Editing Firehose (band) (section)

==History==
Firehose was formed in the spring of 1986 shortly after the accidental death of [[D. Boon]] brought an end to Watt and Hurley's previous band, [[Minutemen (band)|Minutemen]]. Crawford, a then 21-year-old [[Ohio State University|Ohio State]] student and Minutemen fan, was invited up on the roof of [[Camper Van Beethoven]]'s van in Columbus, Ohio.<ref>{{cite web
 |last        = Lowery
 |first       = David
 |author-link  = David Lowery (musician)
 |title       = The Van Part 1: When I Win The Lottery I'm Gonna Buy a New Van
 |work        = 300 Songs
 |publisher   = WordPress.com
 |date        = September 8, 2010
 |url         = http://300songs.com/2010/09/08/46-the-van-part-1-when-i-win-the-lottery-im-gonna-buy-a-new-van/
 |access-date  = September 8, 2010
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20100912034135/http://300songs.com/2010/09/08/46-the-van-part-1-when-i-win-the-lottery-im-gonna-buy-a-new-van/
 |archive-date = September 12, 2010
}}</ref> The members of Camper Van Beethoven told Crawford a false rumor that Watt and Hurley were auditioning guitarists for the band.<ref name="burnsilver">{{cite web|last=Burnsilver|first=Glenn|title=fIREHOSE's Ed Crawford: "It Was Our Job. We F**kin' Showed Up Every Day."|url=https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/firehoses-ed-crawford-it-was-our-job-we-f-kin-showed-up-every-day-6604611|website=[[Phoenix New Times]]|date=April 10, 2012|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>  Crawford, having found Watt's phone number in the phone book, called him up and expressed his desire to come out to California and play with them.<ref name="fluke">{{cite journal | last =Thompson  | first =Matthew | title =edFROMOHIO | journal =Fluke Fanzine | volume =1 | issue =11 | pages =3–7 | date =2013 | language =en | url =http://www.flukefanzine.com/p/issues_9.html | access-date = March 27, 2019}}</ref> Still mourning the loss of his best friend Boon, Watt initially was not interested and had lost much of his desire to play music;<ref>{{cite web|title=varmintcong.com presents: an interview with fIREHOSE|url=https://www.varmintcong.com/firehoseinterview.htm|publisher=Varmintcong.com|date=November 11, 1986|access-date=March 27, 2019|archive-date=February 29, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160229112349/http://varmintcong.com/firehoseinterview.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> however, Crawford's persistence eventually paid off when he showed up unannounced in [[San Pedro, Los Angeles|San Pedro]] and asked Watt for the chance to come over and play for him.<ref name="fluke"/> Watt eventually agreed and the two met with Crawford "auditioning" for Watt by playing him [[The Who]]'s "[[I'm One]]," as well as a few Minutemen songs.<ref name="fluke"/> Impressed with Crawford's passion and enthusiasm, Watt and Hurley agreed to give the inexperienced "kid" from Ohio a shot and the band was formed. Crawford quickly relocated to San Pedro where he became known as ed fROMOHIO and spent nine months sleeping under a desk in Watt's one-bedroom apartment. The name of the band was taken from a short film of [[Bob Dylan]] doing "[[Subterranean Homesick Blues]]" as Watt thought it was funny when Dylan held up a cue card for the lyric that said "firehose". The name is stylized as "fIREHOSE" with a lowercase ''f'' as a subtle tribute to the Minutemen whose logo was an all caps MINUTEMEN.<ref name="burnsilver"/>

The band played their first gig in June 1986 and by the end of the year released their debut album, ''[[Ragin', Full On]]'' via the independent label, [[SST records|SST]]. That same year, they also supported [[Sonic Youth]] on their "Flaming Telepaths Tour". The band quickly gained a loyal fanbase especially among the underground skateboarding crowd thanks in part to the inclusion of some of their early material in several key skateboarding videos from the late 1980s. "Brave Captain" from ''[[Ragin', Full On]]'', as well as "Sometimes", "Hear Me", and "Windmilling" from their sophomore release, ''[[If'n]]'' were all featured in the [[Santa Cruz Skateboards]] video series, "Streets on Fire".

Over the course of seven and a half years, the band developed their own musical identity apart from Minutemen while still maintaining the same dynamic synthesis of punk, funk, and free jazz.<ref name="burnsilver"/> They toured non-stop and consistently played to packed audiences. All in all, Firehose played 980 gigs, released five full-length albums and two EPs before disbanding in 1994. They played their final gig on February 12, 1994, at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California.

In an interview with ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' Watt declared "Most bands tour to promote records. We make records to promote tours."<ref name="AVClub">{{cite news|last=Murray|first=Noel|title=fIREHOSE's new box set showcases a band that was at its best onstage|url=https://www.avclub.com/firehose-s-new-box-set-showcases-a-band-that-was-at-its-1798230793|newspaper=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=April 4, 1012|access-date=March 27, 2019}}</ref>