BLEEDING THROUGH Frontman: 'No One Is Buying Records Anymore'

January 31, 2012

Vocalist Brandan Schieppati of Orange County, California's BLEEDING THROUGH has shared his feelings on the current state of the underground music industry, saying that "playing hardcore and metal is not a career move" and that none of the up-and-coming bands will ever become "rich" through making this kind of music.

In an interview with AOL's Noisecreep to promote BLEEDING THROUGH's just-released new CD, "The Great Fire", Schieppati revealed, "There's a track on the new album called 'Goodbye To Death' which is about how bands, record labels, and management companies, pat themselves on the back before they even really accomplish anything."

He continued, "When BLEEDING THROUGH first starting doing this, you would hear people gloat about stuff like selling 400,000 albums, or selling out huge venues, but it's so different now. Now you'll hear bands say, 'We made it! We sold $700 in merch tonight!' It's a joke.

"I think people are too busy celebrating the short term, rather than the long term — and that's [disconcerting]. I've never wanted to be in a band that had a few fantastic years and then went away. We've definitely had years that were better than others. It's never been the kind of thing where we would break up as soon as we stopped drawing 1000 people at our shows. We've always done this to please ourselves, and not as some delusion of grandeur."

He added, "I hear about bands dropping out of high school because someone told them they had to do that so they can tour full time and become rich. It's scary. This stuff — hardcore, metal, punk — it has a short shelf life. So you're going to throw your education away so someone else can make money off of you? It's just wrong.

"No one is buying records anymore. So these newer bands need to know that there won't be another METALLICA. Those level bands are just not going to pop up anymore. You have to play this kind of music because you love it. Playing hardcore and metal is not a career move."

BLEEDING THROUGH's 2010 self-titled CD sold around 3,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 143 on The Billboard 200 chart.

BLEEDING THROUGH's 2008 effort, "Declaration", opened with 6,000 units to land at No. 101.

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