Who, you my ask, is The Bonfire Set?

The short answer is that The Bonfire Set is a young, seven-member Reno, Nevada-based congregation with a new debut EP, On the Road, that resonates with familiar contemporary folk rock tones and flavors. But they're something distinctive as well, especially as they represent a generation you wouldn't expect to be saying the things they do.

For one example, the title song is an obvious homage to Jack Kerouac, blending vocal harmonies with '60s vibes. Speaking of the '60s, Jamil Apostol, vocalist and acoustic guitarist for the group, says the song "Nuclear Love" is "a love song/anti-war song with two lovers 'holding hands in the ashes . swimming in the depths of liquid napalm.'" Likewise, "Red Roses" is a song about a breakup as a result of war. Sound a bit like what they used to call protest music back in the day?

Lyrically, there's a lot of social commentary in the seven songs of On the Road. In fact, On the Road is one of those collections with an upbeat, often poppy sound that almost masks the philosophical musings of the words. For Apostol, the EP is unified by recurring themes in "a story line of a character trying to make it in this world, despite being bombarded by attachment to war, relationships. etc." This character ponders much on the meaning of mortality as in the optimistic opening track, "Few Years," which notes we will all turn to dust, be bogged down in the 9-to-5 world, but all turns out fine in the end. Likewise, "Mammoth" is "about making good memories while on the path to enlightenment - 'As we drove toward the Light.'" Or "City Lights," which is "about remaining eternal through old memories." In short, this isn't a set of simple observational or confessional stories but is rather very accessible music with a spiritual bent.

To dig into what The Bonfire Set is all about, I decided to ask Apostol to describe just who the band is, what inspires it, and what it is trying to do. Here's what he had to say.

How did The Bonfire Set come together?

We've been childhood friends for the most part. It wasn't until a trip to Coachella 2013 that we wanted to form a band. It was such an enlightening experience that we decided that that could be us headlining the main stage one day if we worked hard enough. Ryan had never even touched a bass until the band formed! We've been a band for about 16 months now.

Who are the members?

Beyond myself, our current roster includes Kirsten Crom (keys/vocals), Nathan DePaoli (drums), Casey Frasca (electric guitar/vocals), Denise Julian (vocals/percussion), Ryan Widmer (bass), and Patrick Zbella (electric guitar).

With that many personalities, I suspect everyone has their own sources of inspiration with a variety of tastes.

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Music Interview: Reno's The Bonfire Set Puts the Contemporary in Contemporary Folk Rock