Fightmaster – Quicksand
FIGHTMASTER doesn’t have it all figured out, and they don’t want you to think they do. The solo moniker of Queer artist and advocate E.R. Fightmaster announced their debut album, Tolerance, out June 5th last month, along with the propulsive lead single “All Or Nothing.”
Today, they’re back with the rock anthem “Quicksand,” and set to kick off their spring tour next Monday, May 4th in Los Angeles. Dates will include headline shows, support dates with Lucy Dacus and Lord Huron, and an appearance at Kilby Block Party.
Of the new single, FIGHTMASTER shares, “Quicksand is about the battles with the self and the past that we drag into our relationships. It’s energetic and endearing and honest, and will hit home for all of those who have tried to love earnestly.”
Dominated by raw, unvarnished lyrics that reflect the complexities—some might say messiness—of emotional growth, Tolerance attempts to find equilibrium. It’s an album that exhibits artistic clarity, a reflection of Fightmaster’s own self-awareness about their place in the world, musical and otherwise. “I have to have such a clear understanding of self all the time because I’m a public figure in a very queer way, and I’ve always taken that responsibility seriously. I don’t feel comfortable being reckless anymore… Nonbinary people and trans people have so few elders – I’m not an elder yet; I haven’t earned it – but I have taken on an understanding that that’s the path that I’m on.”
That doesn’t mean Fightmaster has life completely figured out. In fact, there’s a very good reason Tolerance’s songs brim with so much empathy, both for the narrator and their subjects. “I want people to know that there’s still cracks in the pavement. In the last couple of years I had to realize that I get my feelings hurt every day… When I realized how much kid-heartbreak is still in there, even though I’ve been to all the therapy and I’m on the perfect amount of medication, I was able to write these songs with more kindness for myself than I ever had.”
When Fightmaster started writing lyrics for Tolerance, they drew from their own life experiences, analyzing them through the lens of hindsight and perspective. “Every song that I write is in some way a personal experience, but here I was mining a broader understanding of patterns throughout a lifetime: patterns of loving different people, patterns of watching my friends love each other,” they note. “All of us do a relatively graceless job, but all the patterns are the same, which is endearing to me.”
On Tolerance, Fightmaster worked with more producers than they did in the past including Riley Geare, who helmed the Violence and Bloodshed Baby EPs; Casey Kalmensen, an artist who records as Little Monarch and plays keyboards for Gracie Abrams; and Gabe Goodman, who produced “Ode to A Conversation” by Del Water Gap.
FIGHTMASTER TOUR DATES
May 4 – Los Angeles, CA – El Cid
May 10 – Bellingham, WA – Mount Baker Theatre **
May 12 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elizabeth Theatre **
May 13 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theatre**
May 14 – Sacramento, CA – Channel 24 **
May 16 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Block Party 2026
May 19 – Minneapolis, MN – 7th St Entry
May 20 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave / Eagles Club
May 21 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall
May 23 – Toronto, ON – Adelaide Hall
May 26 – Boston, MA – The Sinclair
May 28 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
May 29 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis
Jun 2 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl ++
Jun 4 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater ++
Jun 6- Missoula, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater ++
Jun 7 – Missoula, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater ++
Jun 9 – Cheyenne, WY – The Lincoln ++
Jun 11 – Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre ++
Jun 12 – Greenwood Village, – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre ++
** notes dates w/Lucy Dacus
++ notes dates w/Lord Huron
#genderless_gap_ad