Fictionist might call Utah its home base, but now it will be heading to the East Coast to open for Neon Trees.
Fictionist will be the opening act, along with the Nashville-based band COIN, for 12 of Neon Trees’ shows in cities on the East Coast ranging from Atlanta to New York.
Fictionist recently played several shows at the SXSW (South by South West) music festival in Austin, Texas.
Andrew Maxfield, a BYU adjunct professor and head of marketing for Fictionist, said having the band open for Neon Trees is a great opportunity to showcase its music and talent to a broader audience.
Maxfield said other Provo bands can follow in Fictionist’s footsteps by putting in hard work and years of dedication to lead to future success.
“It shows that local bands, if they put in hard work, they can make it big nationally as well,” Maxfield said.
Lead singer Kimball Barker, from the Provo band Red Yeti, said he has been a huge fan of the band since its beginning, when it was known as Good Morning Maxfield.
These days Barker says Fictionist inspires him to become a better musician himself.
“They inspire me as an artist, because they are so honest,” Barker said. “The music they write, you can just tell that it’s not trying to be anything else but Fictionist.”
According to Fictionist’s website, the band “formed in 2008, when Stuart Maxfield, Brandon Kitterman and Robbie Connolly were introduced to keyboardist Jacob Jones (who recently departed) and drummer Aaron Anderson, longtime friends and Sacramento natives.” It has previously opened for headliner bands such as Neon Trees, Imagine Dragons, Vampire Weekend, Young the Giant and Shiny Toy Guns.
Fictionist will be heading back to Utah to play the Front Conference on June 18, the Utah Arts Festival on June 25 in Salt Lake City and the Daybreak Music Festival in South Jordan on June 27.
