeners to connect with?

Scott: Writing lyrics is very vulnerable. Once you start to create a story to a song, it’s laying out your feelings or at least a direction in how we want to be heard lyrically—“tell the story.” There are no limits, or shouldn’t be, when doing that. It will always be personal in some way, whether grief, happiness, funny or whatever. Sometimes it comes out better than others, but as long as people can get even one or two lines that make sense to them personally, then the accessibility to that song has been achieved.

“Writing lyrics is very vulnerable… there are no limits, or shouldn’t be, when doing that.”

Fire Sale: Looking back at your early Epitaph days compared to this split with Fire Sale on Negative Progression, what’s changed the most about how Pulley operates as a band?

Scott: I think the band has grown in a way where we have a better understanding of what we’re trying to do musically—our direction, the respect and comfort level we have for each other working together all these years. The model we’ve been following all this time was to create music, play and have fun with it. We’ve never taken things too seriously or put any pressure on ourselves to make it or anything like that, so there has always been a relaxed feel to it. Musically we have stuck with a formula that is comfortable and works for us.

The music has been simple and not overly complicated or technical, just happy chords that have melody, hopefully telling a story that people can relate to. In the end we’ve just tried to stick to that, so I guess there really hasn’t been any kind of big changes over the years other than the maturity we all gain going through life.

Fire Sale: You’ve done countless tours over the decades—what’s one moment from the road that still defines what Pulley is all about?

Scott: There have been many moments when traveling we have had in this band that could define who we are. I am not sure I could choose just one—it’s like picking your favorite song. Speaking for myself, I would say it’s the connection working together as a group, everyone finding their strength on what they can contribute. It gets hard on the road in many different ways. When we are all working and holding our own it creates a smooth balance, like using a pulley to leverage something and take some of the weight off of each other. Might not make any sense to most people, but the goal from the beginning was to find a way to create balance, keeping it fun for everyone. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to make it, become bigger, etc. We’ve stuck to that this whole time, so I’d say every moment we spend together can define that.

“The goal from the beginning was to find a way to create balance, keeping it fun for everyone.”

Fire Sale: What made you want to do this split specifically with Fire Sale, and how do you think the two bands complement each other?

Scott: We were approached by Chris from Fire Sale about doing a 7” split and the timing was right for us. We thought some of the ideas we’ve had floating around were ready to become songs. Sometimes we need that push or deadline of doing something to get us over the hump. I believe the two bands have a very similar approach in what we are trying to accomplish as people—write, have fun and play our songs live for people. Now we just need to make that happen someday on the road. I think that’s where you would really see how the two bands compliment each other.