Nabil (L) and Matt (R) of Florida band, I Set My Friends on Fire. ISMFOF's first show will be at Bamboozle fest May 3-4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Photo and song, "ASL," .courtesy of I Set My Friends on Fire

The band I Set My Friends on Fire, formed in late August of 2007. They are made up of only two members, Nabil*, who handles all the instruments, programming, recording, mixing, along with some vocals, and Matt*, who is the vocalist and writes the songs. They currently reside in Miami, Florida, the duo previously played the band called We Are the Cavalry. After two years of playing music with We Are the Cavalry, the group disbanded for unknown reasons. After a short period Nabil and Matt formed ISMFOF “because they like to work with no boundaries and make music that defies conventional genres.” In early September they released their first single, a hardcore/screamo version of Soulja Boy’s “Crank Dat,” which they renamed “Crank Dat Cavalry Boy.”

As soon as they posted their cover of the popular hip-hop song, it was a huge hit. “People wanted it so badly that our myspace account was hacked and people were bootlegging the track on Limewire,” states their manager Kamal* through an email conversation. With a huge international hit and a steadily growing fan base, ISMFOF was on top of the underground world. Then, a metaphorical atom bomb dropped. Myspace artist relations deleted their page, accusing them of paying a company to increase their daily plays. At that point they were getting about 50,000 plays a day. Not long after their page was deleted, dozens of fake ISMFOF pages popped up. Shocked at the untrue accusations, they contacted Myspace artist relations and got their page back and had the fakes deleted.

With their hit song, “Crank Dat Cavalry Boy,” they decided to continue recording and put out two more songs which are called “ASL” and “Beauty is in the eye of the Beerholder,” which has already grown to well over one million plays. Music hungry fans craved for more, so they released another song called “HXC 2-step.” “Which we’ve often referred to as the “joke” song because it was just done for fun of it.” All of their songs are now available on iTunes and SnoCap for $.99 each. The easiest place to purchase their music is at SnoCap. Also, iTunes sells the songs for the same price.

Just recently, they were offered a merchandising deal with District Lines Clothing, which was sealed only weeks ago. Their shirts and sweaters can now be purchased at District Lines Clothing online.

ISMFOF has been booked to play their first show at the widely popular Bamboozle Festival in New Jersey with bands like A Day to Remember, Senses Fail, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. The Bamboozle Fest is a two day concert that features over a hundred bands held in East Rutherford, New Jersey on May 3-4 and Irvine, California(April 5-6). You can learn more about Bamboozle at their website located on the bottom of the page.

Quick Links:
I Set My Friends on Fire - www.isetmyfriendsonfire.com or www.myspace.com/isetmyfriendsonfire
Bamboozle Fest - www.thebamboozle.com or www.thebamboozleleft.com
District Lines Clothing - www.districtlines.com

*Disclaimer- I Set My Friends On Fire has asked that their last names be withheld.