BLEEDING THROUGH
„Metal over here it’s more mainstream“
Interview mit Ryan Wombacher (E-Bass)Februar 2010
How was the tour going till now?
Tour’s been going really good. It’s about 2.5 weeks now, all the shows have been really cool. We have played in clubs we never played before – that’s always a bonus.
Your new album will be released in April this year - what can the listener expect from this album?
I think the new record is the best between our last two like “The Truth” record and “Declaration” for the people who like the black metal aspect, lots of blast-beats and orchestral sounds of Declaration it’s got that and then also like trash, some singing little more like structured songs of The Truth – it’s got the best of both worlds of those records. Other bands say it’s our best record yet, and we really feel that’s definitely after Declaration it is the best one.
Who writes the lyrics of your songs?
Brandan, he’s the lyrics-guy. We all can have a say if we want, but we are busy writing songs and by the time a song is ready he also has the lyrics for it. We like his lyrics and we don’t bother him writing them.
What kind of message do you want to transmit with the lyrics?
This record is a lot darker – lots of our records are dark but this one is really pissed off. The lyrics are really angry and really dark and I think it will give people kind of energy for more of the pissed off kind of person not like this great kind. Yeah, it’s just really pissed off.
With which band would you like to go on tour? Any idols / dreams?
I’ll love to go on tour with Tool. I would love that and maybe Faith No More. That would be great, I would watch them – I don’t know if we go over very well with their crowd but I could watch them play and this would make me happy.
In what way do you see the future of metalcore?
You know, metalcore, I don’t even know what that is. It’s just kind of a word that people made up. I think the whole metalcore-genre (hardcore bands playing metal and metal-bands playing hardcore) used to be really out of focus, but now there more of a line now, there’s more metal and hardcore again and I think it’s not as popular as it used to be. It had it’s time and now you have to choose what you gonna play. It still has a future - If you want to start you shouldn’t base it on metalcore, but I mean as long as you’re doing what you want to do I don’t think it matters. So the future is kind of what you make it, you know.
...and what is the difference between metal-scene in the US and Europe?
Metal over here it’s more mainstream. It’s much more popular with much more everyone, the age difference is younger and older and just the crowd, the type of people that show up, is way more divers. In the US it’s very underground, there’s no metal, as I think as real metal, and on the radio and here you can hear it, quite a bit. I think here it is more accepted as in the states and that is pretty cool.
As I was looking on the internet for informations about BLEEDING THROUGH I was reading that you are living “Straight Edge”. What does it mean in general and also for yourself?
Not the whole band, it’s used to be the whole band but after new members and everything. Like me, Brandan, Derrick we’re Straight Edge – it has nothing to do with the band or music at all - like we don’t sing about it at all and we never have its just kind of a personal choice it has nothing to do with the band.
And it’s being vegetarian or vegan is also a part of living straight edge?
No, not in America. In Europe, I think kids have this thing for some reason ‘bout being straight edge and being vegan being one and the same. It doesn’t make any sense to me and I’ve had kids asking me in Germany especially: “Are you straight edge, so you’re vegan?” No never, I love steak! “So you’re not straight edge?” Yes, I am. Eating food has nothing to do with not doing drugs, I don’t understand. But on the other hand some people think that straight edge is ridiculous, too.
Isn’t it sometimes difficult to live like that especially when being on tour?
I’ve been straight edge since I was 16, I’m 27 now and the last time I actually drank or smoked a cigarette I was about 14. So that’s been a long time. I don’t even think about it I wake up in the morning and just don’t do it but I don’t care who does it doesn’t bother me at all. If ….seeing someone that is on drugs you it makes you kind of think: I don’t want to do that.
Are your tattoos all from the same tattoo-artist?
Nah, I like to go to different people. I like to try to get tattoos in all the countries I’m in whenever I get a chance, I have some from Australia, I have some from Europe. But I got them from a guy who lives in Europe but he was in California. So I don’t know if this counts *laugh* I like to get artwork from a bunch of people – if I had all tattoos from the same person I would never see other artworks. I got a good amount from the same person but I also have about 10-12 from other people.
Best movie of all times?
Goonies, it’s from the 80ies it’s a really old movie. New movies I just saw The Box it was really wearied - I watch a ton of movies on tour and I’m a big fan of movies. I’m pretty interested in seeing Alice in Wonderland that comes out – looks kind a crazy and interesting. I know a lot of people that don’t like some movies. They think their kind of ridiculous and I can still pretty much enjoy it even if I know they are not real or wildly absurd I can still kinda really enjoy it.
When you began to listen to some kind of metal- or underground music what kind of bands did you start with?
My mom was listening to Black Sabbath and Ac/Dc and Led Zeppelin when she was cleaning the house when I was a little kid. Her vinyl collection is unreal and I borrow records still to this day. I grew up with that. Then I started listening to punk-rock music like Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Descendance and then I went straight into hardcore and I found bands like Earth Crisis, Integrity and stuff like that. My parents started me off with classic rock and everything and I kinda moved my way into metal as I grew older and started looking for myself – natural progression into heavy music I guess. Black Sabbath is not a bad start I think.
Have you played in Zürich / Switzerland already?
We’ve been to Switzerland about four times, we love coming through here, it’s pretty cool and we came here on the Bullet for my Valentine tour I believe and with Black Tide, that was really cool. We where parked on a hill to and we could see a lot of the town like right off the bus, that was pretty cool.
I’ve never been to California, how is it living there?
Sun’s out every day, we get about 360 days of sun a year in the winter time you can still get t-shirt weather. Where we live in Newport Beach on the coast-area it can snow an hour and a half away and you go snowboarding in the morning and surfing in the evening it’s really weird in Southern California especially. Like when I have friends that come from the East Cost, they never been to California they say: “You live where people would like to go on vacation. Where you live it looks like a movie – you live here, it’s not fair.” It’s expensive it’s very hard to live on your own. I haven’t seen the sun since we got to Europe, it’s hard. I see it every day. Only time when we don’t see the sun it’s when it rains and that’s not that often.
So, thank you for the interview!
Thank you very much!
(Interview by Nathalie)
Questions/Thoughts? (or whatever):