Interview – Bleed American

By: Jordyn Meade-Baxter

Hailing from Winnipeg, Bleed American is one of Canada’s newest rock bands. Jay, Matthew, Jarrod, and Jordan have already gained the help of many well known publications and toured western Canada to start building up a fan base. Since forming in January 2014, Bleed American has released one EP already and has an album on the way. “Figure It Out” is set to be released on February 14, 2015. You’ll want to keep an eye on these guys, so check out this interview to learn more!

So I have to ask, why did you decide to name your band Bleed American if you’re a Canadian band?

Jordan Ngantian: We spent no effort at all trying to name this band. We all started listening to JEW a lot in the past 5 years and they’re pretty influential to us. When Jay said we should name is Bleed American we all just said yup and moved on. I think it’s a rad name and it has nothing with us wanting to be American or anything.

How and when did you decide you wanted to pursue music?

JN: When I was like 10, Jarrod and I both started playing drums because we saw our church band play. That kinda started it for us.

What is it like to be in a band with people who you have been so close to for so long (and for some, are family)?

JN: I’ve been childhood friends with Jarrod since we were four and friends with Matt and Jay since 15 through music and stuff. Being good friends with everyone and having similar music taste makes us very productive. It’s enjoyable and no one is a dick to each other.

Jay Voth: Matt and I have been singing together for years so it’s familiar territory that we’re comfortable with. Jordan lives up the street from Matt and I so it’s a very tight knit group.

Although you’re a very new band, you have grabbed the attention of many publications. Can you tell us what it’s like doing so in such a short time?

JN: With Jay having a recording studio and social media I’m not too surprised. It’s awesome though we’re all in our mid 20’s and don’t have all the time in the world to play bar gigs to 5 people.

JV: It’s very nice to be able to measure the progress we’ve made, it’s still been less than of a year as of this writing.

For readers who may have not heard about your band before, how would you describe your sound?

JN: Overdriven clean guitars and great vocal melodies.

What can you tell us about “Figure It Out”?

JN: I think it’s a more defined sound for our band. This album was worked on constantly from the end of our spring tour until 2 weeks ago. It’s the best thing any of us have done musically.

JV: Lyrically, it touches on a lot of family matters Matt and I have gone through, musically it’s much stronger and more varied than our previous work. I’m very excited for people to hear it.

Do you feel your sound has changed since your EP?

JN: I think the sound is still the same just the song writing is a little stronger. We did want to put cleaner guitars on this record than the EP.

JV: Much more variety, we have really laid back stuff, more aggressive and faster songs. Guitars were cleaned up a lot more for this album as well and I think there’s a bit more dual vocal play on this stuff than the last EP. It’s hard to tell because we’ve been so hands on with the material and it’s a bit hard for me to tell at times.

Do you have any touring coming up for 2015? Do you expect to see the rest of Canada this year?

JN: We’re going to go east to Montreal and West to Calgary. I would love to go further east and west but it will probably have to happen another time.

And as a Canadian Beats tradition, we like to add a few fun questions for the fans, so these next few questions will be just that:

Do you have any funny touring stories so far?

JN: Not really. We have a bunch of inside jokes but you guys probably wouldn’t be interested. I don’t blame you.

JV: We crashed Distance’s (hi guys) van in Calgary last year and the guy we side swiped had this really beat up 96 Cadillac and the guy was almost in tears stating his car was his life and we had a very fun laugh at the idea that in addition to a car being your sole reason for existence, it was also a total piece of shit. He tried to settle outside of insurance for an absurd amount of money. We also had a raver at one show who clearly wandered into the wrong venue.

What do you like to do between shows on tour?

JN: Listen to standup comedy.

JV: After the show the last thing I want to hear is more music and I usually want a podcast, book or some standup.

What are some of your favorite Canadian artists?

JN: Japandroids, Ten Second Epic and Tegan and Sara.

JV: The Reason, Barenaked Ladies, Ten Second Epic and a lot of the locals here in Winnipeg but it would become a very long list.

Is there any hidden talents that someone in the band has?

JN: Jarrod our drummer can sing like Maroon 5 or Train. He is also a Math maniac.

JV: Jordan is ranked 80th best in the world at EA NHL titles which is pretty sweet. Matt retains Eminem lyrics better than anyone I know.

Is there anything else you would like to add or would you like to say something to the fans and readers?

JN: Come see us play some music or something.

JV: Thanks for reading, check us out. Go Leafs Go.