Banding together at the start of the millennium in the southwestern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, Fire Extinguisher (or Fire EX. for short) earned their stripes as live performers long before releasing their first studio material. Co-founded in 2000 by school friends Sam (lead singer) and JC (bass guitar) alongside other since-departed members, the group eventually debuted in 2004 with “逆轉歌” – a collaboration between Sam and the frontman of heavy metal band ChthoniC – before going on to secure a strong foothold in both the punk and indie rock scenes. Their debut album, 2007’s Let’s Go!, led them to steadily amass a loyal following, while its follow-up, 2009’s Standing Here, hinted at a promising future for the group in light of the minor success of “Good Night! Formosa!” and “A Man on the Sea”. Continuing to make strides with a run of well-received albums, the group made their major breakthrough with 2014’s “Island’s Sunrise”, which served as the soundtrack to the influential Sunflower Student Movement protests and was subsequently performed at the 2016 inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen. Enjoying the effects of this increased exposure, the group released a new LP entitled Begin the Second Half in 2017, which produced a huge hit in the form of the two-time Golden Melody Award-nominated single “Southbound Night Bus”. In 2020, they returned with Unsung Heroes, which spawned the lead single "City of Sadness” and saw Sam flexing his multilingual credentials, singing in Japanese on numerous tracks.
