There’s a new combustible propellant creating shock-waves in the music industry that will be felt and heard for years to come.

The Pennsylvania-based foursome causing all the caustic commotion is the hard-rock rookie band Fuel.

The band’s story is an amazing one, to say the least. The group has gone from small town reveling to a nationwide stadium tour, sometimes headlining along the way.

Fuel even recorded, produced and promoted the band’s first CD, “Porcelain,” itself to the tune of over 10,000 copies sold independently.

But getting there was a hard- fought battle filled with bloody tales and a longing for home. Fuel’s lead singer Brett Scallions and bassist Jeff Abercrombie recalled the details from their tour bus before their show with Creed last Wednesday.

In The Beginning

“In the beginning,” Scallions said, “we basically played for nothing. You go out just because you wanna play, and now it’s like ‘Wow, I’m actually playing, and someone’s gonna pay me money.’ It’s just pure excitement.”

“I think you always want to be famous,” Abercrombie added. “At least for me anyway, I always wanted to play, and it’s what I lived for.”

Fuel formed nearly seven years ago in Tennessee. In the beginning it was lead guitarist Carl Bell and Abercrombie, along with drummer Kevin Miller. But the need for a strong vocalist brought in Scallions.

“Carl and Jeff have known each other since diapers,” Scallions explained. “I met Jeff a year before I joined the band through mutual friends when I was playing acoustic shows in a little town called Jackson, Tennessee.

“Whenever he’d come into town,” he continued, “he’d give me a call and we’d hang out. About a year after we met he asked me to join the band and I was like ‘Sure.’ We’ve been bashing it out for seven years now.”

Scallions said that music has always been a part of him. As a child, he lived and dreamed about music and performing in public.

These dreams spurred him to commit acts like hopping up on the mantle of the fireplace in his parents’ home and pretending he was Elvis.

“I grew up in Tennessee right outside of Memphis where Elvis and Tina Turner were powerhouses,” Scallions explained. “I’d have to say they’re in the veins somewhere.

“When I was a little kid,” he added, “my dad gave me a stack of records like Elton John, Three Dog Night, the Mamas and the Papas and the Beatles.

“I sat around and listened to that,” he said. “Then, as I grew older, I went through my Kiss phase, which my mom hated. But that’s the way it goes. You can’t stop things like that, I guess.”

Touring isn’t anything new to Fuel. That’s what got the group where it is today, but a lot of factors go into it that many people don’t realize.

Each of the band members comes from a family, and each has his own personal life (although they don’t see much of either of those at this point).

Yet, according to Scallions, without his family’s support he’d have gotten nowhere.

“I would definitely have to put my family up there on that one,” Scallions said, reflecting on who has helped him the most. “They’ve always been so supportive of everything that I do.

“A lot of times when people say ‘Mom and Dad, I wanna be a musician,’ it scares you,” he said, “because parents always dream of their sons and daughters growing up being doctors and lawyers, something with stability, and being a musician has no stability whatsoever.”

Supporting a heavy touring schedule also rips into the personal lives of the band. Despite the yearn for home and family, Fuel makes do with the band’s stressful situation.

“When you’re on the road,” Scallions stated, “you don’t have much of a personal life. You’re always transporting from city to city or doing a show or an interview. There’s not a whole lot of time for personal time.

“You always say, ‘Man, I wish I could stay home and hang out with my family more,’ but this is something that goes with the territory. You gotta bite the bullet and accept that this is what has to be done,” he added.

On Tour With Creed

Fuel began a nationwide tour this month with the enlightened rock band Creed, and that fact alone has helped boost Fuel’s level of popularity.

“Touring with Creed has been really good,” Scallions said. “We’re playing large, sold-out shows with responsive crowds that just love music. It seems like the crowds there for Creed have embraced us as well,” Scallions said.

Fuel’s live shows are an incredible experience. It’s an intense and physically draining workout for both the band and the fans as Fuel blasts forth from the stage with all the fury of an erupting volcano. Sometimes that energy gets the best of them.

“We were in Sacramento playing in a small club,” Scallions narrated, “and it was the very last song of the show. Carl got too close to me and I didn’t know he was there. He moved one way, and I moved the other, and the headstock of his guitar cracked me in the face.

“I got eight stitches right here,” Scallions said pointing to a fresh scar between his nose and upper lip. “My sinuses are still screwed up.”

That resulted in the cancellation of three shows and had Scallions confined to a hotel room for three days straight. He said it was really irritating because he really wanted to play but couldn’t.

Fuel is currently touring in support of the band’s latest and first major label release, “Sunburn.”

“We’ve had a couple of demos that we did on our own,” Scallions said. “We produced and mixed them, got them into stores and dealt with radio. Everything was done on our own.”

With “Sunburn,” it was time to go professional. So the band signed with 550 Music, a subsidiary of Sony Music.

“We were trying to capture the essence of the band,” Scallions commented, “and trying to create our sound like we do in live atmospheres. I think we came pretty close.

“They always say you are your worst critic,” he reflected. “I’m not disappointed with how it is, but then again, you always look at the little things and wish you could’ve done it differently,” Scallions said.

Fuel also contributed the song “Walk The Sky” to the highly acclaimed “‘Godzilla’ Soundtrack.” Scallions happily described the process of making a soundtrack song and working with Pearl Jam producer Brendan O’Brien.

“The president of Sony, Epic and 550 called us up and asked if we were interested in doing a song for the soundtrack,” he said.

“The day after that request was made, the song was written,” he continued. “We did a demo, flew to Atlanta, and totally redid the song in the studio there with a guy named Brendan O’Brien.

“It was great,” he concluded, “and there was such a cool vibe. The four members of the band and Brendan sat there, and the creative juices started flowing, and we pulled out a nice song.”

Peaks and Valleys

He also went into depth on the band’s songwriting process as well. Surprisingly, unlike most bands whose lead singer is usually the main songwriter, Fuel has a different approach. Lead guitarist Carl Bell is the brain behind the insightful lyrics and crushing music.

“When he writes a song, he sees the whole picture at times,” Scallions stated, “and then he’ll throw it down in front of us and we’ll add our stuff to it as well. I’ll write a bridge or we’ll all just work together. With Carl and I, we love fat guitars, and we also pride ourselves on vocal melody.”

Radio seems to have embraced the band’s first single, “Shimmer,” with its lighter sound and solemn message. Despite the song’s mild temper, making the video was a nightmare, according to Scallions.

“There was this large sheet of clear plastic on a metal frame behind us,” he explained, “and unfortunately it was a windy day, and with a huge sheet of plastic like that, obviously it’s gonna catch some wind. They told us ‘If you see that thing looking like its gonna fall, just run.’

“The worst part about making the video was that they had this huge light on me,” he added. “It had to be 120 to 130 degrees, and I was under that thing for like six hours straight.

“The left side of my face turned blood red,” he painfully described, “and, for like three days after that, I peeled nonstop. Like the Elephant Man or something.”

When it all comes down to it, Fuel is definitely what many would define as a “live band.” The group’s shows are constantly getting better and better as it tours the country.

“I think seeing people sing the words to the songs you’re playing is real flattering,” Abercrombie said. “I just tend to get in my own little world up there and don’t pay much attention to my surroundings.”

As the tour continues, Fuel will continue to retain its status as a hard rocking band that won’t yield to any obstacles that spring up along the way.

Scallions shared his philosophy of what is going to keep Fuel burning strong, and not fading out like many other one album bands.

“I think our music is strong,” he said, “and hopefully the general public will agree and enjoy it with us.

“We take things day by day and hope for the best,” he concluded. “You have dreams and hopes and goals, but you have to take every day with a grain of salt and just cross your fingers and dig in.”