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Bleed The Sky Interview


In keeping their music intense while giving forth a fresh, unique take on metal that crosses over between genres, Bleed The Sky measure up as one of the hottest young acts on the metal scene today. "Paradigm In Entropy" shows that the band have the ability to remain powerful while affording room for a variety of musical experimentations. Guitarist Kyle Moorman recently spoke with The Gauntlet about the new record and the band's current activities.

The Gauntlet: How has the response to "Paradigm In Entropy" been thus far?

Kyle Moorman: Generally it has been very well received, especially in Europe; people really seem to catch on to what we're after musically. It's a great feeling to have people enjoy what we do for fun; it's the icing on the cake for us. We'd still be doing this even if no one cared to listen to us at all.


The Gauntlet: Your group does a great job of balancing aggressive and melodic tones, yet the band sounds dissimilar to many of the acts that are melding these types of influences. To what do you attribute this fact?

Kyle Moorman: We borrow heavily from non metal influences, personally, my music collection consists of about 10% metal, and 90% from all other genres, which isn't to say that metal isn't my favorite genre (which it is), but that I try to stay well rounded as far as my musical tastes. We take from other styles whatever we can, and mold it into something that works for us in our own context. Riding in our van on tour, you're just as likely to hear us listening to Pantera, as you would hear us listening to Michael Hedges, or Simon and Garfunkel.


The Gauntlet: What is the ultimate mission of Bleed The Sky as artists?

Kyle Moorman: To keep ourselves interested in what we do, we want to make sure we care about the music 1st and foremost. We all push our selves to be the best we can on our instruments, we're constantly pushing ourselves to try new things. A lot of times live we'll take chances and improvise different parts of songs, or change up parts before we go on. This keeps it interesting for us and also I think for our fans, because they never know what to expect when we play live.


The Gauntlet: Do you feel a responsibility to do something different with your art?

Kyle Moorman: I think we do, if we we're just trying to reinvent the wheel; we would not have the kind of drive we do as a band. I'm not saying that we're trying to be the next Primus or Mr. Bungle, but I think we try to stand out from other bands in our own subtle ways.


The Gauntlet: What was the most electrifying aspect of recording the new album?

Kyle Moorman: It's great to finally hear the songs recorded, and seeing things come together in the studio. When things are going smoothly, and we're ahead of schedule enough to experiment with new ideas, it makes recording a lot of fun.


The Gauntlet: What do you strive to achieve from a lyrical perspective?

Kyle Moorman: Everything on the record comes from personal experience, from all members of the band. We are all involved in the lyric writing process, but usually Noah will take the initial idea, and run with it.


The Gauntlet: How do you describe the band's overall sound?

Kyle Moorman: It can change from song to song, if we rearranged the tracks on the album in the order they we're written, (the last track is actually the last track we wrote before recording) you'll see that we really try to balance heaviness, technicality, and melody in our own way. I'd rather let the music speak for itself than try to use a bunch of worn out adjectives that everyone uses.


The Gauntlet: What do you feel is the most rewarding attribute a career in the music industry can offer?

Kyle Moorman: I think as long as we're playing music, recording albums etc. and people care enough to keep us going, that's the biggest reward to us.


The Gauntlet: What are some of the things the band does in order to prepare for a performance?

Kyle Moorman: We all warm up before we go on, and basically try to hang out for about 15 � 20 minutes together before we go on to make sure everyone is up to date on the set list and stuff like that.


The Gauntlet: Are you a band that enjoys interacting with the crowd before and after a performance?

Kyle Moorman: We make a point of hanging out with everyone we can at shows; we're usually watching the other bands, back at the merch booth, or at the bar. We always invite the crowd to stick around and have a few a drinks with us after the show. Any show that you go to see us at, you can usually find any of us hanging out in the crowd. We're all very approachable, so don't be afraid to say hello at any show we're at, we'll always take time to talk to anyone that gives a shit.



The Gauntlet: What type of vibe can listeners look forward to at one of your concerts?

Kyle Moorman: We keep the music as intense as possible, but we're always cracking jokes on stage and the overall vibe isn't your normal super serious metal vibe. We take our music serious, but we try not to take ourselves too serious.


The Gauntlet: What drives you most as a performing artist?

Kyle Moorman: It's a lot of fun writing music, that's probably the most enjoyable part about being in a band except maybe playing live. We write as much as possible, and try to be the best songwriters and musicians we can.


The Gauntlet: Who designed the album's cover and what is this image intended to represent?

Kyle Moorman: A guy named Aaron Marsh designed the album cover and layout. We basically had him draw up a bunch of different designs, and we picked the one we liked the most. The skeleton with wings was actually added at the last minute to try to make it more interesting, but I think the artwork correlates to the music well in a weird sort of way.


The Gauntlet: What is the strangest thing that has happened to you as a member of the group?

Kyle Moorman: Every time we go out on the road we come back with a lot of crazy stories, but a good one from the last tour we did would be in Modesto, CA where our sampler Puck took a dump in a hotel bathroom that had to weigh at least 5 lbs. It was really a freak of nature. The funniest part was when we we're checking out, we kept getting dirty looks from the maintenance staff, and when we drove out we saw them going into the room with big gloves on and a plumber snake. We've got a lot of stories like that, ha-ha.


The Gauntlet: Has being under contract with Nuclear Blast given you an edge when it comes to getting the music out there overseas?

Kyle Moorman: Absolutely, obviously they're a German based label, so I think they have a good business sense about how to promote a band in Europe, which for a metal band is vital. The response we've had overseas is staggering to us, and we can't wait until we're there this Dec. with Hatebreed.


The Gauntlet: What types of changes do you see on the horizon in the music industry?

Kyle Moorman: You never know what the next thing is going to be in the music industry, as far as heavy music goes; it looks like metal core is the big thing right now. I wouldn't say that metal core is on its way out, because 10 years ago people would have called a lot of the same bands labeled as metal-core, nu-metal. I think a lot more people are getting into the really heavy bands that were a lot more underground in recent years, which is a good thing. Also, a lot of younger kids are rediscovering the older pioneers of metal, and I think that's why we're seeing bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden on the main stage at Ozzfest. It's good to see people new to metal keeping everything in perspective as far as where heavy music originated, and paying respects the ones that brought us to where we are now.


The Gauntlet: Has the use of the Internet been an aid in letting the people know about your band?

Kyle Moorman: Absolutely, our main source of promotion before getting singed was the internet. If you look hard enough, there are dozens of sites that will host your mp3's for free. A website called Garageband.com was where Nuclear Blast originally heard our music, so I would say we definitely owe the good part of our career to the internet.


The Gauntlet: What drives you most as a performing artist?

Kyle Moorman: We originally started this band just for fun. We're all friends first, and band mates second. As long as playing shows, recording albums, touring, and things like that are a fun experience for us, we'll continue to do what we do.



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Tags:  Bleed the Sky  , Kyle Moormaninterviews

    September 18, 2005

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