I FIGHT BEARS – Interview

South Wales bruisers I FIGHT BEARS hit you with towering vocals, crushing riffs and hammering beats. The highly-regarded quintet drop their self-titled debut album on Friday 16th February, and the metal beasts have just released their lyric video for Lost The Fight – https://youtu.be/cYHzAUj_tzY  . We thought it would be good to have the boys over for a chat…..

What is the full band line-up, who plays what?

Dan Blackmore – Vocals, Marc James – Guitar, Chris Treharne – Guitar, Drew Hamley – Bass / Vocals, Scott Preece – Drums.

How and when did the band form? Tell us anything interesting about your hometown.

Dan pestered Drew to work on some tracks with him on many occasions until he finally agreed to do so. Marc was looking to get involved in some music and joined the two to try and put a track together. They we’re impressed with the outcome and worked on more. Then Chris and Scott joined the band and it grew into a fully functional outfit. Bridgend is the hometown of such bands as Funeral For A Friend and Bullet For My Valentine. Members of both bands are close personal friends with members of I Fight Bears.

When and how did the band really start gelling and solidifying?

It wasn’t until the latter half of the first year of forming as a band did we really start to know what we were about and what kind of music we wanted to put out. Once we had that solidified, we began working on our debut record as we had the means to write record and produce it all ourselves.

What are your musical influences?

The musical influences in the band are incredibly diverse from member to member but the main influences you can hear in the music are bands like Lamb Of God, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive to name a few.

How far back does your history with each other (the band members) extend? are you friends from school or any family relations?

Many of us in the band have known each other for years and have performed together in various other bands and projects. It was a natural coming together in the end of the five of us through a shared love of riffs, solos and brutal metal.

In your opinion, how is your band different from all the other bands out there?

We feel that the metal scene has become stagnant in recent years with no real breakthrough acts emerging. We didn’t feel that we should write music to fit current trends and wrote music similar to what we all love to listen to. Songs with big anthemic choruses, great riffs, tonnes of shredding, solos and great dynamics. If you want to be noticed in the industry, then be great at your chosen instrument and write great songs. Easier said than done ha ha.

If a deaf person were to ask you to describe the sound of your music, how would you describe it?

It’s the kind of music your nan would listen to while fist fighting a pack of bears.

Where can we find your social media sites?

You can check us out at the following places:

http://www.facebook.com/ifightbearsband

http://www.youtube.com/ifightbearsband

http://www.twitter.com/ifightbearsband

http://www.instagram.com/ifightbears

http://ifightbears.bandcamp.com