Interview with Bane - Podcast 38

This is Pete from the band Bane. You're listening to SoundSceneRevolution.com.

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We are back after like two or three weeks of downtime. And Nerman's back, new and improved. He can stick magnets and shit on his face now, and it's really awesome. The best part is, unbeknownst to me, is now he has regenerative abilities. So he's almost like Wolverine, but he doesn't get cool claws. He just has kind of a titanium mesh in his face. You get what you can. We're hoping to drag him behind a car by his face later so we can see the metal. But in the meantime, we have an interview this week with Pete from Bane. He's also in a band called Silent Drive, but we didn't talk to him about that because we were focusing on Bane. But first, I want to get to the winners of our last few contests. We've had a bunch, so here they go in no particular order.

Horse the Band contest for a copy of Horse the Band EP, their pizza EP. We have Thomas from Fairmont Mountain. What state has M in Minnesota? Mount Nefertiti. And he wanted a... Yeah, I'm not going to give what his answer was, but he was a winner. Mark M. from Westfield, Massachusetts. Also won. Why do states have to have weird names? The Red Scare Contest. We got Max from San Jose, California. You want. Then we got Saul J. from Portland or... Portland or somewhere else. So that was the Red Scare Contest. And then the Draft Contest, where you want to copy... Oh yeah, the Red Scare Contest, we didn't really have a prize for. That's up to Toby, so if it sucks ass, you can blame him. The Draft Contest, we had a Draft t-shirt and a CD to give away.

And that went to Joe H. from Greater Ford, Pennsylvania. That's PA, right? That or post-autopsy. So those are the winners of all our contests. You guys should get your shit in the mail eventually. And if you don't, it's free and you didn't pay anything. And we don't solicit your emails out, which could be the only way we would ever earn revenue. So don't complain. Anyhow, we have an interview, like I said, with Pete from Bane coming up. Check it out. At the end, we have a chance to win a Bane t-shirt. We were going to try and get a CD and we still might. But for now, all we have is a t-shirt. And it's a fucking t-shirt, dude. It's great. If you don't like it, use it as a rag. But we'll give you the rules on how to enter in the last eight minutes.

Before we get into the interview, we're going to play a track off of Bane's last CD, The Note. It's called My Therapy. And then we're going to get to the interview thing there. So check it out.

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We are in the van of Bane, I guess, at the moment, with Pete from Bane. Yep. If you can say hello, I guess. Hello to everyone. So I guess, first question, what do you do in the band? Just so we can get that one done. Okay. I play bass in the band. And I've been, I got in the band just after the demo was recorded. So I didn't record on the demo, but I played the first Bane show ever. So I've been in the band for almost 11 years now. Excellent. Can you give me a brief history of the band with your involvement? Well, it was started in 95. Aaron Dahlbeck from Converge wanted to start a band that was a little more hardcore than Converge. So he and the Converge drummer at the time, Damon Bellarotto, got together and they wrote some songs.

And then a band called Backbone that was fairly large in the Boston scene and Worcester scene of Massachusetts in the early 90s did a reunion show just about the same time. And Aaron Bedard sang for them and Aaron Dahlbeck approached him after that reunion to possibly sing for his new band. And then I met him through Converge. I was a fan of Converge and I met him just in the hardcore scene there. And that's kind of how it started. And Zach, our guitar player, joined shortly after that. So that's the basic beginnings of Bain. And since then it's been about, what, 10 years now? Yeah. It was actually 10 years February. Oh, wow. So approaching 11 now. Close. Yeah. Awesome. So you guys were originally from the Worcester, central Massachusetts area?

Yep, Worcester, W-O-R-C-E-S-T-E-R. Okay. I'm going to pronounce W-O-O-S-T-E-R. I'm going to pronounce Worcester. Yeah. But I've seen that a couple different ways on interviews. No one seems to get it right. No. All right. So at least I won't be the first to get it right. No. Yeah. You guys have moved since then, right? Yeah. Actually, no one actually lives in Worcester anymore. Zach and I both live in Western Mass. I live about an hour and a half from Worcester. He lives about an hour, just under an hour. Bob, our drummer, who's been in the band for three years, lives in Norwood, Mass, which is closer to Boston. Aaron, our singer, lives in Baltimore. And Aaron, our other guitar player, lives in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Oh, wow. So, yeah, we're all kind of spread out all over the place now. Does that make it any more difficult for the band?

Not really. Because everything is planned so far in advance that it's kind of easy to just get plane tickets and meet up when we need to.

It slows the writing process down anytime we want to write a song or whatever, which isn't very often. When you get the urge. Yeah, you really have to plan everything out a little farther in advance. But other than that, it's not that big of a deal. Very cool. Now, it was, what was it, three or four years between Give Blood and The Note? How far about? Four years, I think. About four years? Yeah. Now, in between that, there was a bunch of stuff going on with the different band members each doing their own thing. Right. Chronicle that a little bit? Um, well, Aaron, well, between Give Blood and The Note, um, like when Give Blood came out, we just toured like crazy and then, and, uh, reception was really, really great.

And, and, uh, that's where we kind of became like a, a bigger hardcore band, I guess. Um, and so it was kind of easy to just tour and we kind of got lazy, I think, as far as writing. Um, we were really happy with the way Give Blood came out. Um, and so it was like easy to play those songs and we still love them and, and everything. So, and then in the meantime, uh, each of us got involved in some side projects like Aaron, uh, from, uh, Aaron, the guitar player, uh, is working now with Russ Rankin, uh, and, uh, Bill Stevenson. And, and they're doing a project called Only Crime, um, who are on Phat Records. Uh, Russ is singing, so, uh, that's a pretty high profile thing. I actually played bass in there, in that band for a little while, but, um, I was also in another band with, with Zach, the guitar player, the other guitar player called Silent Drive.

And we put out a record, uh, I guess it's two years now, two years ago now. So, it's kind of been like a lot of things going on in between. Fair enough. Yeah. Did you, uh, ever tour as Silent Drive? Uh, Silent Drive toured a couple times with, uh, with Bane and then a couple times, um, on our own, um, yeah, it wasn't, it wasn't anything extensive. Well, we did the Bane Comeback Kid with Honor Tour. We opened that, those shows, which were pretty insane. That'd be, that'd be tiring to play those two in a row. Yeah, it was a 47-day tour, and I, we played two sets a night for 47 days. So, it was pretty, pretty intense, but, I mean, when you're doing something that you really love, so it's pretty easy. Yeah. It makes the days go by really fast, actually.

I would imagine with two sound checks, two load-ins. Yeah. Two sets. Yeah. That's, yeah, that's pretty intense. It's fun. Yeah, that's, that's cool, though. I mean, as long as you can enjoy it, I guess that's all that really matters. Now, um, you guys have done some pretty high-profile, like, larder-style shows. You guys have opened for Hey Bree before, is that right? Yep, we did a whole tour with them, I think, in 2002. Yeah. Um, them and Poison the Well, so that was pretty high-profile. Yeah. Um, is it, um, do you guys prefer to play, like, those bigger shows, or do you guys kind of prefer, like, The Etik tonight, which is, if I know, like, it's like a 400, 300-person crowd? Yeah. Uh, I mean, it's always nice to, to not be headlining.

Yeah. Um. A little easier. A little, a little easier, a little, like, uh, less stressful as far as, like, you, you're not, like, really in charge. You're just kind of, like, along for the ride, you know? Just show up. Yeah. But, um, playing big stages in places with barriers is just, like, difficult for an entire tour, so. Yeah. Um, it's not necessarily our thing, and we've actually done it very few times for how long we've been a band. Yeah. We, um, we kind of headlined everything that we did for a long time, just because that was, like, what we wanted to do, and then we started doing those, like, bigger tours. We did, we still haven't done that many, but we did a couple, and I'm glad we did them, but, um, I think we still like to play our own shows and, and smaller venues.

Even tonight is a 400 capacity or something like that, and it's, uh, almost too big. We play, like, 100-person clubs and just be, have it real squished and intimate, you know? That's, that's our favorite. Is it hard to do that? Because, I mean, like, with your guys growing popularity, I mean, even, like you said, if you're just headlining, you're going to pull, you know, 300-400 kids. Yeah, uh, it's, it's weird because there's, like, a lot of cities don't have that, that size venue, like a 300-400, so either you play, like, a 200 and have, like, kids outside, or you play, like, a 700 and it looks empty, so, um, I think you just get used to it. There's, there's a couple places that we just, like, have grown accustomed to that we, like, we love playing, so, it's, um, I think we're finding our, like, spot, I think, where it's, like, in between, where it's, like, still small and, and intimate, but, like, large enough where we're not, like, kids don't feel left out because they can't get into the shows, you know?

That's, like, our biggest fear. We'd rather play two shows the same day, but, uh, it's hard to find that balance, and, and, actually, it's, uh, changes every time you play a city how many kids actually show up, so, yeah, it's, it's kind of a crapshoot, but we do our best to keep it honest. Well, you guys are playing here tonight, and then I think you're playing about 60 miles north in San Francisco tomorrow, so, that's, that's a pretty good balance of doing things around the city. Yeah, yeah, hopefully. We haven't played Santa Cruz in a while, so I'm really excited to see how it goes. It's, uh, it's an interesting city. Yeah. Every band I've seen who's come through here, they, Santa Cruz is kind of a unique crowd, so.

Yeah. I'm interested, I'm going to sneak around, I want to see how that goes. Yeah. I'm excited because I feel like with the global threat and, and the Strike Anywhere and, and, and, uh, This Is Hell, it brings out a lot of different kids, and, and, uh, especially, like, punk kids, like, global threat and Strike Anywhere kids, like, I feel like, uh, Santa Cruz is probably a good, good spot for those guys, being, like, Russ Rankin's hometown or whatever, and. They have dreadlocks, and Santa Cruz kids relate to it. They have dreadlocks. Yeah. Yeah.

Hey, so we're going to take a little break there from the intensity that is Pete. He's actually a really mellow guy, but he's cool. Uh, we're going to play another track off of Bane's The Note. We're going to play, uh, Wasted On The Young. And then we're going to hop back into the interview. And remember, listen to the last eight minutes to learn how to enter to win our Bane contest to win free Bane shit. It's really exciting. I know you want to enter. Stay tuned.

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bands, supporting bands, or just bands who you tour with in general. Is that kind of an intentional move on your part to kind of keep it spread out? Absolutely. Um, I mean, I wouldn't want to play with the same sounding bands over and over again, you know? Like, a lot of kids will go to a show and, and they'll just want to see, like, five of the same band, like, similar style bands. And that's fine. But if you do a whole tour, like, 35, 40 days straight every day, it gets tiring. So we really try to, like, keep up, like, as far as, like, the most diverse bands as we can fit on a bill. And, and that's the whole point. Like, that's how it used to be, like, where everyone plays together. And, and that's, like, uh, an important part of the hardcore scene being diverse and, and, uh, I'm not, I don't know, um, just bring out different kids, you know?

So. It's cool, though. Um, is it ever hard, like, you're touring with Strike Anywhere this time, and, you know, you mentioned earlier you even toured with Comeback Kid, who are both, they're both bands of pretty close popularity-wise to you guys. Is it ever weird when, like, if, you know, an equal amount of kids show up for them or just show up for you? Is it ever awkward for any of the bands? Yeah, I mean, we try to do our best as far as who headlines. Um, this tour, we've kind of been putting it up to the promoters and kind of making, trying to make decisions who should headline, this and that. But I think, no matter what, like, not everyone has an open enough mind to, like, let's say if we, Bane, played first before Strike Anywhere, like, kids leave.

And even if we played last, kids would leave, like, Strike Anywhere fans would leave, you know? I think getting kids to stay for, like, the last band is, like, the hardest thing. But, um, I feel like it hasn't been, like, super awkward ever. Like, like, some kids leave, but there's still, like, a lot of kids, you know? If you're playing, like, 400, 400 kids, like, if 100 kids leave, it's still pretty great. So, um, but it's, uh, you just, like, if you get it wrong, then you kind of feel bad or whatever. But we all, we all know how it goes. So, like, we've talked about it with each other. And, uh, it's the same way. We're flipping, like, back and forth. So, it's, um, it could happen to either of us, and we unload that.

And we're all, we're all old enough to, like, not fight over anything and make it something silly like that. But, yeah, I mean, it's, um, I think so far we've been pretty good at it. And, uh, we'll see how the rest of the tour goes. We're headlining tonight and tomorrow. And then, I don't know who's headlining Seattle, but we'll see. We'll see how it goes. Yeah, it's got to keep you on your toes, though. I mean, load-ins and all that. So, yeah, yeah. Keep you honest. Yep. Um, one of the things, uh, that I keep noticing, I was reading reviews or interviews with you guys, and a lot of people keep asking, uh, whoever they get, whether it's, uh, you know, whether it's Aaron or Zach, anybody, they always ask, um, about the current fashion core type scenes and hardcore crews.

Do you guys ever feel like you kind of have to act as sort of the ambassador for the hardcore genre sometimes? Yeah, I mean, a lot. Uh, especially lately, um, I think we made, in the last year, we made a conscious decision to, like, specifically speak out about, uh, like, fights at shows and violence at shows. And, and, um, it kind of feels like this tour, especially, it feels like what we've been saying has been working. Uh, like, kids that are coming to our shows are the kids that have nothing, that don't want to have anything to do with violence, you know? Uh, and, um, the kids that are coming to shows just to start fights and stuff aren't coming anymore. So I think it's, it's had an effect. Um, I think we've always been an outspoken band at, like, from the beginning, I think just because the scene has gotten so big, it's just more, you just kind of have to remind kids more often.

So we do become kind of an ambassador and I don't think it comes with age. We've been around so long, we kind of just, like, the grandfathers of hardcore scene, I guess. Now I'm making myself feel really old, but. You're not that old. But, yeah, um, yeah, I don't know. It's, um, sometimes it can be weird, like, why do we have to always remind everyone, but. Yeah. We'll do it. If, if it makes no, if it makes, like, there's no fights at shows and, and kids are, are thinking about why they're here and, and what they're doing. So it's, we'll do it every time, so. Very cool. Now, uh, coming from the Bay Area, I mean, it happens on occasion that there's a fight and stuff, but not, you know, it's not as known, it's not as prevalent as, like, for example, there's, what, the Boston Beatdown is the name of a crew and stuff like that?

Yeah, uh, they put out, like, DVDs or something like that. Yeah. Is it, like, really, I mean, because it's hard for me even to relate, like, how intense, like, has it been out there at times? It's hard for me to say because Bane doesn't really play that many shows. Um, we don't play that much in Boston. Mm-hmm. And, like, maybe once a year. Mm-hmm. So, and, and it tends to be, like, no fights. Yeah, they kind of avoid that. Yeah, they kind of steer clear of us and we steer clear of them, um, and I think that's the way we, we both like it. You're okay with that? Yeah. Um, I know that people are getting sick of it and, and, and, um, I don't know. I haven't, I haven't been to a show in Boston where there's been a fight in a long time, but I'm probably not going to the right shows.

I'm going to the right shows, actually. You're going, I'd say you're going to the right shows. Um, I wanted to ask, uh, real quick, I had been reading that, um, I believe it was you that on the new album you've taken, you took a lot more control with the direction of the artwork and such, is that right? Yeah, um, well, I did the Give Blood layout and then I did the, uh, the note layout. Aaron and I came up with the storyline for the layout, um, and we had, uh, our good friend of ours, Dave Maganero, do like black and white pen and inks for the, like, because Aaron and I, Aaron Bedard and I came up with the story and then we explained it to him and wrote it all up and told him like different, uh, like shots of what we wanted and he drew them up for us and then I like colored it on the computer and laid it out and did that.

But, um, that's what I went to school for and that's what I do for a living when I'm not on tour, so. Well, then I guess it helps, uh, you know, to have someone who can do that. Yeah. Yeah, it's fun, I mean, I really enjoy it, like, um, especially for doing it for my own bands, you know, um, you kind of have, like, the most creative freedom when, when you don't really have anyone to answer to, so. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's, it tends to be, like, the funnest projects I get to work on, so. Well, it's got to be nice, too, because, I mean, it's just one more thing for the band that you guys get to do yourself, that's how you've invented it. Right, exactly. It's, like, uh, the, the final step of, like, the creative process of releasing your own music, you know, it's, like, you do the, the songs and then you record it the way you want it and, and, and then you package it the way you want it, so.

It's, uh, it's, uh, Bane has always been, like, doing everything the way we want it, like, by ourselves, so, yeah. Excellent. Um, before we go, I just want to ask, do you guys have any, uh, plans for the future, like, future touring, future recording, anything to that effect? Um, we don't have any new songs just yet, we are talking, see, with Bane we have to talk about maybe getting together at some point. Uh, because you all got to fly somewhere. Yeah, we plan, yeah, we plan maybe talking about practicing, you know? So, um, but we'll probably write something next, like, in the next couple months, we're home, uh, we were trying to book a South Africa tour. Oh, wow. And that's kind of on hold right now due to some, like, technical issues, but, uh, we're trying to get over to Australia, which was never, which we've never done, and do Europe again in the spring.

Um, I think we're not going to do the U.S. for a couple months, but, um, we have a couple things on our plate coming up. Nothing completely solid yet, but we have a couple months off, uh, till the end of the year, and then we're good, so. That'll be good to get some downtime, I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Um, so is there, last thing, anything you want to plug, any other bands, any websites, stuff to sell? No, I mean, no. All right. Bane Central, we have all our T-shirts and whatever off there. Um, and then, trying to think if there's anything, no. All right. Well, I want to thank you, uh, for taking the time to talk to us, and, uh, good luck with the rest of the tour. Thanks very much. Thanks for having me. All right.

So that wraps up our interview today with, uh, Pete from Bane, and as always, we have a contest this week where you can win free stuff from Bane. Right now we got a T-shirt, we're trying to get a CD. Uh, I may just give away my CD of the note if I really feel like it, but, uh, probably not because I don't like any of you that much. And we will, uh, send it. So, here's how you want to enter. Uh, name, pertinent information, where you live, uh, the state, write out the full state name. Don't give me the, uh, PA stuff. And if you're in Pennsylvania, let me know if you're, uh, like Pennsylvania, Dutch, Amish, because they have a different postal system that requires horses and donkeys. They don't have cars, but you can roller skate if you're Amish, which is fucking sweet.

So, uh, let me know. Uh, the way to enter, uh, email, on the email, shut up, on email, put Bane contest, give us your name and information, and then for the contest, I want you to tell me, uh, Pete from Bane is in another band called Silent Drive. I want you to decide what you would name your band if your band was a side project. So, it would have to be less awesome than your original band, but it would still have to not totally be a shitty name. Like, you couldn't name it like Casper's Friendly Ass Fisting, because that's a shit name and no one would listen. So, it has to be shittier than your original name, but not entirely shitty. So, we're looking for a medium shitty band name. Figure it out, and, uh, include that, and that's how you would enter to win.

Stay tuned, next week we have an interview set up with, uh, Strike Anywhere, we actually did those two at the same time, but we're putting them a week apart, so it's like time traveling, so that's pretty sweet. And, uh, we'll have a whole new set of contests and all that fun stuff to give away, so stay tuned next week. Uh, before we go, we got one last track from Bane, Off The Note, it's the last song off the album, it is called Swan Song. Enjoy it, and, uh, we'll see you next week.

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