Rest In Peace

The talented former vocalist of the one and only band we interviewed, Joshua Bentley, passed away last night. 

Photgraph by Brandon Bollen Photography

I was not close to him, and I cannot even begin to imagine their pain, but I could just tell he was a good guy who touched a lot of people's lives. 
He was kind, offering me a smoke once at one of the shows, and always welcoming. He was goofy in the best way. At the interview, he was always fooling around. 
My camera man asked them before we started filming, "What's your band's name again?"
Josh grinned and replied with, "Who are we? Young Cash Young Money!"
Joel rolled his eyes and half laughed, "Shut up, Josh."

Josh is in paradise with his Creator now, probably causing a commotion up there too. But it's still not really fair, is it? Our deepest apologies, sincerest sympathies, and most meaningful prayers go out to those who lost him.
"Remember that he did not just die, he also lived. And may his life give you memories too beautiful to forget."

Photograph by Ally Sigurdson Photography

Stereotypes

What comes to mind when someone says the word 'metal'? Is it a chunk of steel (for the realists)? Is it a short blonde boy alchemist and a silver suit brother? Is it pale men wearing eyeliner, long black hair, and unusually long tongues?

 

(Kiss isn't even metal, they're hard rock.)

Let's narrow it down even more.

Death metal.

Black metal.

Heavy metal.

All of the above are hard on the ears genres of music. (Or "music" as some people say rather sarcastically). With their aggressive growling vocals, high-pitched screaming, distorted, soaring, electric guitars, staccato, driving, double bass drums, and deafening, wild, crazed performances, it's no wonder.

But aside from the teeth grating vocals and generally loud sounds, the lyrics usually consist of poetic and sometimes deep lyrics about everything from love to politics to animals. I would suggest that you, if you have not already, try to listen to a metal or even a lighter genre such as post-hardcore. Even then, sometimes the lyrics are totally unintelligible. For example Suicide Silence's single "You Only Live Once":

"AAAARRRGGHHHHHRSSSSSRAAVVHHHGRAAHGRAAMEEEERRREEMMMMVVVVVIIIIIGGGWWWAAAHHHRAAMMB"

can be translated into

"If we only had one chance we'd breathe

Let's take the chance right now and scream

You only live one life

For a very short time

So make every second divine."

Just a disclaimer though, as with any genre, there are of course some very crass, vulgar, disrespectful metal bands who's lyrics are horrendous. They bash religion a whole lot, degrade women, endorse selfishness, promote not caring about anything, and praise drug and alcohol abuse.

But then there's the polar opposite. Christian metalcore band August Burns Red defies stereotypes. Their take on being Christians in a scene where that is relatively unusual is note worthy. Brent Rambler says that, "It is important to us that people know that we are indeed Christians... without having us stand up there and ram it down people's throats." Other guitarist JB Brubaker concurs with he would, "rather just let the music speak for itself."

Another great band is As I Lay Dying, despite the morbid name. While they have not called their band Christian, they all have said that they are practising Christians. Reason being, they're songs are not as direct as a self-proclaimed Christian band. Maybe to keep a more open audience. Anyway, I'd say that it's still pretty obvious. Here's an excerpt from their song "This Is Who We Are":

"Without the burden that's in our hearts

None of us would have ever found You

For You are faithful when we are not

You began a work

That only You can complete

Now this is who we are

I'll never know the answers

And I'll always wonder why

...Why we're given grace we'll never deserve

And a second chance that we will never earn

For there is nothing I can do to save myself

But You have let me start again

I'd rather be called weak

Than die thinking I was strong."

These are beautiful lyrics. Just as God-praising as the songs sung in church. Vocally praising God doesn't

always have to be in the form of tinkling pianos, major chords, and melodious voices. That can get dull after

awhile. Throw in some crashing drums, wailing guitars, and sweaty tattooed men screaming about how much they love God and see how well that goes over.

A side note, Suicide Silence's vocalist Mitch Lucker died in a motorcycle accident on November 1st, 2012. Here's a photograph of him with his wife and daughter.

See, these crazy delinquents who aren't actually crazy delinquents are human beings too. That's another point for another time though.

The Struggle

With one interview under my belt, I thought it would be a cinch to gather a few more. However, it's proved to be a lot more difficult.
I myself being a bit of a hermit, have a lot of free time. And bands, jumping at any chance of publicity will readily comply to being interviewed. The problem is my camera man. He has many prior commitments and is hard to get a hold of. Not only that, he has a frustrating tendency to be elusive and receiving a confirmation or decline from him is a chore in itself.
I cannot entirely blame him though, this is my project and responsibility and he does have a life of his own to tend to. My recommendation to you is to obtain a good quality video camera, get a friend who is a recluse like you, and get that friend to make sure the video camera doesn't fall off the tripod or something when filming. Then go home and edit the video yourself, it's not that difficult. Look at Bryanstars! He's a well known, professional interviewer and his finished products are as simple as that.
So, whether you are an aspiring, eager, entrepreneur or a dramatic, stressed teenager, then take my word of advice and avoid tangly situations and unnecessary feuds.

All Ages Hardcore Matinee

This Sunday I will be excitedly attending, for the second time, the "All Ages Hardcore Matinee". The bands Withdrawal, Extract, Diefenbaker, and Empty Hands will be performing.
My friend Jillian likes the same music as I do so she'll be going along as well. Not only do we have that in common, but we also dress similar.
It's kind of ironic actually, in our own schools somebody could look at us and say we're "alternative", "different", or (we're pushing it here) "hipster". But when Jill and I enter that room we blend right in. Everybody who looks "alternative" looks the same. There's the black skinny jeans, facial piercings, tunnels, beanies, tattoos, Vans, clunky shoes, and rising underground brands like Supreme and Huf. It's as though all these weirdly adorned people crawled out of their record and tattered book filled dens and crowded into a small room to savagely shout into a mic, become partially deaf, and avoid being hit by wildly flailing men. But most of all to become part of the music.
It's a great experience, to say the least. The soaring levels of energy in that tiny space created by a handful of people who are so typically different is so thrilling. I couldn't help but smile like a fool when I stood back and watched this pandemonium play out in front of me.
I think I've finally found my niche.

First Interview

On Saturday, September 28th, I had my first interview. The local hardcore band Empty Hands kindly obliged to be interviewed by me.
My camera guy, Daniel, and I were meeting up with 3/5 of them at The Forks and even though we were 20 minutes late, they were totally good about it.
At first glance they look a bit intimidating with their piercings, tattoos, and snapbacks. But right away they proved to be, almost surprisingly, easy going and even goofy. I made a bit of conversation with them while Daniel set up his equipment and they didn't fail to make me laugh.
Josh came across as the charming joker of the group, while Dylan had an earnest, sweet disposition, and Joel, though more serious, was good-humored.
The interview itself, with only a few minor malfunctions, went smoothly and their answers were delivered with ease and thoughtfulness.
Afterwards, we met up with the other two members, Jesse and Christian, who were snacking on some Chinese food. We rode the elevator up to the tower and snapped some photographs of them. The chemistry between the band was endearing, as if they were brothers fooling around and having a good time.
Parting ways, I felt really, really good about the day as a whole. In fact, I was elated. I can't wait till the next one.