BAM! IT'S...

Bled Across Miles come from the Baltimore, Maryland area, and after having seen a lot of fat, hairy, ugly guys in khaki shorts scream their lungs out at ABC No Rio and other underground shows, we decided B.A.M. were definitely the sexiest grindcore band we ever saw! But listen to their MP3s and they pack a lot of power and crunch too!

1. Please introduce the band - name, age, instrument, and scariest monster

Nick - 20 - Vocals
Logan - 21 - Guitar
Eric F - 19 - Guitar
Jason - 21 - Bass
Eric B - 18 - Drums

2. Grindcore is instantly recognizable by that disgusting growling vocal style -- to me, it sounds like the singer is throwing up while singing! So my first question would be, why would anyone WANT to sing like that? I read somewhere that the grindcore vocal is supposed to the voice of Satan. Is that true? What does it bring to the music and what does the sound of the vocal supposed to be telling the listener?

Nick: Well, I scream a number of different ways and i sing occasionally. Most the screams are coming out as hard as i can possibly push and some i can just make with my throat. Yes it sounds evil and we know this. we're not satanic at all. But we're not trying to get on the radio, or mtv. We're just trying to let people know how we feel about life and situations. & if we were in your face singing like nsync or some radio rock shit you would understand it but it would go in one ear and out the other. If we we're screaming as loud and nasty as we possibly could you may not understand every word but you'll never forgot that horrifying sound. and the look of sincerity on our face. basically the sound of the vocals is saying fuck you.

3. Second question - why do you even bother writing lyrics when you're screaming or puking out the vocals so nobody can understand them? Can grindcore and screamo songs have any meaning without the lyrics sheets? Is it the pure emotion and sound that is supposed to communicate a meaning? Because you sure can't make out the words!

Every song i write has purpose and meaning. The lyrics are edited and re written a number of times before im completeley happy with them and want to share them. I think when people listen hard enough they can understand them. and when they have the actual lyrics in their hands they see and hear the words coming out together. some bands do just have songs about certain topics and everytime they play them the words change depending on the mood that day. i only know of a few bands to do that though.

4. Image is very important in music today. But grind bands are usually fat ugly guys with a lot of hair. You don't look like that at all. What does the difference between your image and your music mean, if anything? And do you think about the way you look when you perform?

Our image doesnt mean shit. we just look normal i think. we dont try to be scene. we dont try to be different we're just there. but while on stage some say we look like everyday joe's turend into fucking maniacs. i really dont believe image should have any part of music. cuz when u hear a song and u really like it, that should be it. u shouldnt wonder how cool the guy/girl who sings it looks. none of that matters. im sure we make the ugliest faces while playing and i hope we continue to until we're dead.

5. How did you all meet and start the band? Were any of you in other bands that played different kinds of music before BAM?

Well, me , Jason & Eric have been best friends for about 16 yrs. then we met dan our old drummer about 6 yrs ago. and we got logan off the internet. he was like a mail order bride except a guitarist. hahaha sike. we discovered him on baltimorebands.com a little over 3 yrs ago. Logan was in a couple bands before BAM. i think a black metal one and another but the the rest of us we're in this super funny dont give a shit about shit band called Gone Postal. basically it was all thrash and just randomness. Jason was on vocals, Eric was on bass, me on guitar and dan on drums. we played out of like 15 watt amps and everything just sounded like ass but it was fun. Then, last april Dan had to leave due to not being able to tour. So we tried about 4 people and one was Big Eric from VA and he's the one we got along with the best and the one trying to create the same style of music so why wouldnt he be in the band. in the midst of those 3 yrs we had couple dif. people play guitar with us and we had are friend Dik fill in on drums for about 5 months or something when dan switched to guitar. basically when ur best friends and u love music u start a band. it's necessary. its the most fun you'll ever have in ur life. nothing has topped it yet and i dont think anything will.

6. What is your local scene like? Where are your favorite places to play? Do you prefer all ages shows or bar shows, and why? And finaly, are there any other bands in your hometown that we should check out?

The local scene is fun and full of all are friends so we love it. the best place in baltimore to play is def. The Ottobar. other great ones are The Recher and Sonar. every where else is pretty much the same. we always prefer all ages shows. alot of our listeners are under 18 so we need the shows to be all ages or people or getting left out in the cold. bars we dont care for to much. it's to smokey and it's a fucking bar so it takes away from the bands. the way to be is sober at shows.

You should def check out Make Your Stand bc they are seriously the most fun metal/ tough band you'll ever hear in your life and they have helped us out more then any single band in the world. (with shows, and gear, and just being awesome dudes.) also, check out
Lilu Dallas bc they are great friends of ours as well and they're probably the most talented bmore band.

7. What's the biggest challenge you think you face as a band, and what are you doing to try and overcome it?

The biggest challenge alot of people say is staying together. and seriously we never think about that at all. until we cant physically play we're gonna be around for a long long time. we're just great friends having lots of fun why would we ever want that to end. i really dont believe in not being able to overcome things. if u dont overcome ur weak or just lazy. and none of us are that.

8. MySpace is a great way for bands to meet new fans and get the word out. Do you have any good stories about fans, or bands, or anyone that you met thru MySpace?

Well, we have people that have met us through myspace and then when we goto their city and play we meet them in person. thats always cool. nothing really crazy happens to us bc of myspace though. its just our promoting tool. i mean it is crazy when someone from the other side of the U.S. or another country is like we want u to come play here. bc it's just like wow if there wasnt the internet, bands would hardly be heard. i can't imagine the old days. what did bands do?

9. You were one of the many bands that was supposed to play Hellfest in NJ when it was suddenly cancelled. Do you have any comment on what happened and do you think it was handled well or badly?

The fact that we won the contest to play Hellfest still blows us away. I mean to everyone that voted for us. thank you very, very, very much. you really have no idea how much we appreciate your support.
when i heard it was cancelled it pretty much destroyed me for a couple mins. just to think. we prob would have played in front of the most people ever and it could have been some kind of big break for us. but then it all just vanishes quicker then it appeared.
to me the whole story is fucking ridiculous.
something about not being able to give the arena insurance or something. i dont know. all i know is this was supposed to be the 9th Hellfest and who ever was in charge should have figured all this shit out along time ago. so many people had to cancel flights, and hotel rooms, and get refunds on their tickets. Bc of that arena Hellfest lost millions of dollars im sure. and many fans. i mean if there is another hellfest. i wouldnt be surprized if no one shows up bc of this yrs bs.

10. How can fans reach you for shows, merch, etc.?

www.bledacrossmiles.com (this is under construction but it works) or
myspace.com/bam or
purevolume.com/bledacrossmiles or emeraldmoonrecords.com

you can also email gonepostal21220@yahoo.com with any questions about B.A.M.

Thank you so much for the interview. very good times. sorry it was only me. it would have been impossible to get the guys to drive all the way over here just for an interview. and we dont do phones to much so..

thanks again,
Nick-B.A.M.-