Interview While They Bled

Discover the journey of While They Bled, a band formed in May 2021, as we explore their unique musical evolution, influences, and their mission to unite and uplift their community through the power of heavy metal.

1. Can you tell us about the origins of While They Bled and how the band came to be in May 2021?

Justin and I met around spring of 2021 at a friends bbq, we instantly began talking about music and similar bands we were interested in. Later that night we decided to plan a jam session together. A month later we finally got to sit down and jam in a room and we just took off from there. 

2. What inspired the name "While They Bled" for your band? Is there a story or meaning behind it?

The name While They Bled was either made up since late 2019 to 2020. I don’t remember if I made it up or heard it from a movie or a tv show. I have a list of names of potential song titles or lyrics I want to write about. So when it came down to naming the band I showed Justin the list of names I had and we both agreed on “While They Bled” it just popped to us

3. You describe your music as having heavy drums and fast riffs with a melodic yet powerful sound. Can you elaborate on your musical influences and how they have shaped your unique style?

With the style we are producing I really didn’t want us to stick to just one genre. Sure they’re allot of great sub genres but I didn’t want us to stick to just one genre and have the listener expect to hone true to said genre. 

We have a multitude of influences and we strive to perfect our sound and feel to the music. I didn’t want to have eyes set on a standard. Justin, Oscar and myself bring a unique perspective to the band and it’s something I’m really proud to be apart of.

4. What's the creative process like when Chris and Justin collaborate on writing and recording new music?

The creative process between us is very old school & new school. We will sit down riffing out between each other. Or one of us comes in With 70-80% of a song ready to tackle. Or we send each other videos/files of written material, lyrics, themes, etc. nothing is forced it’s all very natural and we always find away to bring the best out of each others writings.

5. "Torches" is your latest demo available on Bandcamp. Can you tell us more about the themes and inspirations behind this release?

Torches was a song I had written back in 2016, I brought it to the band with a different view. It was written about a theme of revenge and destroying your enemies. But that all changed when I learned of the passing of Trevor Strnad back in May of last year. A few days later I was inspired to change the lyrics of “Torches” to how I felt about his passing. 

I wrote about facing your demons, feeling doubtful, and eventually overcoming any obstacles in your life. Little did I know after rewriting these lyrics and recording them they would mean so much more to me.

6. How do you feel your music has evolved since you started in 2021, and what can listeners expect from your upcoming releases?

Our music has changed drastically, we wrote an unreleased song called “Become Wrath” I believe we wrote it the first time we ever jammed. And it’s a fun song but it’s very much a  black metal & thrash metal love child. Since then we’ve grown as musicians and grown to take our time with structuring a song. To trying other methods out to trying different approaches to writing. We’ve grown more to understand where we write and perform that our minds are to the point of one.

7. Can you share any insights into your songwriting process? Do you draw inspiration from personal experiences, or is it more thematic in nature?

Song writing and performing our songs has become my therapy. And I’ve been working on new music that I’m excited yet scared to release. Not fearful of rejection just fear of how I’ll feel after I release it. We’ve both have been writing from personal experiences rather it’s from trauma, phobias, idealism, depression, you name it we will write about it. Which I’m very excited to start writing with our newest member Oscar Barboza 

8. What's the live performance experience like for While They Bled, and do you have any memorable shows or performances you'd like to share with your fans?

Live shows are the ultimate high! It’s the best feeling ever. We’ve had a lot of memorable moments one of our top ones would have to be one from San Antonio earlier this year when I got the crowd to sing along to the melody during our song “Die Upon The Sword” it’s an instrumental of ours but the crowd loves it when we kick into it. Another memorable moment was a local show we had here in Uvalde when we had our homies in Chaotic Control And Dying Within join us on stage for a cover song From Metallicas Creeping Death. That was a fun one. We look forward to creating more memories.

9. Hailing from Uvalde, Texas, how has your hometown influenced your music and your journey as a band?

Uvalde is a small town in Texas, there’s not much to do. This town is full of love but also there’s hate and anger, it’s effected me and my family personally and there’s times when it feels suffocating. But there is also good here there’s people who love and care for another, and we’ve gotten a huge following from our local community and we’re very grateful for it. It’s given me the determination to put Uvalde on the map for heavy metal, to show there’s life and love of this genre here as well. There’s not a time I go to town and see someone with a Metallica shirt or a pantera shirt or even a modern band like Lorna shore walking around  the local stores. We just don’t have an outlet here for heavy music. And I plan on changing that, I want there to be a place where guys like us and the next generation of metal heads to have a safe place to enjoy our love of this music.

10. Could you give us a sneak peek into your upcoming projects and what fans can look forward to in terms of new music or collaborations?

We’re currently working on some new tunes, we unfortunately can’t share Anything just yet. But when the time is right we will share it! We currently are recording our singles and plan to release them out gradually over the next few months and while we do that we are writing and recording our first album. 

11. In the ever-changing landscape of the music industry, what strategies do you employ to connect with your audience and promote your music on streaming platforms?

Yea we plan on releasing our singles on steaming platforms soon. The way social media is, it’s like a double ended sword. You either get lift in the algorithm or you hit gold and develop a grand audience. I try my best to be vigilant on the socials and keep our fans up to date with what we are doing. We try our best to be an engaging band with our fans rather it be directed messages, comments, live streams, etc. we want them to know that we care and appreciate their support. We do usually do give aways when we host them, we have flyers that we send out to those who but merch, and we go old school and network with local acts around the area to help one another out.

12. Lastly, if you could describe While They Bled's mission or message in just a few words, what would that be?

Our mission is to unite our community and show everyone what we’re capable of. We love playing our music but we really love playing it with an audience that is having a hell of a time. To share our love of this aggressive music and play it in its purest form, to bring heavy metal to Uvalde Texas. We have a shirt design for while they bled and on the back it says “Uvalde Metal” I look forward towards the day too seeing everyone in our town wearing that shirt and putting our name on the map.

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