Bleeding Through
Would you like some metal with your hardcore?
by Thrash-head
Every now and then, something just gets handed to you. You really would
like it, but when you get it you are so unprepared it’s ridiculous.
There I was at Forest hills Lodge in Machesney Park, IL waiting for
Bleeding Through to take the stage. I had bought their album, “This is
Love, This is Murderous” on the day it came out and very quickly it
became my favorite CD of 2003. To see them in my own hometown is just a
surreal experience, and so I was totally unprepared for what my editor
had for me.
“Hey, I’ve been talking to the singer for about 5 minutes, and I told
him you want to interview him.”
“You told him wha?” came my dumbfounded reply.
Next thing I know, I’m watching them kick serious ass on stage
performing tunes spanning all 3 of their releases, and then I’m sitting
in the back of the bus talking to Brandon Schieppati, the band’s lead
vocalist, getting some really intelligent (how often can you say that
about a guy who thrives on a steady diet of 140 decibels) answers to my
interview question... in between trying to get my tape recorder with
ever-dying batteries to actually get what it is he’s saying.
Ain’t life grand? (Especially when ye olde editor hands you a prime
assignment on a plate... Ye olde Mality)
WC: First off, you guys have been working seriously hard and are
finally starting to get some seriously good press and get the good
tours. Do
you feel that things are finally starting to come around for you?
BS: I definitely think things are starting to come around. Even though
we’ve been a band for about three years and we’ve been a band since
2001 or 2000 actually, a lot of people still think that we’re a
brand-new
band but we have two records before this. I think we’re starting to
break into the more mass media and a lot more people are getting the
opportunity to see us, ‘cause we’re still pretty much a new band to
them. We’ll see how this next year goes, ‘cause our record’s been out
for a year and we’re gonna give it two years and just see where it’s at
before we release another one. We’ll see if it gets to the point we
think it should be. Hopefully this’ll give us a 2nd wind or 3rd wind.
WC: Have you guys been working out ideas and writing new songs yet?
BS: We always jam out. Brian, Scott, and Myself will just grab a guitar
here and there and just play. I think we have a good understanding,
good grasp, good concept of what we want the next record to be like.
We’re
all on the same page right now. When we go home in October we’re
actually going to piece together a new song ‘cause we haven’t actually
written since the album came out I mean it’s been two years since we’ve
written, so we’re really eager to get into the studio right now and we
want to keep pushing it on the road and do our touring, but we really
wanna write so bad. Even though our record is new to people, it’s old
to us, and we’re just sick of playing it. We’re getting some new stuff
together and we’ll hopefully get some stuff written in October.
WC: Have you given any thought to who will produce the next disc?
BS: There’s been talk of Joey Jordison from Slipknot doing our record.
We’ve also talked about doing it with Adam D from Killswitch Engage.
But Ulrich Wild, the guy that did our last record, for the budget that
he
did it with, did an incredible job and with this next record we’ll have
a little bit bigger budget and he’ll grasp what we’re all about and
really bring everything out from inside. There’s a few possibilities,
just being thrown out there, nothing set-in-stone.
WC: As far as touring goes, right now you’re on Ozzfest, that’s pretty
high profile. You’ve done tours with Chimaira. Have you been offered
any other high-profile ones yet?
BS: Um, we got offered the Lamb of God, Fear Factory, Bodom tour.
Throwdown’s doing it, but we got offered the 4th spot on it. We
couldn’t because we were supposed to go on tour with Atreyu but that got
canceled, so then we got offered the Headbanger’s Ball tour which is
Mudvayne and Cradle of Filth. They are struggling to get the first two
spots and we couldn’t do that because it conflicted with a European
tour. There’s been talk of Slipknot taking us out which would be
incredible. We’ll see what gets offered because we want to write in
January and February as we don’t want to travel during the cold season.
WC: Ok, you just mentioned Atreyu. I seem to be seeing a lot of bands
from the Orange County area coming out. How strong of a scene is that?
BS: I can’t even begin to tell you how big it is there. It’s something
that like about 5 years ago, there was bands like... I was in Eighteen
Visions, I was in Throwdown, but that was it. It was kinda the darker
era of the O.C., and Throwdown really brought it back; gave the kids
something to get into. Then that just built into all these bands just
coming out. Bleeding Through started as four of us having a side
project, just hanging out with our friends and jammin’. We started
playing and the kids just got right behind us and started pushing us
right away. Since our 5th show, it’s been sold out every time we play.
The scene there is so big, ‘cause of all the bands. There’s Avenged
Sevenfold, Atreyu, Eighteen Visions, Throwdown, us, Thrice. All those
bands come from there and we really support each other so strongly and
it’s all really close. It’s not just three types of kids, not just
metal,
hardcore, and punk kids that get into it and go to all the shows, I see
football players [tape cut out right about here - Thrash-head]. I
rarely see a show in that area not sell out anymore. When we play there
we
have to play places that are like 1300 seaters and they sell out. It
really
makes me proud to be from there.
WC: There seems to be a kind of East Coast/West Coast hardcore battle
going on... any insight?
BS: I don’t feel it and I don’t really see it. We’re good friends with
a lot of bands on the East Coast and I don’t really see a rivalry. I
think hardcore and metal is past that time. I think if everyone wants
things
to be better for each other we’re going to need to have each other’s
backs a lot more.
WC: Getting back to the O.C. scene a bit, I’m noticing these other
bands come out. Is there something there like where boys and girls just
get
together and just jam out? Because I just notice that everything I see
from there is really professional, seriously musical...
BS: I just think that the scene is on such a higher scale.
Unfortunately, it’s a bad thing that we don’t get shows like this
[interview was conducted after their show at Forest Hills Lodge in
Rockford, IL; link for the review of that show is at the bottom of this
page]
where it’s in like a regent hall. Everything is with
clubs and club owners, and everything just forces you to be really
professional because you’re on this crazy stage where everything else
is so professional. It’s all about how you portray yourself and I think
that’s something that right from the beginning dictated what we wanted
to be like. Our stage show and everything about how we carry ourselves
is as a real band. If you portray yourself as a real band then kids
WILL get behind you.
WC: As far as your own sound goes, a lot of bands from the O.C. tend to
have a similar style. One thing I’ve noticed that sets you guys apart
is Marta [keyboard player].
BS: It came about because we started out and we didn’t have a keyboard
player, Marta just came by and it just worked, like ‘wow, this works,
this is something different and it works!’ When we first started to
play the more metal style and bring it into the hardcore scene, it gave
us
something that was original. It wasn’t something that was in a lot of
bands; it was more of a traditional metal sound. When we started
playing, a lot of people came to embrace that and it’s kinda overtaken
the style of Orange County. Orange County’s just kinda getting known
for a bit more of a traditional metal style in with their hardcore. It’s
kinda cool.
WC: As far as playing here tonight, this was a show in Rockford, IL...
not
a very nationally recognized tour stop. You mentioned earlier that
you’ll play anywhere, is that just sorta the mentality?
BS: It’s just like... we wouldn’t be where we are without people from
smaller towns, like outside of the [WHACK! As he hits my dying tape
recorder to get it working again. - Thrash-head]
WC: (laughs)
BS: It’s just something we embrace and we know that we wouldn’t be here
without them, so we always try to come to these places where people buy
our records and are really hungry for some real music. We don’t want to
separate anything; we wanna play for everybody. These kids shouldn’t
have to drive 80 miles into the city, we’d rather come to them. We’re a
band for the people because without the people we are nothing.
WC: Any last words for your fanbase?
BS: Keep on coming out to the shows. Keep on telling people about what
we have going on. These shows kinda saved my life and look at what it
does for all these other kids. I mean, I was just a kid in the crowd,
and wanted to start a band. Once you have your scene behind you, it’ll
take off, and it can happen anywhere.
Photography courtesy of Sgt. Deth
Bleeding
Through's Website
Our Bleeding Through Concert Review Here
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