Bring to Bear between “light and shadow”
If it was not for the pandemic we probably wouldn’t have started Bring to Bear
Hi Bring to Bear! How are you? Nice to be able to interview you!
Hello! We are all okay thanks. Keeping busy with writing new music and preparing for gigs. We appreciate the opportunity to talk to you.
How did the pandemic take you last year?
The pandemic has been an interesting time for us. If it was not for the pandemic we probably wouldn’t have started Bring to Bear, and it gave us time to develop the sound we wanted and find band members. But it also made it difficult to get gigs and we were only able to play 1 gig in 2021, and we had to cancel other gigs because of Covid 19.
According to your bio, the band was born in May 2020 during the pandemic lockdown. How did the idea of creating the band come about?
Hristo and I are in another band together which is a gypsy punk band, but we both love metal and we wrote some music for that band which was too heavy for it. So instead of trying to change the music we had written, we decided to make it heavier and start a metal band together.
So, we took the energy and hooks from our punk influence and created energetic metal music with accordion.
Who are its current members and where do they come from?
We have Hristo on guitar who is originally from Bulgaria; me (Ian) on accordion and growling, originally from South Africa; Izabela on lead vocals who is originally from Poland; Simon on drums, from England; Nik on guitar, originally from Russia; and Richard on bass who is from England.
All the band members currently live in or around London.
Do you have the same musical experience or is this your first time in a band?
Most of us have been in a few bands before, but this is the first time for Nik and Izabela.
What are your main influences?
Our influences are quite varied and you can hear it in the different instruments. But the main influences on all aspects of our music are Nightwish, Korpiklaani, Mushroomhead, In Flames, Turisas.
How would you define your musical style?
In simple terms we call it symphonic folk metal. But there are elements of a lot more like thrash metal, viking metal, groove metal, power metal, melodic death metal.
Let’s talk about “Light and Shadow”, your first musical work, which was released in October last year. How was the editing and recording process?
We wrote the songs during lockdown in 2020 and 2021. During the writing process we had to record each of our parts separately at home and email it to the rest of the band for comments and feedback.
When these were finished, we went to the studio to record them, and we hadn’t even had our first rehearsal together by then. But the recording went quite well in the end although it took a little bit longer than we had hoped.
I noticed that this EP only includes 3 songs. Why is that?
We wanted to be able to give people a taste of our music as soon as we could. When we went to the studio, we actually recorded 5 songs but instead of waiting for all of them to be mixed and mastered we decided to release 3 of them before the others. The other 2 took a long time to be ready after that so we’re glad we could at least get some music out. And now we have more music to release while we write new songs so there’s not a very long gap between each new release. Sometimes with bands it can be many years between releases.
Why only 3 songs and not make an album?
A lot of the reason is time related. Because we have such different influences it can take a long time to find our sound and refine it, and we want to make sure that every song is as high quality as we can make it. So it takes a lot of time for us to finish one song.
And because we wanted to get a taste of our music out there for people to hear before life got busy again after lockdown, we had to keep it to just a few songs. Otherwise we probably wouldn’t have finished writing all the songs for an album by now! Haha
What are the songs about?
We try to make our lyrics relatable and to leave the listener with a feeling of motivation. In general, our songs are about going after what you really want in life.
The Shadow Ruse is a song about how we look at situations as either good or bad (light and dark), but in fact the situation is neither good nor bad — it just is. It is the way we look at it that determines our perception of it being good or bad. Inside every perceived bad situation is an opportunity, a bit of light. And inside every good situation is something that we should be careful of, a bit of dark. Ultimately, it’s about a balanced perspective.
No One Knows is a cover of the song by Queens of the Stone Age and I have been told they don’t even know what the song is about. Haha
We all have times when we feel down in the dumps like everything has gone the way we didn’t want and it’s all hopeless. But then something happens and we find strength and determination to fight back in a sense. From the Abyss is about that moment when we decide to pick ourselves up and go after what is really meaningful to us. It’s from the darkest moments that we can find the most meaning and determination.
Regarding its promotion and diffusion. How did you promote it?
We have used PR to promote the digital release to radio and online media. We have put it on all major digital streaming platforms (iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Deezer, and many others) and it is also on YouTube where we have a video or visualizer for every song so far. It is available to buy and download on Bandcamp and we also have CDs available on Bandcamp with 2 bonus tracks.
Did you have the opportunity to present it live?
Not really. So far, we have only played one gig! And one online festival. That’s how it’s been with the pandemic — gigs canceled or postponed and lots of bands trying to make up for lost time. But we have a few more gigs lined up for 2022 so it looks like it’s improving here.
How has it been generally received, both by the public and the press?
It seems to have mostly been received quite well by the press. Most of the reviews have been more complimentary than critical. It’s been interesting to see how different sites have preferred some songs over others and the cover song seems to have the most contrasting views — it’s different for each site.
The public seem to have received it fairly well too. We had some good initial growth on Spotify and YouTube, and when we played our only gig of 2021 people seemed to love it.
Where can a copy be obtained?
You can find physical CDs on our Bandcamp page. There are also some t-shirts available there.
Back to the initial question. This year the band will be 2 years old. Has it been difficult for you to break through as a band?
Yes, I think so. The pandemic gave us the opportunity to make the band and define our style, but it also made it very difficult to get gigs. And working on the music has been slower than it could have been. It’s the light and the dark that we sing about in The Shadow Ruse. And we have started from scratch so we’re still trying to make connections with people who can help boost our career.
There are also lots of other bands working hard like us to get somewhere.
How do you feel so far?
To be honest I can’t believe it’s been nearly 2 years since we decided to start a metal band! It feels like we’ve only been going for 1 year, and in a way that’s more accurate because we only found most of the other band members in December 2020 and January 2021.
But I am pleased that we have got things set up in quite an organized way. And I think our music is strong and has lots of potential, and our live show is full of energy. So I am determined to keep doing everything we can and hopeful for great opportunities in the future.
Any immediate plans you have?
Most of the time we work a few months ahead with our planning. So, at the moment we are busy developing and improving our live performance and trying to get gigs that will boost our career, and we are writing new songs as well which we hope to record during 2022.
Well Bring to Bear. That’s all, thank you for your time. Wishing you all the best of luck and success in your career. Before we finish, anything you want to say.
It can be a scary thing going after what is really meaningful to you. The fear of failure can hold you back, but the real failure is in not trying at all.
We are going after what is meaningful to us, and that is making music that inspires other people to go after what is meaningful to them. So, we hope our music inspires our listeners!
Follow the band:
https://www.instagram.com/BringToBearBand/
