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The Higher is On Fire!

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The Higher will release its Epitaph debut album On Fire, on March 6th, 2007. Produced by Mike Green (The Matches, Paramore), the disc will contain three of the four songs from its Digital-only EP Pace Yourself released on Dec. 12 via iTunes, plus nine additional tracks. Tracklisting and information on the CD is posted below.

Opening with the contagious pop of â┚¬Ã…”Insurance?â┚¬? the disc will consist of the immediate rock anthem, â┚¬Ã…”Rock My Body,â┚¬? â┚¬Ã…”Pace Yourselfâ┚¬? (remixed by Fall Out Boyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Patrick Stump) and the alluring â┚¬Ã…”Histrionics,â┚¬? which first appeared on the groupâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s acclaimed 2005 full-length indie LP of the same name. It was that disc â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ along with a Los Angeles performance at the Roxy earlier this year â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ that drew the interest of several major labels. But ultimately, the Las Vegas-based band chose to ink with Epitaph.

â┚¬Ã…”By the end of the second song I was convinced that I wanted to sign them,â┚¬? says Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz of the Roxy performance by The Higher â┚¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ which also counts vocalist Seth Trotter, guitarist Robert Ragan, bassist Jason Centeno and drummer Patrick Harter. Citing â┚¬Ã…”Sethâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s phenomenal voiceâ┚¬? and their â┚¬Ã…”R&B influenceâ┚¬? as two key components, Epitaphâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s honcho told The Las Vegas Weekly, â┚¬Ã…”I only sign bands I think can go all the way, and I believe the skyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the limit for The Higher.â┚¬?

â┚¬Ã…”We talked to pretty much every label, but we really didnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t want to take our band to a major,â┚¬? 21-year old guitarist Tom Oakes admits. â┚¬Ã…”This is our fourth year now, and we want to build a natural fan base. Epitaph is definitely the smartest option for us. [The] Offspringâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Smash sold 11 million on Epitaph, so the capability of selling millions of records is there. But if you sell 200,000 records on an indie label, youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re pretty incredible. If you sell 200,000 on a major, youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re worthless.â┚¬?

Fusing elements of pop, emo and R&B, the bandâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s sound has been described as Saves The Day meets Justin Timberlake. Describing the creative process beneath On Fire, Oakes says, â┚¬Ã…”Weâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve been pumping our little hearts and minds to make the most fabulous record we could ever make. Sethâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s voice is phenomenal, Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve watched that kid sing since third grad and every year it gets so much better. Wow does it show on this record!â┚¬?

â┚¬Ã…”The skills the rest of us have contributed, the ideas, the influences, the beats, the shreddingâ┚¬Ã‚¦ itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s been such a magical process,â┚¬? Oakes adds. â┚¬Ã…”Itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s going to spin you around like youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re on a roller coaster. I donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t know if youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll be able to put your finger on it, and we love that.â┚¬?

Dating back to 2002, when Trotter, Centeno and Harter played together in a high school band, The Higher took shape when Oakes joined the next year. Playing local Vegas shows opening for the likes of Something Corporate, The Starting Line and Yellowcard, the group recorded a demo of the songs they wrote when they were just 16, which became their debut EP for Fiddler Records. That disc, Star Is Dead, was produced by Saosinâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Beau Burchell and led to eighteen months of touring with the likes of Silverstein, Park and Emery. The album will be their first since 2005’s Histrionics was released on the defunct Fiddler Records

Here is the track listing for On Fire:

01. Insurance?
02. Guts
03. Rock My Body
04. Weapons Wired
05. Histrionics
06. Movement
07. Can Anyone Really Love Young
08. Darkpop
09. DARE
10. 31 Floors
11. Our Movie Rules
12. Pace Yourself (Patrick Stump Remix)

The Higher Release Pace Yourself EP

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The Higher have released their digital EP Pace Yourself on iTunes. The new album was produced by Mike Green (The Matches, Paramore) and features the tracks “Weapons Wired”, “Movement”, “In The Set”, and “Pace Yourself” – which was remixed by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump. The Pace Yourself EP comes in advance of the band’s debut Epitaph full length, On Fire, which is slated for release on March 6th, 2007!

The Higher Interview May 18th, 2005

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The Higher

– Please state your name in the band, position and favorite animal.

Tom: my name is tom. Iï¿Â½m the guitarist, and if I could be any animal it would be a panda, because it eats bamboo, and its healthy.

– How did the higher start?

Tom: Everyone met in high school, well everyone except for me, and they started, but I knew them in high school. And they just started a band, and later I joined.

– You just have a record that just hit stores how would you describe it in one word?
Tom: Awesome, haha that’s hard, but I do like awesome.

– How long have you been signed to Fiddler Records?

Tom: About two years in about a month. They are really good to us we love them, they love us, and we are ready to have this record out with them.

– How has the band matured in the past two years?

Tom: We matured just through playing out instruments and learning how to play them a lot better. And coming more in tune with writing songs.

– Who influenced you to start playing music?

Tom: probably for me it would be Blink 182, and anyone playing a guitar when I was younger. I went to a Blink show when I was like 13 and I was like I want to do that, I want to play music.

– Who are your influences non-musically?

Tom: Chris Rock and Pablo Francisco

– Who is Pablo Francisco?

Tom: he’s a comedian
– Who writes the songs?

Tom: Usually someone comes with a part and everyone just jams around and makes parts to sound good together.

– What is your dream tour to play?

Tom: it would be awesome to go out to a Jimmy Eat World, The Who and Bob Dylan, thereï¿Â½s so many. A tour with like thirty bands and we could all pick like six, thatï¿Â½s our dream tour.

– What would be your dream tour to watch?

Tom: Lenny Kravitz, pink Floyd and maybe a band called Long Ways, its weird music but that would be awesome to watch.

– What are you expecting for the upcoming tour?

Tom: we aren’t expecting much we want to get our music out as much as possible, and let word of our new record, but there might be shows that only 5 kids show up to. We just canï¿Â½t wait to get back on the road; we are expecting a good time.

– Any last words

Tom: buy our record, in a Chicago accent, its really good, you will like it, its something new and exciting, if your tired of screaming, youï¿Â½ll love it.

– Thanks.