BACKFIRE!

In the spring of ’94 four friends are talking about their mutual interest: Hardcore Music.
They decide it’s time to start their own band, playing music they love.One week later Wyb (guitar), Patrick (vocals), Frank (bass) and Richard (drums) get together for their first rehearsal. From that moment on they are known as Backfire!. In the following weeks they write their first couple of songs, and record the first demo titled “The Last Time”. The reactions are unanimously positive, and when Lost & Found get their hands on a copy of the “The Last Time” demo, Lost & Found offers Backfire! a record deal. Backfire!’s first recording “Who Told You Life Is Easy?” is released in October ’95. The band performs their first shows all over Holland and Belgium alongside hardcore legends like Warzone, Madball and 25 Ta Life. Soon their reputation is set. Less than 6 months later Backfire!’s first full- length CD “Rebel 4 Life” is released. Impressed with the quality of “Rebel 4 Life” New York hardcore legends Warzone ask Backfire! to support them on their 6 week European tour. At the end of their tour Backfire! have a disagreement with Lost & Found, and the band decides to leave the label and look for a new record deal. Several labels show interest in Backfire!, and Backfire! inks a deal with Century Media’s sub label Kingfisher.

A couple of months later they are in the studio to record their second full- length album “All Bets Are Off”, which is released in September ’97. In the following months Backfire! tours with Deviate, and plays tons of shows all over Europe to promote their critically acclaimed album. At this time Backfire!’s popularity reaches a huge climax, and they become a household name to every hardcore fan in Europe.
The continuous touring and playing takes its toll by the end of October ’98, during the European tour with 25 Ta Life, Backfire! decides it’s time to take some time off before they start writing new songs. Richard uses this time to play the drums on the Comin’ Correct tour in Europe and to record an album with his side project Determined.Unfortunately on March 20th 1999, Richard takes his own life.
His friends and family are shocked to hear this sad news, and it takes several months before Backfire! starts thinking about their future as a band. Replacing someone like Richard is hard, but finally they decide to continue with Homethrust drummer Igor.In June 2000 Backfire! joins the the Hautregard Studio in Herve, Belgium to record their new album “Still Dedicated”. Tours with Madball and Biohazard bring Backfire! once more all over Europe, after which they record a new EP “The War Stars Here”. This EP is released in September 2001 during their European Tour with Breakdown and Maximum Penalty, which is actually the very first Eastpak Resistance Tour.

In 2003 “Change the Game” has been released. “Change The Game” was recorded in Brooklyn, NY and was produced by Mike Dijan from Breakdown an Math Henderson from Madball and A.F. While recording “Change the Game”, Backfire! also played a couple of shows with Madball in CBGB’s and Connecticut right after they got together with Freddy Madball and Billy Grazaidei, who both appear on this record.

Although Backfire! never left and kept on playing shows and festivals all over Europe, it still takes till late 2007 before they start recording “In Harm’s Way”. Early 2008 “In Harm’s Way” was released on GSR Music. The record is received with overwhelming positive reactions, and Backfire! is once more booked for a lot of shows and festivals, like Groezrock, With Full Force, Hellfest, the Black and Blue Superbowl in NYC and many more.

After 2 years of intense touring, the end is near. Two extremely great and sold out farewell shows, Antwerp and Leipzig, should have put an to a successful 15 year career, which made Backfire! one of the leading European Hardcore bands.
Should have indeed…

‘Cause hardly a few weeks after these shows, the Backfire! members start realizing what they gave up.

To avoid any hasty decision, and to take their time to write another Backfire! worthy quality record, the band starts recording in the winter of 2011. The result is “My Broken World”, which is released once more on GSR Music in February 2012. “My Broken World” is definitely a new landmark in the Backfire! history. A culmination of furious anger and frustration, transformed into the hardest and darkest Backfire! album ever.
Lots of show all over the world were done to promote this album.

After that year GSR and Backfire! went in different ways and we teamed up with Strength Records (now Rebelion Records) for our new mcd “Where we belong” that was recorded and released in 2015. A few years later I Scream records put out “Still Dedicated” on vinyl and Rebellion records re-released “Rebel for Life” & “All bets are off” on vinyl. In March 2019 Backfire! and Right Direction presented their own festival in Maastricht called Among The Angels and that festival is here to stay always hosted by Backfire & Right Direction.

2021 Backfire! headlined Revolution Calling Fest and plans were made for a new record “Angry God” that will come out in the summer of 2022 in Rebellion records. Their first demo and some extras, the “Backfire live at CBGB’S” record and Choose my Own Path will also be released on vinyl on Rebellion records in cooperation with Sony Entertainment

Now, after some line up changes during 2012, which brought Sjarm 13 and Giel (both ex. NTB) in de band, and Kobus on the drums in 2021 Backfire! is once again a dedicated machine, writing new songs and ready to take the stage again in 2022 with some big festivals already booked by their friend from MAD.

Backfire! 1994-2022 STILL DEDICATED.