Die So Fluid
Die So Fluid are the modern incarnation of a ‘power trio’. Their sound is a harmonic mixture of metal riffs, post-punk eclecticism and bittersweet grungesque melody. They are part of the first wave of bands to turn down signing a traditional record deal and embrace the changes the internet has made to the industry by stripping record companies of their distribution and promotion monopolies. Die So Fluid therefore retain ownership of all their recordings and copyright of all their songs.
Die So Fluid first surfaced in 2001, touring the country in the wake of their debut e.p. ‘Operation Hypocrite’, released on Sanctuary. They released a further single, ‘Suck Me Dry’ with Sanctuary before forming their own label, Cartesian, and releasing their third single ‘Disconnected’.
In 2004 Cartesian released the band’s debut album, ’Spawn of Dysfunction’ in the UK. The album was universally well received and is still selling through the major chains of the UK and iTunes worldwide. Promotion of ’Spawn of Dysfunction’ almost solely relied on the band touring the UK which they did tirelessly, turning up for over 300 shows between 2003 and 2006.
Apart from pursuing a campaign of playing their own shows off the beaten track Die So Fluid supported bands like Drowning Pool, Vex Red, Clawfinger, Boy Hits Car, Feeder and The Wildhearts.
Further promotion of the album came from a single release of the title track licensed to Retinue records which was supported with a video featuring the babes and the fighters of a metal wrestling event.
Recording for ‘Not Everybody Gets a Happy Ending’ started in 2005 with the album’s opening track ‘Gang Of One’. The finished recording was so good it actually caused a crisis within the band as they mutually agreed the song was the pinnacle of what they had been trying to achieve musically on ’Spawn Of Dysfunction’. But in the end it was this realization that freed them to explore a wider range of influences and styles. So, songs like ‘Existential Baby’ and ‘Test Confessional’ draw on Al’s ska background and ‘Throw you away’ features an Egyptian string arrangement thanks to one of Drew’s colleagues in, Gypsy troupe, The Death Orchestra. The finished record is the product of multiple sessions scattered over a two year period. This ungainly recording schedule was adopted because the record was being financed by royalties from ‘spawn’ - as they trickled in. For ‘Not Everybody Gets a Happy Ending’ Mark Williams was back in the producer’s chair at his new premises in the legendary Battery studios building in north west London. The title track was partly fuelled by the long drawn out recording process and, at the time, no prospect of a release.
That changed in 2007 when the band crossed paths with George Jackson, ex tour manager to the likes of Bad Company, he had been exiled in Finland since 1975 after a row over a drinks bill with, his then employer, David Essex. Now a label boss George still had a decent set of screwdrivers and was hungry for revenge. Sharing the band’s maverick approach and willingness to exploit a record industry in freefall, a new backer was found and finally ‘Not Everybody Gets a Happy Ending’ got permission to step out of the transporter beam and materialize as flesh and blood.
First single ‘Happy Halloween’ was released worldwide on iTunes on November 2nd and coincided with a Halloween festival appearance in Helsinki and Die So Fluid’s portrait by Paul Harries appearing on Finnish postal stamps. The esteemed rock photographer, and long time associate of the band, also directed the video for the single ‘Existential Baby’.
The album ‘Not Everybody Gets a Happy Ending’ was released on 25th February 2008.
'The World Is Too Big for One Lifetime' was released in June 2010 on the Global Music DR2 label. As with previous releases it received very strong reviews from the alternative press whilst mostly slipping under the radar of the mainstream media. The album has kept a steady presence in specialist sales charts, such as Amazon's alternative metal chart, and in a diverse selection of territories thanks mainly to consistent touring, word of mouth and support from the alternative press and webzines. They have also proven themselves to be very adept at crossing over to quite different music audiences whether it be the goths of the Wave-Gotik-Treffen or the classic rock fans of Hard Rock Hell or the indie pop fans when supporting Mindless Self Indulgence. Two singles were drawn from The World Is Too Big for One Lifetime - Mercury and What a Heart Is For. The singles were available for download only and accompanied by videos shot by director David Kenny.
The Opposites Of Light was released on 5 May 2014. The release of the album is staggered to coincide with tours in various territories. Writing and pre-production was completed in early 2012 and recording started in earnest in December 2012. Drums, Bass and Strings were recorded at Unit 2, West London, Guitars recorded at Drew's studio in North London and Vocals were recorded by Grog at home in Los Angeles. Initially scheduled to be a double album 18 songs were recorded but this was reduced to 16 tracks for the final cut. Still described as an album of two halves tracks 1-8 are grouped under the name 'Shakura’ and tracks 9-16 are‘Pah’. These are the Solar and Lunar deities of the matriarchal Pawnee Native Americans. Shakura encompasses the hard rock sounds traditionally associated with Die So Fluid whilst Pah delves into more demure, slower tempo songs. This is the first album entirely produced by the band. Mixing was divided between Mark Williams and Drew Richards and also one track being mixed by Sylvia Massy and Ian Rickard. On 6 November a video for the first track to be released from this album, entitled 'Black Blizzard' was released on YouTube.
In April a second video off the album for 'Comets' was released. In August, the video for 'Landslides' was uploaded to YouTube. The video for the opening track to The Opposites of Light, 'Nightmares' was released in early November. In January 2015 the band embarked on a long overdue tour of the USA in support of Wednesday 13 and followed it up with a shorter west coast tour in support of The Dreaming. A more extensive June tour with The Dreaming had to be shelved due to budget constraints. The band returned home and began writing songs for their fifth album. In October 2015 an announcement was made via the band's website of the retirement of their long-time manager George Jackson and the appointment of their new manager Gordon Biggins at Strata Music.
On 25 July 2016, drummer Al Fletcher died from "double pneumonia followed by sepsis in a rare reaction to an infection".
According to a 2017 press release, the remaining band members Grog & Mr Drew stepped back to contemplate not only the meaning of life; but the meaning of their band, their music and their future. Al had been a huge part of Die So Fluid's sound. He'd won a Grammy for his drumming and his finesse, thunder, power, enthusiasm & creativity always enhanced the band's rough, tough, soaring, bittersweet rock songs.
At the time of his death Grog and Mr Drew had written a bunch of songs for a new album but nothing had been recorded. After a period of reflection, they went back to the drawing board. They had a lot more to say.
They wrote new songs. No holds barred. Harder, heavier, faster, punkier. No filler. No fat. No f*cking around. Life is short. Why wait for tomorrow?
To paraphrase the lyrics from new song Tomorrow Doesn't Always Come:
'You could sleepwalk all your life
And never learn how to run
Don't say tomorrow.
Tomorrow doesn't always come'
They asked Justin Bennett (Skinny Puppy, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult) to play drums on the new album, announced as ONE BULLET FROM PARADISE. Grog recorded bass & vocals in LA, Mr Drew recorded guitars, synths, loops and noises in London and Justin recorded the drums in Bologna, Italy.
The single 'Bittersweet' was released on 7 April 2017. The band also shared an early version of a song from the upcoming album 'Born to Kill'.
In August 2017, the band announced a limited edition pre-order for fifth album ONE BULLET FROM PARADISE. The special edition includes a previously unreleased live album DRAW A LINE AND CROSS IT. Two songs from the new album can be also be heard on the pre-order page at Pledge Music.
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