This past week, I was lucky enough to communicate with the members of the band Bondfire., and talk with them about their new mixtape they're dropping this summer! Each week, they release one song from the mixtape, from June 28 to August 9! So far, one of their songs has come out, called We Up! If you know me, or have read any of my past articles, you'll know that I LIVE for music releases, and this one has me the most excited I've been so far!

Bondfire. is a band of three guys in their early-mid 20s, Dan, Max, and Canvas. Between the three of them, they play a variety of instruments, like drums, guitar (electric and bass!), and keyboards! As a group, their vibe is meant to be "feel good" music, and they want their fans to listen when they feel good, or want to feel good, since they are trying to be "healers through music".

The guys described their music tastes when we spoke, and I learned about where their passion for music stemmed from. Dan said he loves Jon Bellion, an American singer, songwriter and rapper from New York, as well as the artists Khalid and Frenship. Max grew up listening to rock and punk rock music, since his dad was the lead guitarist of a rock band! He described his personal taste as "jazzy R&B rock", which makes sense because his favorite artists are The Ramones, The Clash, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and John Mayer! Canvas says his musical inspirations are Big Pun, Nas, 50 Cent, and Jadakiss, but he says his current favorite is J Cole.

Out of all the music they have written so far, I wanted to hear which songs were they guys' favorites, so be sure to look out for some of these, since they're on the mixtape that's being released this summer! One of Max's favorite songs is Stay, which is actually the first song of their next generation of music, which will be released in the first week of August, just after their mixtape is fully released. Max and Dan both said another favorite of theirs is Good Life, which is the 4th song of the mixtape, that comes out on July 19th. That song was written the night after the guys held a listening party for some of their music, where they did a live performance of some of their new music, and they all agree that is really captures the vibe of that night, and really encapsulates the overall sound of the band. Dan's other favorite song is Comeback Season, which will also be released this summer! Canvas said that his favorite song he has written is one of his independent tracks, called Stay Patient. The story in the song, he said, is exactly the way he tells it, reminding him, and anyone out there chasing a dream, to stay patient.

Dan, Max and Canvas all got into music in different ways, but they all said that they were born with a strong love for music. Max, having grew up with his father being a musician, wrote and played music through his adolescence, and Canvas wrote raps throughout high school!

Now, I have a very special interest in Bondfire., and the release of their mixtape, because the song that will be out this Friday, called Take You There, was written about me! It was so exciting getting to hear the different stages of production that the song went through as lyrics were written, and the melody was developed and more layers of sound were added to finally get it to its final stages. And it made me appreciate musicians, especially songwriters, SO much more after learning the process of creating a song from just a good feeling, and turning it into a potential radio hit!

The song came into existence this past spring, over spring break, after I went out with a guy who was super close friends with the guys in Bondfire.! When the guy (I'll change his name, so let's call him Peter), got back to Dan and Max's apartment after we spent the day together, Peter was talking about how great his day was with Dan, and he and Dan got to talking about their love interests, so they just started playing around with upbeat melodies on the piano, and from there they wrote lyrics based on how the date went, and the positive feelings that came from that, then they started throwing down different bass and percussion instruments, and about a week later, they had come up with an almost completely finalized version of Take You There! And now, a few months later, it's finally released!

Please go check out Bondfire.'s Spotify and Soundcloud accounts! And check their Instagram for details on their upcoming song releases!