Dave Farrell - Drums, keys
Robert Kissinger - Bass
Ted Parker - Guitar, keys
Ann Yu - Vocals, guitar, keys

Ask any member of LoveLikeFire about why the band has become so strong, so quickly, and the answer will sound a bit like a confession: The music is a compulsion, they say. An inevitability. An obsession. In 2008, the four San Franciscans intend to pour that passion into a full-length debut disc. For now, though, LoveLikeFire is doing what it's always done: Playing shows wherever and whenever. Writing songs constantly. Clinging strongly to the idea that it's better to be good than lucky.

In 2007, the band self-booked and self-financed a nationwide tour, one that led from out-of-the-way towns to big-city music festivals and back again. Here's what audiences discovered: Vocalist/guitarist Ann Yu's voice is formidable and feminine, capable of punkish passion and dark rock drama; the rhythm section Dave Farrell and Robert Kissinger is exuberant, confident and well-schooled; and guitarist Ted Parker's riffs balance so many things -- accessibility and edge, clang and beauty, dexterity and spontaneity. And when there's a synth motif or a cello line in the mix, the execution is impeccable.

The media took notice, too:

"If this were the U.K., the British press would be argy-bargying over bragging rights for discovering this irresistible foursome from San Francisco. The band provide the surge to songs that engulf and heave you like a raging ocean." - LA Weekly

"Local Newbie LoveLikeFire has already racked up acheivements that plenty of veteran scenesters would kill for..the generally positive buzz for the band is well earned by the thoughtfully arranged, dynamic and dramatic indie rock." - The Onion

"LoveLikeFire frontwoman Ann Yu's tremulous, haunting vocal style combines elements of CocoRosie, Karen O and Portishead's Beth Gibbons, while the delicately woven threads of synthesizer, piano and guitar form an orchestral dream-pop tapestry." - Spin.com

LoveLikeFire represents a sincere choice for each of its members. For Yu, it started at age 15, when her parents ordered her never to pick up an instrument again. Years later, after secret guitar lessons and clandestine bedroom practice sessions gave way to the freedom of adulthood, she shed the notion that music was a useless diversion.

For Farrell, playing in a succession of "really heavy/hardcore bands" couldn't dampen his appreciation for Britpop. For Kissinger, a regular diet of thoughtful '90s indie rock eventually prompted an interest in lusher, more emotional sounds. And Parker, a bit of a musical omnivore, is primarily drawn to "melody and harmony ... the right few notes rubbing against each other." In late 2005, the pieces of LoveLikeFire began to come together, and the band was born in San Francisco in early 2006. They released two EPs--2006's Bed Of Gold and 2007's An Ocean In The Air--giving them irrepressible momentum. By the middle of 2007, it was obvious that they couldn't turn back.

"I live on this band's music, if I didn't have the band, I would be a shell of a person," Yu says. "It's the only way I can identify with other people around me, it's the only thing I can share with the people around me." Adds Parker: "It's a strange, semi-tortured existence in a way."

Kissinger is a little more blunt about it: "It's probably not healthy," he says, only half-joking. "In fact, it's definitely not healthy."