Fireside

Emerging from Sweden in the early 1990s, punk outfit Fireside embodied the stark northern terrain of their origins. Pelle Gunnerfeldt, a former pro-skateboarder turned full-time guitarist, joined Kristofer Astrom on guitar and vocals, Per Nordmark on drums, and Frans Johansson on bass to shape a wave of later Swedish hardcore acts such as Refused, International Noise, Conspiracy, and Cobalt. The group’s link to Crank! Records started in 1997 after “Headacher” opened the label’s Don’t Forget to Breathe compilation, leading Crank! to sign the band the moment its prior agreement with American lapsed.