Man on Fire was originally formed in 1986 under the name Section 8, when keyboardist/vocalist Jeff Hodges began a songwriting collaboration with guitarist/bassist Eric Sands. Classically trained, Jeff was looking for someone who could help mold his vision of 'Intelligent' rock music that challenged the listener while retaining strong melodies and musicianship that wasn’t afraid to call attention to itself. After recording a series of demo tapes the duo almost immediately gained airplay on WRAS/Album 88, the award winning radio station of Georgia State University. An early version of the song 'High' saw itself in heavy rotation for over nine months, due to the overwhelming listener response. In no time local clubs and promoters expressed interest in the band.
The time had come to expand from a studio project into a fully fleshed out band capable of playing out live. An early three piece version of the band debuted featuring James Clarke on drums and the band began to develop a strong local following as a live act. As the fan base grew so did the need for further expansion and the band drafted bassist Joey Fabian and drummer R.J. Vealey, two top studio session players. The late 80's and early 90's saw Section 8 develop a strong local following throughout the Atlanta club scene, playing at the city’s top venues and garnering accolades in the local press with top placings in regional Battle of the Bands contests and an invitation to perform when the city hosted the New South Music Showcase.
It was during this time that the band began to attract interest from a couple of the major American record labels. However, a big break with the majors was not to be, as they appeared only interested in recreating the band as bubble gum pop, choosing to ignore the neo-progressive elements that made the band stand out from all the others in the Southeast US at the time.
Next, the band recorded several tracks at Southern Tracks Studios with Greg Archilla (who has recently gained fame for his work with Collective Soul and Matchbox 20). Again, one of these cuts, 'In Motion' was placed into heavy rotation on Album 88 as well as WREK, the station for Georgia Tech. However, this would be the last time that the public would hear anything again under the name of Section 8.
Over the last year Eric and Jeff invested into the creation of a pair of state-of-the-art digital recording studios, one in each of their homes. Jeff's studio was dubbed Caffeine Trax Productions and Eric's became Laughing Gas Studios. As a result of this, the songwriting and production of new material became a very introspective process and the duo found themselves becoming more of a two man band than at any other time in their career. Eric took over the bass duties with a new emphasis on fretless work. At this same time, Eric and Jeff decided to put Section 8 to rest and Man on Fire was born. The band still continues to seek out additional top flight musicians to add breadth to their sound. Most recently the band has been working with studio drummer extraordinaire Jimmy Mouton, whose work is seen on the cut 'Just out of Reach' on their debut CD and who currently plays live with the band.
In October of 1997, Jeff and Eric decided to combine the production capabilities of their two studios, complete with adding the ability to master their own CDs. The next logical step was the formation of a record label that could benefit not only Man on Fire but serve as a platform for the launching of other bands, as well. Jeff and Eric tapped Steve Carroll to be the president of this new venture, which was christened October Records. Steve has been an integral part of the band since its inception, taking on various duties including management, booking, arranging, co-production and graphic design for all of the band’s promotional material. His artwork graces the band’s debut CD as well as Man On Fire's web pages. Man On Fire is currently hard at work at their second offering, with over 1/2 new material already produced and ready for the CD.