BEAUTIFUL SKELETONS – A CONVERSATION WITH TINA FIREFLY
By Ralph Beauchamp
Tina Firefly is the lead vocalist for the alt metal ensemble, Beautiful Skeletons. The band recently unveiled their video for their hard hitting single entitled “Letter to a Narcissist”. The song is the lead track off their new EP, Temperance, which dropped earlier this month under the esteemed banner of WormholeDeath Records. Conceptualized in the Pacific Northwest, the four piece delivers sonic melodies accompanied by propulsive hooks. Beautiful Skeletons came together as a casual jam project between founding members Einar Einarsson and Tina Firefly in 2018. Both Einar and Tina brought years of seasoned musicianship and creativity to the table, birthing a unique style of catchy, dynamic metal.
In 2022, Beautiful Skeletons entered a management deal under former Saliva drummer and long time drumming legend Paul Crosby. Once pandemic restrictions loosened, the band then went beast mode, blasting through the Oregon and Washington music scenes, quickly gaining local traction with electrifyingly entertaining and memorable live performances.
“Letter to a Narcissist” is a blazing track that features Firefly’s expansive range. Both melodious and solidly intense, her voice resonates with pure power. Einarsson’s guitars flare with brilliance and destructive energy while Jason Johnson’s bass crackles with audacity. All the while, drummer Huw Williams’ percussions conveys vibrant palettes of aural explosions. The entire EP carries a pulverizing soundscape of immense proportions. Just check out “Only Zuul” with its dark and sublime textures or the emotive “Butterfly Pinned Under Glass” where Firefly’s voice is brazenly emotive with dramatic accents. Temperance is a must listen.
Tina Firefly was gracious enough to spend some time with AMP for this detailed cool conversation.
AMP: The band came together right before the Covid outbreak. Do you think the pandemic was a positive or a negative for the band’s growth?
TINA: It was definitely a positive. We needed time to change up our lineup due to the weird stagnant period we found ourselves in. As painful as it was to go through all that, especially occuring during Covid, it unintentionally helped us get more defined and goal oriented.
AMP: How would you describe the band’s internal energy?
TINA: Crazy! When you have the right set of musicians, you can make magic moments happen. We do make that magic come out but we always seems to be on the crazy side of that wizardry since most musicians tend to be a little bit off their rockers.
AMP: What do you think makes the band different?
TINA: Interesting question. For us, there’s this huge gap in our inspirations. The four of us are inspired by completely different genres of music. In my opinion, that would normally kill off a project but with us, it actually enhances our sound. What makes Beautiful Skeletons so unique is the fact we are all so diverse.
AMP: Speaking of inspirations, who are some of the band’s?
TINA: The one band and musician we all have in common is Alice In Chains and Jerry Cantrell. Our bassist, Jason, was a country musician prior to joining the band. Mine are mostly divas from the 90s like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey. They were like super heroes to me. The central point of interest where the entire band overlaps is the 90s-2000s hard rock scene. We are all into the nu-metal movement especially bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit.
AMP: You’re single from the Temperance EP, “Letter to a Narcissist” is dynamically dramatic. Can you give us a little insight into the track?
TINA: It’s actually based on an ex-boyfriend of one of my best friends. I’m not naming names! (laughing). Some of my favorite feedback about the song is when someone asks me, “is that about me?” You know you’ve done something lyrically right when you have people asking who’s the song about. In reality, it capitalizes on that fact that we all have toxic people in our lives and the majority of us don’t realize it right away.
That’s because some of these toxic entities are narcissists and it’s hard to catch them. They seem to be part of your crew and seem to have good intentions but sooner or later you get to see the signs and are able to put the puzzle together. The true meaning of the track is one should draw a healthy emotional boundary around oneself and probably some of the deadliest snakes are already in your inner circle.
AMP: What would you like your fans to take away from your music?
TINA: I want them to feel, “where the fuck have they been?” That’s my favorite reaction. I want them to know that we are here and ready to capture their attention. I want them to be blown away and wanting more.
AMP: You’re managed by Paul Crosby, the famed Saliva drummer. How did that happen?
TINA: We were looking for professional management a few years ago and had gone to several sources. The main goal was to find someone who believed in what we were doing. We reached out to Paul on the recommendation from other bands in the area. No one had anything bad to say about him. We reached out to see if he had any interest and luckily he loved what he heard. Paul definitely factors into our musical growth.
AMP: How stoked are you with your deal with WormholeDeath Records?
TINA: Oh my god! There’s no word for it. It was on our bucket list to get on a label who totally believed in us. Everyone was saying “you need a cool label deal” when in actuality you need a good distribution deal with a company that enjoys the music they support instead of just looking at an act from a numbers perspective. So, we were stoked when WormholeDeath reached out to us.
Here we are pushing to get a label and they saw our “Kraken” video and Max, one of their A&R reps, sent me a direct message on Instagram. Do you know how many messages we get on our socials that are just total scams! The initial message sounded like that. I’m waiting for the part where he asks us for some upfront money for promo. That part never came and luckily he really was a WormholeDeath rep. Here we are now and I’m so glad I didn’t delete that message.
AMP: Do you feel your new EP, Temperance, is an evolution in musical style from your previous material?
TINA: It is the pinnacle of evolutionary musical style for us. We didn’t get this lineup solidified till recently. It’s weird how when the stars align, everything falls into place. That’s what happened when we got our drummer, Huw. Everybody that has heard the new material comments on how much we have grown. This is the next level of Beautiful Skeletons.
AMP: What’s next for the band?
TINA: Of course, World Domination! We have a show at the Whiskey on May 24th, a festival in June and a tour spanning July and August. Lots of fun stuff on the horizon. In addition, by the end of the year, we will be focusing on our next group of songs.
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