E: So the Bled's new album, Found in the Flood, is out the 23rd... this is your first release since Pass The Flask, which was released a few years ago on Fiddler Records. Does this new album in particular showcase your band's ability to exhibit a slight evolution in style with each recording?
Mike: Yeah, definitely. It's not like a whole world of difference, you know what I mean? When you listen to it, you're not like "wow, is this the same band?" But we just showed more of what we can do, musically. We're not stuck to one certain kind of playing�we all have different kinds of music, different things that influence us on each of our instruments, so I think we let that come through a lot more on this record.
E: The band's gone through a lot of changes, from getting a new vocalist to changing labels... how radically would you say you've changed since, say, the 7" you put out before even Pass The Flask was recorded?
Mike: Well, I mean, it's definitely changed... it's been a natural progression. I think on the first record, it had a lot to do with what was going on at that point and time with us. Like, when we put out the first EP, we were all young... I was like nineteen years old, and I was in school, and we all just had a bunch of shit going on then, so just getting out those crazy, super, out-of-control songs made sense for the time we were doing it, and on every release we've done it's had a lot to do with what's been going on with each of us as far as the band, and it comes out in the music. I would definitely say there's a difference in all the records, but it's not like we were changing the songs to try to make it more listenable for anybody... that's just how it happened.
E: You guys are one of the rawer hardcore acts out there these days... do you think your variety of music is more difficult to create a beginning-middle-end structure for than some poppier styles?
Mike: I don't think so. I mean, it's obviously easier if you have little parts for each section of the song. Like, you're like, "All right, this is going to be my chorus and this is going to be my verse, and here's my little bridge" or whatever... we don't really think along those lines so much when we play the other songs, like... different parts will flow into each other, and I think that we kind of use the same concept of piecing things together, but at the same time, we want to keep it interesting with the way parts come together. So I think with the bands that are coming out now, like how music is also getting much heavier, a lot of bands are going to borrow from that pop formula and they're going to do that, and kids have heard that before, so I think it's not going to hurt to have a different way of arranging songs. We just don't like to overdo it is really the thing... I mean, it might be easier, but I don't think it would be better for us, you know what I mean?
E: How does your band create a mood or emotion for a song without having to speed up or slow down the track's pace?
Mike: Well, a lot of it has to do with the way you play your instrument. Like with the guitars, they have a whole world of stuff they can do between all their pedals and different amps, so there are different kind of sounds they can get that can make the feeling come out of a person by the way it sounds. With drumming, whether it's playing lighter or softer or whatever, it's just having dynamics in the songs, and I think that's a huge part of how it comes across to a person. If the band's real dynamic, they can be playing anything, but if it's super quiet, I don't know... it's just like a feeling that you get when you know it's going to burst into something huger. I think it's super important to have that dynamic with the band; that has everything to do with creating the sound, whether it's slow or fast or whatever.
E: I've personally seen you guys live a couple of times... once with Saosin and Boys Night Out a few years ago, and again at this year's Warped, and it's one of the most explosive shows I've seen. My question is, how much would you say your live show probably changes as you accumulate new albums full of material?
Mike: Yeah. I think that's because there's a lot of difference in the new record that gives us more space to play with that. Before, we always had, all the way through, stuff that's really energetic, you know what I mean? There weren't a lot of chances to slow down, except maybe for a little bit of time in a song or two. But we haven't started really playing those songs live, the ones that have a lot of parts in them and stuff like that, but I'm really excited to start doing that. It'll add to the live show a lot, and hearing James sing at shows... it's going to be different, just because his singing voice is not like he's up there whining and screaming about this and that. It's his actual voice in there, you know what I mean? *Laughs* So it'll be cool to just have something new to do and see how people react to that.
E: Are you hoping for greater widespread exposure with this new release?
Mike: Well, I mean, I wouldn't say that we hope for it... I think the thing is, is that once more people start hearing about us, that's going to happen anyways, you know what I'm saying? Kids want to know about stuff they didn't know�that's just how it is. Especially with music now, with how many bands that are coming out that are heavy. And all the young kids that buy the records for whatever. It's going to happen. And I think in some situations, it's good. If the band is full of talented musicians that are making good music, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't do well, unless they don't want to. We, on the other hand... we're not trying to be, like, "Yo, all right, we're going to going to get in your face and you're going to know who we are." We just recorded another recorded another record and we have a lot more support from our label now than ever before, so anyone would be happy to have people liking the band. Shitty fans are going to come�there's no avoiding that. *Laughs* But I'm looking forward to having a wider fanbase and playing bigger shows... that whole thing.
E: Well thanks a whole lot man, that should do it.
Mike: Thank you, dude. I appreciate it. |
