About Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit , Dallas Green , Wade MacNeil , Chris Steele and Jordan Hastings . The band has won numerous awards, and in Canada their albums have all been certified either gold or platinum.
Alexisonfire was formed in late 2001 in the aftermath of a three-band break up. Pettit was playing guitar in a metal band called Condemning Salem, Green was lead singer and guitar player in Helicon Blue, and MacNeil and Steele played in a punk band called Plan 9. These bands broke up at the same time, and Pettit, Steele, MacNeil and Green recruited drummer Jesse Ingelevics, and formed Alexisonfire. The band's name was derived from Alexis Fire, a pornographic actress. When Fire discovered that they were using her website name as their band name, she threatened to sue, but it was discovered that the moniker was not registered, and no further action took place.
In 2002, the band released its first EP, Math Sheets Demo, so named because the CD was wrapped in Jesse Ingelevics' math homework. This caught the attention of recording engineer Greg Below and Montreal journalist Mitch Joel, who were setting up the record label Distort Entertainment and were looking for artists. Below was also working with EMI, which allowed the band to record at the company's in-house studio, and land a co-publishing and distribution deal.
On October 31, 2002, Alexisonfire was released. Although there was a distribution deal with EMI, the album's success was mostly attributed to word-of-mouth. They had already been playing dates in Ontario and New York with bands like GWAR, Juliana Theory and Glassjaw; 2003 saw them touring in support of the album, crossing Canada twice, playing with Spitalfield and Billy Talent, appearing at Hellfest, and touring Europe with Rise Against.
In October 2005, Alexisonfire was certified gold in Canada, marking over 50,000 sales.
At the 2004 Canadian Independent Music Awards, the video for the album's song "Pulmonary Archery" won Best Video. They were named Favourite Indie Band at the CASBY Awards, and the video for the song "Counterparts and Number Them" was nominated for Best Independent Video at the MuchMusic Video Awards.
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