Angel Marcloid (born September 24, 1984), best known by her main pseudonym and project Fire-Toolz, is an American

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...

multi-instrumentalist, record producer, mix and mastering engineer, and visual artist who creates music blending a number of different genres.

Biography

Angel Marcloid (full name: Angelia Faye Marcloid) was born on September 24, 1984 at a hospital in

Prince Frederick, Maryland Prince Frederick is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Calvert County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Prince Frederick was 3,226, up from 2,538 in 2010. It is the county seat of Ca ...

. Her parents were music enthusiasts who listened to

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche () is an American progressive metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one Extended play, EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record ...

, Winger, Rush,

Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ch ...

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards). Dream Theat ...

RATT Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

, and various other

hair metal Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

, and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

bands. She made her first drum sets with pots, pans, and trash cans when she was very young. She performed live for the first time as a drummer when she was 7 years old, and formed her first band at 8 years old. The band was called Eye Forgot, featuring GRAMMY-Winning LA session musician Andrew Synowiec on guitar. Marcloid later taught herself to play guitar and bass. Her music taste began to expand as she started listening to traditional

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

, and

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

. She has performed under more than a dozen

pseudonyms A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's ow ...

since the 1990s, and has played in multiple bands, including Age Sixteen, Lilu Dallas, Sawhorse (MD), and A Perfect Kiss. Marcloid created her project Fire-Toolz in 2015 and released ''Even the Files Won't Touch You'' and ''Further Down the Files'' in the same year. The latter was dominantly a remix album but contained 3 new songs. She went on to release ''Drip Mental'' (2017), ''Interbeing'' (2017), ''Skinless X-1'' (2018), which received widespread critical acclaim. The following year Fire-Toolz released ''Field Whispers (Into The Crystal Palace)'' (2019), followed by ''Rainbow Bridge'' (2020), ''Eternal Home'' (2021), ''I will not use the body's eyes today'' (2022), ''I Am Upset Because I See Something That Is Not There'' (2023) and ''Breeze'' (2024). Alongside Fire-Toolz, Angel makes ambient sample-based

vaporwave Vaporwave is a microgenre of electronic music, a visual art style, and an Internet meme that emerged in the early 2010s and became well-known in 2015. It is defined partly by its slowed-down, chopped and screwed samples of smooth jazz, 1970 ...

/slushwave as MindSpring Memories, noise/experimental music as Angelwings Marmalade, sample-based signalwave/vaporwave/mallsoft as Toad Computers, and prog/new age/jazz fusion/MIDI music as Nonlocal Forecast. From 2008 to 2017, Marcloid ran a DIY, low-budget cassette

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

called Rainbow Bridge. She also ran a net label called Swamp Circle from 2012 until 2018. , she owns and runs a mixing, mastering, and

music production A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

studio called Angel Hair Audio, LLC. In 2010, Angel filled in on drums for Swedish emo/screamo band Suis La Lune for their North American tour. In 2022, Angel collaborated with long-time friend Jed Davis (

Jessica Simpson Jessica Ann Johnson (née Simpson; born July 10, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and fashion designer. After performing in church choirs as a child, Simpson signed with Columbia Records in 1997, aged seventeen. Her debut studio album, '' ...

Juliana Hatfield Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area. She was formerly a member of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. Hatfield also fronted her own band, The Ju ...

, Hanslick Rebellion) to record a number of songs from Jed's past, including the song Halfway To September featuring

Tony Levin Anthony Frederick Levin (born June 6, 1946) is an American musician and composer specializing in electric bass guitars, Chapman Stick and upright bass. He also sings and plays synthesizer. Levin is best known for his work with King Crimson (19 ...

(

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

) on Chapman Stick, and Chris Barber ( Crazy Town) on drums.

Personal life

Angel Marcloid is

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

, specifically

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

and trans-femme. She prefers she/her pronouns. Angel's spiritual inclinations are diverse and include aspects of

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, Advaita Vedanta,

Christian mysticism Christian mysticism is the tradition of mystical practices and mystical theology within Christianity which "concerns the preparation f the personfor, the consciousness of, and the effect of ..a direct and transformative presence of God" ...

nondualism Nondualism includes a number of philosophical and spiritual traditions that emphasize the absence of fundamental duality or separation in existence. This viewpoint questions the boundaries conventionally imposed between self and other, min ...

, and ''

A Course in Miracles ''A Course in Miracles'' (also referred to as ''ACIM'') is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. The underlying premise is that the greatest "miracle" is the act of simply gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in a person's life. Schucman ...

''.

Discography

Fire-Toolz

Full-length Albums * ''Even The Files Won't Touch You'' (2015) * ''Drip Mental'' (2017) * ''Interbeing'' (2017) * ''Skinless X-1'' (2018) * ''Field Whispers (Into The Crystal Palace)'' (2019) * ''Rainbow Bridge'' (2020) * ''Eternal Home'' (2021) * ''Eternal Home nstrumentals' (2021) * ''I will not use the body's eyes today'' (2022) * ''I am upset because I see something that is not there.'' (2023) * ''Breeze'' (2024) EPs * ''I Can't Die'' (2021) * ''I Can't Die As Well'' (2022) Singles * "Synonym" (2020) * "Antihero" (2020) * "! ODENAME_JEREMY (2020) * "The TRUTH about HELL! feat. Trust Fund Ozu" (2020) * "BLINKMUFFIN" (2021) * "Bioblade (split with R23X)" (2021) * "More Spirit Spit Please feat. Sam Greenfield" (2021) * "Race For Titles feat. Lipsticism" (2022) * "Tai Shan feat. Sling Beam" (2023) * "All The Time (Angel's Version) feat. Lipsticism" (2023) * "RE: Official Request For Reciprocal Indwelling Procedure" (2024) * "The Envy Of The Heavenly Powers" (2024) * "To every squirrel who has ever been hit by a car, I'm sorry and I love you." (2024) (featuring Nylist & Lipsticism) Splits * ''Bio Blade'' split with R23X (2021) Remix Albums * ''Further Down The Files'' (2015) * '' ODENAME_REMIXES VOL 1' (2017) * ''Interbeing Remix Vol. 1]'' (2018) * ''Interbeing Remix Vol. 2]'' (2018) * ''Triangular Reformat'' (2019) * ''Rainbow Bridge: Remixed By My Friends'' (2022)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcloid, Angel 21st-century American LGBTQ people New-age musicians American experimental musicians Vaporwave musicians American composers Intelligent dance musicians Jazz fusion musicians American ambient musicians Extreme metal musical groups Progressive rock musicians Progressive metal musicians American industrial musicians Noise musicians American multi-instrumentalists American record producers Living people 1984 births American transgender musicians LGBTQ people from Maryland American women in electronic music