After pandemic/lockdown, songwriter Ray Garza felt a shift in himself. When attempting to reform his pervious group Poly Action, he noticed something was different. "I didn't recognize the guy who wrote those songs. I could see that I was coming close to being vulnerable, but pulling back at the last minute. By trying to make it a joke." He chose to put the band on hold.
It wasn't until a backyard birthday party that he got the push he needed. "I was talking to my friend Gianni [guitarist in Poly Action] and he said something like, 'I think your songs need to be more open. I'll play drums for you.' I really needed to hear that. The songs I had written in pandemic lockdown were slower and more personal. I thought they would be boring to any drummer to play."
The rest fell together pretty organically. Alex Weger, Bill Gryta, and John Ashley joined the band, rounding out the lineup. Small Engine Fire played their first show in Austin on January 8th, 2023. Their highly anticipated EP, "Better By Now," is set to release in 2025.
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