Fire on Dawson is a German rock band from Karlsruhe, Germany, formed in 2006. The current line-up consists of Indian vocalist Ankur Batra, bassist Martin Sonntag, guitarist Markus Stricker and drummer Max Siegmund.
Since its formation, Fire on Dawson has released two full-length studio album ('Prognative' & '7 Billion and a Nameless Somebody') and one EP ' Seven Symptoms'. Though initially starting out as an experimental funk metal project, the band has over time developed a unique alternative/progressive rock sound, aided by the various musical and cultural influences the different band members have brought along with them. The sound of the band is characterised by their determination to not stick to one particular style which allows them to explore the entire spectrum. This, coupled with the vocal and lyrical ability of frontman Ankur Batra, has placed Fire on Dawson at the forefront of their genre in the European music scene.
Fire on Dawson's second full-length album, '7 Billion and a Nameless Somebody' (released on 31 July 2012), has been highly lauded worldwide, with many leading magazines and music journalists particularly impressed by the band's creativity and original sound. The release is the follow-up to the band's critically acclaimed debut album 'Prognative' (2010).
History
Formation and the early years (2005-07) In October 2005, friends Martin Sonntag and Moritz Lietzenmayer, who were studying at the University of Karlsruhe at the time, decided to start a band project to offer a release for their musicianship. They recruited Chilean-German guitarist Nicolas Morales Ocampo, introduced to them by a common friend, thereby completing the trio that was to be called 'Band Karlsruhe'. The initial direction the band project took was more towards crossover/funk rock/funk metal, due to Ocampo being heavily influenced by South American music.
After playing together for a few months, the trio decided to include a singer to the line-up. However, auditions to find a new frontman were at the time largely fruitless. The band then put up flyers at their University, which were noticed by a friend of Batra's. Batra, a mechanical engineering student at the university, was called up for an audition and the 18yr old managed to impress the band with his vocal skills, with some sources stating he delivered Staind's 'Outside', while others claiming that, Ankur, a longtime Dream Theater fan, performed the song 'Another Day' at the audition.
With the quartet complete, they set out to work on some new material. The addition of Batra, however, had marked the beginning of a gradual change in the musical direction of the band, towards a more alternative/grunge rock sound.
'Fire on Dawson' (2007-08) For the next year, the band was busy writing new songs with the aim of getting to perform them live. However, as the band members were all still students, they had to juggle their time between their studies and the band. In an interview Martin Sonntag stated, “We were all students at the time, enrolled in challenging courses at one of the most prestigious Universities in Europe. So naturally we also had other things on our mind than just music. The band for us, then, was just a way to hang out and have some fun. We hadn't really thought about music as a career at that point.”
In early 2007, the band added Manuel Odendahl as a second guitarist to their line-up, mainly to give Ocampo more freedom to work on solos. Odendahl, also an electronic music DJ, had had experience with home recordings before and during his short tenure with the band, the band recorded its first 3 song-demo CD. Batra stated in a 2009 interview, "We had just recorded our first Demo and it was pretty darn exciting to listen to ourselves over the sound system. It obviously sounded like crap you know, it was our first recording ever. But we didn’t care. It was our creation and we were proud."