Napier band Black Smoke Trigger hitting big-time recording EP in US

All four members of Black Smoke Trigger - vocalist Baldrick, guitarist Charlie Wallace, bassist Dan Fulton and drummer Josh Te Maro - hail from the Hawke's Bay music scene.

Hawke's Bay four-piece hard rock band Black Smoke Trigger are gunning for a banger EP with some big-time collaborations.

Among those is producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has worked with Alice in Chains, Foo Fighters and Halestorm.

His Rock Falcon studio is hosting the band as they work through this month to record their first official EP and second release.

All four members of the lineup - vocalist Josh "Baldrick" Rasmussen, guitarist Charlie Wallace, bassist Dan Fulton and drummer Josh Te Maro - hail from the Hawke's Bay music scene and formed the band in Napier.

The band's rise has been meteoric, going from releasing their first EP Set It Off three months after forming in 2019 to being poised for their first US tour and show at Whiskey A GoGo in 2021 before Covid restrictions postponed those plans.

Set It Off was the Billboard charts' No 12 in Hard Rock Album sales, No 13 in Heatseekers Albums, No 46 in Rock Album Sales, No 6 in Heatseekers South Atlantic and No 43 in Independent Album sales.

Wallace said Set It Off showed their rock influences and the new record will be representative of who Black Smoke Trigger are now as a band who have come into their own as songwriters.

Black Smoke Trigger with producer Nick Raskulinecz (centre). They are recording an EP at his Rock Falcon Studio in Nashville.

He said while the band don't know what their singles will be yet, they definitely have plans to record more ambitious music videos like Caught in the Undertow.

"Once we know what the singles are we are going to come up with as many f***** up ideas as we can."

They are managed by Andy Gould of Spectacle entertainment group and co-managed by Nico Golfar.

Gould has worked with Pantera, Linkin Park and Rob Zombie.

"We couldn't have asked to have better management, they're fantastic guys," Wallace said.