FireBug pours blues guitar and rock drums into experimental, haunting and belting vocal productions. The Joshua Tree band’s new single, “Time Marches On,” explores a series of trippy desert disco vibes.
The band is set to perform at Pappy and Harriet’s on Thursday, July 17. During a recent interview with Juliette Tworsey and Jules Shapiro, the duo behind FireBug, they reflected on past performances at Pappy’s.
“The first time that we were ever brought up to the high desert (was after) producer Chris Goss (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age) saw us at the Viper Room when we were living in L.A.,” Shapiro said. “This was a little over 10 years ago, and he brought us up, and our first Pappy’s gig was at that time. He brought us up to record at Rancho de la Luna. … Then we played with Flames of Durga, like in 2022 or 2023.”
Tworsey and Shapiro are high desert denizens, after living in Los Angeles and New Orleans. The musicians have taken note of how the desert has impacted their creative output.
“It’s totally different than living in a city,” Tworsey said. “It’s a different way of life. Everything’s more sparse, and it’s a lot quieter. There’s more space and nature, so that’s worked its way into some of the songs that we’ve written. The nighttime skies and the stars really help creativity.”
Desert-rock history runs deep, with many talents contributing to the creation of a genre and a scene. FireBug’s song “Run” hones in on the heavy yet spacey desert-rock vibe, and kickstarted a series of connections for the duo among legends of the Coachella Valley/high desert music community.
“That (song) kind of brought us into the realm—the desert rock thing going on there,” Shapiro said. “Chris blended his ideas with our full band at the time. We did a few songs with him. … There’s a lot of history in the desert. I’ve learned a lot just living out there about the different bands that started in the early ’80s with Kyuss and Yawning Man, and all these other bands. We weren’t really that familiar with a lot of that stuff before. We got to meet Josh Homme (Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age), and he came by for a mixing session with the guys. We’ve made some really good connections and met some great people since we first came here.”
Shapiro agreed that the desert has an alluring quality.
“A long time ago, we opened up for Donovan, from the ’60s, and he lived up there for a long time,” Shapiro said. “It’s kind of cool to have this blend, going way back to Gram Parsons and all that stuff. We love to be a part of it. It’s nice to have all that history and to be able to create in this special place.”
New single “Time Marches On” started with Tworsey practicing on the keyboard.
“Sometimes I alternate the way I rehearse,” Tworsey said. “Sometimes I use sheet music to try to practice playing piano and reading, and then I’ll take breaks from that and just play stuff where I don’t even know what I’m doing. I was improvising this piano part, and this one seemed to kind of stick. I kept coming back to it, and I came up with a melody, and I started playing and singing it, and Jules came in from the other room and said, ‘What is that? I really like that. It’s different and unique.’”
“Not everything makes it into the so-called list of songs that we play or record, because some are better than others, but this one stuck. It just so happened to be a little bit different. Working with Jordan Lawlor (producer for Beck, M83, Deftones), he put his own flavor on it as well, so that took it even into another direction.”
The single drop is being accompanied by the premiere of a music video. Directed by Joe Rubinstein, the video showcases the band performing their song as psychedelic visuals and nature sights dominate the frame.
“Joe Rubinstein, he edited the video as well, but he worked on the last single for Flames of Durga, the song ‘Bicker,’” Shapiro said. “We had ideas and were going back and forth. We tried to be as creative as we could within one space, and just try to make things visually cool and fun to watch. I think we accomplish that pretty well, and it keeps your attention.”
The members of FireBug are celebrating another big accomplishment. The new Apple TV+ series Smoke, created by Dennis Lehane (The Wire, Black Bird), features the FireBug jam “Moment of Joy.” Tworsey explained that song placement and syndication on streaming services are new forms of “making it” in the music biz.
“It’s very difficult to make money as a musician, and break into the industry,” Tworsey said. “Sync placement is great. We’re super-stoked about this and the Apple TV placement. We’re just hoping that we can continue to create music and record quality material. We hope that this is the start of more placements.”
Tworsey and Shapiro wanted to express their appreciation for their live band members, Robert Bowman and Tyler Ontiveros.
“Rob and Tyler are our rhythm section, and we’re really happy to have those two on board with us,” Shapiro said. “We haven’t played out as a full band in quite a while, so this is our first full lineup show. Everybody’s sounding really good—so come on out!”
FireBug is set to perform at 9 p.m., Thursday, July 17, at Pappy and Harriet’s, at 53688 Pioneertown Road, in Pioneertown. Flames of Durga and Asher Moss are set to open. Tickets are $20.21. For tickets and more information, visit pappyandharriets.com.
