The definition for the word “puzzle,” when used as a noun, is a game to exercise the brain by fitting different pieces together. This can also be applied to the process of putting a band together. The members of a band need to fit together like puzzle pieces in order to complete that puzzle. The pieces don’t always fit together like they should, ala the square peg in the round hole, and members are lost. That process can be a grueling one for a band until they find all of the right pieces: such is the case with the L.A. based metal band, Soulbleed.
The origin of Soulbleed dates back quite a few years and over the course of time, they have been through several members for different reasons. It wasn’t until late 2008, early 2009 that all the right pieces seemed to finally fit together giving the band the lineup that it had been seeking. That lineup, consisting of Dave Rubenhold on vocals, Steve Marshall on guitar, Elaina Bangma on bass and Jimmy Schultz on drums, released the band’s debut self-titled album in 2010. That album features a sound that combines passionate lyrics delivered convincingly over aggressive and brutal music played by dead-serious musicians. If you think that sounds familiar, you better think again because this band is not your flavor of the week band. 2013 looks to be a busy year for the band and guitarist Steve Marshall took time out of the band’s busy schedule to sit down with us and give us a crash course on all things Soulbleed and what the new year holds in store for them.
Hey Steve, thanks for squeezing me into your busy schedule and taking the time to talk with me. I want to give our readers a little bit of the history of the band, but I want to start with the new video that you guys recently finished. “Drenched in Sorrow” is one of my favorite tracks on the album and I was pretty excited when I heard you guys were working on a video. I saw it and I think you guys nailed it. It’s a perfect match for the song. Visually, it’s pretty intense and that goes right along with the song as well.
First off, I want to thank you for wanting to talk to us. As for the video, we’ve had a really good reaction to it so far and it’s really cool how that whole thing came together. We had wanted to do a video for a really long time and a lot of the credit really should go to the director, Carl Ball. He’s a friend of Jimmy’s and he did a couple of videos for one of Jimmy’s other bands. I saw one of their videos and I thought it looked really good and it was really cool the way that it was shot. So, I talked to Jimmy about it and we got together with Carl and his ideas for the video were really cool. What was really awesome about it was getting everybody together for the fight scene. We found a park to do it in and all of those people are just friends and fans of the band. We were so happy with the way that it turned out.
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-kqrnD8e1s]
Your self-titled debut album came out in 2010. I wanted to ask you if Jimmy is on that recording because this incarnation of Soulbleed seemed to solidify itself when he came on board. What year was that?
He joined in late 2008, 2009-ish and we recorded it with him. That whole process is really funny because this band has had different incarnations over at least ten years. We’ve had a lot of drummers along the way and the chemistry just wasn’t right with them. Jimmy’s just such a cool dude and he’s such a great drummer. We all get along well and gel really well together.
It almost sounds as if you have a Spinal Tap thing going on with your drummer situation.
(laughs) It’s funny because we’ve had people relate us to that from time to time because we have definitely had a form of musical chairs going on with our drummers. Elaina and I have talked about we should come up with a movie script or something with all of the crazy stuff that’s happened to us so far when it comes to changing out members. We’ve had some problems in the past as far as singers go, but drummers have definitely been our Achilles heel.
You had mentioned to me that you guys were working on some new material to come out before your new album is ready. What can you tell me about that?
Yeah, we actually wrote one original song and we tracked that and it’s almost completely ready. We’re not ready to release a full length album just yet, but time does fly and it’s been a while since our album came out. So, what we wanted to do is give the people at least one new song to chew on for a while. In addition to that, we’ve also recorded two cover songs. We picked a couple that weren’t textbook songs as far as what you would expect us to cover. You would probably expect us to cover a Pantera song, but these songs are very different songs for us. We decided that it would be fun to branch out and do a different take on something. As for right now, all I can say is that they are songs from the 90s, but that’s all we want to say for right now.
There’s nothing like teasing your fans to get then curious as to what you have up your sleeves. Do we know what kind of time frame that you’re looking at releasing those?
We’re still discussing that and working out all of the details, but it should be soon. Hopefully, in the next month or so we should have it all ready.
You mentioned to me earlier that you guys are also looking to have your follow-up album out this year as well. What can you tell me about that? Are you writing or have you recorded anything yet?
We are definitely working on some new stuff right now and we’re probably four or five songs into the new album, but we have a ton more ideas that we are working on. Elaina and I live together, and we had the luxury of building a studio in our home. We have our recording gear set up constantly. We’re always coming up with new stuff, but it just has to be filtered through. The writing process comes from everywhere with us. There may be a song where we come up with something on a drum machine and then we send it to Jimmy and he’ll shape it together. Then, there may be other songs where we get together as a group and we play a song may come together quickly. I think it’s very realistic to say that we will start tracking in the spring and then album two should be out later this year.
Can we back up just a little bit and touch on songwriting aspect of your music. Is there a method to the madness lyrically with your songs? Are all of you involved in that process?
The lyrics are 100% Dave (Rubenhold). Our formula would be to generally come up with the music first and then we give it to Dave and he puts his words to it. One of the coolest things about this band is when we just set up and jam and see what happens. We’ll just play and have no idea where we’re going and in the past, other singers just kind of stood there because they didn’t have any lyrics, but Dave just jumps in and adds his own stuff to it. That’s one of the big parts in wanting him to be the singer in the band: his ability to just ad lib stuff. He calls them vocal patterns. It’s great for us that it works that way.
It almost sounds like a style of musical improv or freestyle that most people don’t associate with rock or metal.
Yeah, you’re right, that’s exactly what it’s like. It’s my favorite way for us to come up with a new song.
What about touring?
We’ve done some regional stuff with this last album, but it just keeps getting tougher and tougher with gas prices and everything. We don’t have the liberty of having a big label behind us, so we have to choose things a little more carefully because it’s pretty much on our own dime. If we know we’re going to get a good gig by opening for someone or by being on a bill with a bunch of other good bands, then we’ll jump on board. Ironically, the time that we did the most touring was right before the album came out. We tend to do things backwards in this band; not intentionally though. We put out a demo in 2007 and we toured around and played a lot of shows that year. I think we played about a hundred shows that year and it helped to build a little bit of a fan base in those areas. In the future, we are looking at trying to get on a more serious tour, but it’s just tough these days doing this on our own. Right now, we’re focusing on putting out a lot of music and some more videos since we have a studio at our disposal. That seems to be what a lot of people like and it’s also logistically possible for us to focus on that as well.
If touring’s not in the budget, then you can utilize the internet effectively and spread music to the masses. So many people get stuck focusing on the negative aspects of the internet and they forget that it can be a great marketing tool.
You’re absolutely right! I know you’re a fan of 313 also. Randy (Weitzel) is one of my favorite people in the world and I absolutely love that guy. He and I have had similar discussions about the internet and you can look at illegal downloading and the negative side to the internet. Yet, you can put out a video or a demo online and within a couple of weeks, it can be exposed to thousands and thousands of people, so I think it’s a great tool. You have to be open to it and embrace it and use it to your advantage.
One last question and it’s on more of a personal level. Have there ever been any instances at a show where maybe a guy had too much to drink and crossed the line with Elaina and you had to step in?
There really haven’t been any issues like that, but there is one thing that happens that’s really funny. The three guys in the band seem to get a kick out of this and it is pretty funny, at least to us. It seems like chicks come up and hit on Elaina more than guys do and we all fucking crack up about that. There was this one show we played and afterwards Elaina comes up and tells us that this girl just tried to kiss her. Of course I have to jump on it immediately and make a joke out of it. I was like where was I when this happened? We all crack up about that all the time because it seems like she’s getting hit on by chicks more than anyone else in the band.
What a blow to the delicate male ego (laughs). I think that’s a great way to wrap up the interview Steve. It looks like there’s a lot brewing in the Soulbleed camp and fans have a lot to look forward to. Is there anything else that you would like to add to close this out?
First off, thanks so much for wanting to talk to us. I love the magazine and I think it’s awesome! We also want to thank our fans for their support and there is a lot in the works for them to get excited about. They should keep a check on our social media outlets for official word on the three songs we’re finishing up and updates as we start on the new album as well.
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