BRONSON TALKS TO THE ROCKPIT

ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM 'BLOOD BROTHERS'

CHECK OUT OUR REVIEW OF BLOOD BROTHERS HERE

If you are into groove metal and hardcore then look no further than Melbourne band Bronson who have just delivered a solid debut album titled "Blood Brothers". Despite a few lineup changes, Bronson look set to come out with guns blazing with their style ranging from Killswitch Engage to Hatebreed inspired grooves which makes this brutal band one to look out for in the future. Mainman Jay Clair answered a few questions from The Rockpit before their upcoming tour.

Andrew: Hi how’s it going? Thanks for taking time to answer a few questions for The Rockpit. First off, tell us a bit about the band and how you guys got started?

Jay: It is going well! The story of the band dates back to 2007, but our current line-up was a culmination of things, in early 2012, things just weren't working out with our current line up and we moved on from our previous drummer to our current drummer Shane Turville (ex- Hatchet Dawn and White Cell).  We also then lost our 2nd guitarist and in drifted Simon Bailey, who previously played with Scar the Surface.  At the time we had Elliot from Scar the Surface filling in but with his commitments to Scar the Surface he had to leave the band.  Then entered Paul Stanway (Ex Gameover, White Cell) in on bass.  Our first meeting with Paul was the night we met up with Roman to discuss the recording of Blood Brothers.  We all already knew him, so we kind of mutually just agreed then without an audition that he was in the band.  He is a fucking legend!

Andrew: You guys started back in 2007 and you are finally releasing your full-length debut album, how does it feel to finally have it released?

Jay: Whilst it’s now our first release, obviously the EP and Singles that we have released over time served their purpose.  But Blood Brothers is on a whole new level.  Plus it's more about the current members in the band and it's great to finally release a full length.  Personally for me it's been a very long time in the making and am so so fucking glad the reception that it is getting.

Andrew: I hear a lot of influences on the new album by bands like Killswitch Engage and even a bit of hardcore sounds like Hatebreed. Who are some of your influences and what are some of your favourite bands?

Jay: Personally as a vocalist Hatebreed had a massive influence on my style of vocals.  I like to keep it raw and aggressive as I can.  But as a whole the band has many influences, all members have varied musical tastes. Anything from old elements such as Pantera, Megadeth, through to modern stuff like Mnemic and Killswitch Engage. But there's also punk and hardcore influences, even some hip hop.  But yeah we are not close minded or narrow viewed about what 'Metal' is.  We believe is more of an attitude than a specific style.  For fuck sake how can you not get sick of people wanting to label every type of music into a specific sub-genre?  Some people say our music is Metal, some call it Hardcore.... we call it Stoner Groove Metal.

Andrew: The album title "Blood Brothers" sounds like it's about unity and family and things like that. How does the title represent the album overall?

Jay: We really do cherish the relationships that we have as a band, it's never easy that’s for sure, with financial and family pressures we all try our best to accommodate one another.  I have very passionate lyrics about stuff that annoys and frustrates me as well as things that inspire.  But the actual Album and track title is more of a way for me to remember my best friend Andrew who passed away only a few months before we recorded the album, the lyrics of the song are about him and I guess it was my way of trying to immortalise him through music.  

Andrew: The new album sounds great! Sonically it's brutal and heavy. I understand it was mastered in Sweden, what was the reason for this?

Jay: Peter who mastered our album was simply chosen because he was who we'd dealt with for our previous releases, he's professional and brings out a big final master.  He's worked with a shit load of huge acts and ever since we'd approached him we thought it would be ace to have someone put the final touches that really took it to the next level. 

Andrew: I noticed the title of the first and last track are in a different language. What is the story behind these 2 tracks?

Jay: It's something that we have done from our first release.  I have a French speaking background and rather than being so literal about the message, toning it down in another language was something we thought, why the fuck not! Simply track one translated is 'Live on your feet' and the final track is 'or die on your knees'.

Andrew: How is the writing and recording process for you guys? Take us through how you guys put together songs.

Jay: It's a fairly collaborative approach, judging by our chosen genre of music we typically go away on weekends full of ideas and put together a bit of a riff bank, choose ones to work with and see how they evolve over the course of the weekend.  All members contribute with their input and nobody is too sensitive about receiving feedback.  We are well and truly in the midst of getting album number two on the go with around ten tracks in the works.

Andrew: Now you are about to embark on a tour hitting a few states, how do you think it will go and how has the crowd reaction been at previous tours/shows?

Jay: Thankfully most of the shows we are playing on are mini fest style of shows so it will allow to play to a broader range of people.  Whilst we have a solid following in our local town of Melbourne, sometimes venturing out can be quite daunting especially when relying on other to head up promo in those states.  Experiences so far have been great, but you always hope for it to get better each time you return to a town.

Andrew: If you could be a fly on the wall for the recording of any classic album in history what would it be?
Jay: Definitely Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power.  Would have been interesting to see what the dynamics of the band were like as they were making in my opinion their greatest album right in the middle of their steady ascent in the Metal world.  Lots of big personalities in that band would have made for interesting times.

Andrew: What is the meaning of life?        

            
Jay: The Meaning of life, is whatever you want to make of it.  Too many people wait for life to come to them, when all you need to do is make it happen yourself.  Persistence overcomes Resistance and that's how I will continue to lead my life.

Andrew: Good luck with the new album and tour and thanks again for talking to The Rockpit!

BRONSON spoke to Andrew Schizodeluxe October 2013

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