Jacksonville, FL

Florida's Fit for Rivals are a swaggering hard rock-, emo-, and punk-influenced outfit featuring vocalist Renee Phoenix. From 2006 to 2008, Phoenix was the lead singer in the punk band the Explicits. However, in 2008, while looking for a guitarist to join the Explicits, Phoenix met guitarist Thomas Amason. Realizing that she and Amason were moving in a different creative direction, she decided to form the wholly new band Fit for Rivals. Their independent debut, Steady Damage, appeared in 2009. In 2015, Fit for Rivals released their sophomore full-length album, Freak Machine, on Big 3 Records. ~ Matt Collar