By ANN TOINEETA
One Feather Intern
First Floor Highway, Albuquerque’s “Indigenous inspirited rock band,” is back with their new single, “Bring the Ruin” just three months after the release of their debut album, “Under the Sun”. The band, which consists of lead vocalist Jordan O. James, guitarist Daniel Coburn, bassist Joey Monaco, and drummer Dan Sandweiss, is bringing an alternative-country-rock sound to the Indigenous music scene.
Released on July 13, “‘Bring the Ruin’ is a song about people who know they’re terrible for each other but can’t quite stop coming back, and a reckoning that sometimes the only way forward is through the ruin itself. Equal parts introspective and defiant, the single reflects the resilience, hope, and determination that have become hallmarks of First Floor Highway’s songwriting,” according to the band’s press release.
Jordan O. James, a member of the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa, is the lead vocalist for Albuquerque-based First Floor Highway. (Photo by Rachel Jump)
Jordan O. James, a member of the Grand Portage Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe who has lived in New Mexico since 1994, explained what the process for making the song was like. “Bring the Ruin” was originally created by Blood for Soil, a Native American band fronted by a Diné artist named Dale Deforest. James adapted the song by rearranging the lyrics and writing a new third verse.
“We kind of built a whole new song around the idea of the lyrics from that original song,” James said. “We completely rewrote the tune and completely evolved it from scratch. It was a really nice way to pay homage to another Native American band while not being a cover.”
Though the band typically writes the music for their songs first instead of the lyrics, they are very open to new ideas and experimenting. All the members work together to create their music.
“If something has legs, we’ll all come together and work on it. If something doesn’t quite jell, but it’s a really good start to something, we’ll put it on the back burner and maybe check out the vibe at a later time,” James said. “The interesting thing about this tune is that it was written in reverse from how we normally do things.”
“Bring the Ruin” is First Floor Highway’s first song to feature their new lead guitarist, Daniel Coburn. James described Coburn as not only an amazing guitarist who has added a new sound to the band, but also a great guy to be around. Coburn’s sound is a steppingstone in the new direction the band is going.
“We specifically asked him to join the band because he just has a really amazing alternative-country-rock twang about his guitar playing,” James said. “We thought that would really complement this kind of Middle of the Road-Tom Petty rock and roll thing that we do. ‘Bring the Ruin ‘ is definitely the biggest thing that’s pointing where we’re going next as far as the band because his guitar playing and his guitar work really represents a slight pivot in what we’ve been doing.”
In the lyrics of “Bring the Ruin”, First Floor Highway draws on memes about Native dating. The song reflects both the humor and sadness that comes with joking about toxic relationships.
“There’s a ton of really funny memes about when winter is coming and we start talking about ‘shack up season’ or ‘you can tell a rez girl really loves you by how mean she is to you,’” James said. “The lyrics to this song really tapped into the creative spirit of what those comments are about Native life in the modern world. Even though the lyrics themselves don’t really have anything specific that’s Indian about them, they’re kind of telling this foundational story about the Indigenous experience. It was what’s simmering underneath a song.”
First Floor Highway does not just put out music; they are also passionate about being a part of the growing conversation about modern Native American art. They support other Native American bands by organizing shows for them to play together and encouraging other Native artists to join the movement.
“If there’s anyone out there that’s ever trying to figure out how to get started, how to get music released, how to express themselves creatively, and just take part in this Indian art conversation, you can always reach out to me because I’m happy to be part of the community and help others try to figure out how to get their voice out into this conversation as well,” James said. “Yeah, we’re a band, we’re creating sonic art, we’re putting our vision out there, what we want to say and how we want to sound, but we’re also trying to build community at the same time and then create a platform for other people who also want to take part in this conversation.”
Stay tuned for First Floor Highway’s next singles, “Way More Rezy” coming out in August and “Mary Ann” coming out in September. The band is also consistently playing shows in the Southwestern region of the U.S. with many of them being in New Mexico.
“Bring the Ruin” is available on all streaming platforms and can be downloaded for free at www.1stflrhwy.com.
