Interview With Bridgeburner

A huge thanks to Bryan, the vocalist for the supremely excellent Six Brew Bantha, for getting at me and submitting this interview he conducted with Bridgeburner, a seriously kick ass grinding powerviolence band from Kamloops. Any chance I can get to help support the Canadian scene, I take, so I hope you enjoy, and please check out Bridgeburner!

• Bryan: So first off, who all plays in Bridgeburner? Names, instruments and your favourite non-punk/metal band or artist.
  
  D: I'm David, guitars, Westside Connection.
  J: The names Jesse, drums, vocals, Motley Crue
  B: I'm Brian, I play bass, and all three of us do vocals. My favourite would probably have to be something classic rock oriented, ……its hard to pin one down

  Bryan: Where do you draw your influences from musically? Does one person do most of the writing or is it a collective effort? I've heard several people make stylistic comparisons between you guys and The Endless Blockade, how do you feel about that comparison?

  B: Our influences can be pretty broad at times, from sludgy stuff like GREIF and HAGGATHA, drone like SUNN, or modern PV/grind like OSK, SEA OF SHIT, MUDLARK, IRON LUNG, and DEFEATIST, and of course OG PV like MITB, INFEST, CROSSED OUT, and obviously (I suppose) THE ENDLESS BLOCKADE hahaha. I am personally stoked whenever I hear us being compared to them, as they are top 5 for me for sure. Whenever we write, it usually start as either Jesse or David bringing in a riff, or a couple of riffs and we just jam it, and move things around, slow it down, speed it up, or try to play it different ways until it sounds weird enough.
  D: We get together, talk about rad bands like OSK and COOKED AND EATEN, then just jam. The Endless Blockade rules.
  J: We draw our influences from the scene we're involved in and just get stoked and go grind. East Van and Squamish are always killing it! And yes….The Endless Blockade comparison is pretty cool too hahaha

  Bryan: How about lyrically? Who writes the lyrics, what do you guys sing about and is there anywhere/anyone in particular you draw lyrical inspiration from?

  B: We tend to get together and collaborate on the lyrics. Save for a couple of songs that we have brought to the table fully written. Our lyrics are usually inspired by day to day situations and things that we are interested in or that really piss us off.
  J: Maybe one of these days we'll break out of the habit of writing our lyrics right AFTER we record the instruments...

  Bryan: You guys are from a small town in interior BC, not really the kind of place one might expect to find bands playing this music. How did you discover grindcore/powerviolence/sludge/etc?

  B: Personally, I just kept searching for new and more exciting bands than the stuff I heard all the time, whether it be on the radio at work or mainstream metal bullshit. I started going to shows and found more and more bands that I was in to, and researched their influences.
  D: Living in an even smaller interior town, I found MUDLARK on the interwebs.
  J: From always being on the lookout for more violent, heavier, and faster music.

  Bryan: When and how did Bridgeburner form? What are some previous bands you've all played in and do you have any projects on the go aside from this one?

  B: Bridgeburner was formed in 2010. Jesse had written and recorded a bunch of songs, and asked me if I would be interested in playing them with him. We were at a show (I think) and asked David to play with us. And here we are…. I used to play in DYSPHORIA and JENKEM. I am currently in in a noise project with David called BVRMVDAN, and a grind band called WORST OF EARTH.
  D: I also play in HAND OF THE HORSEWITCH, HONOUR & DEVOUR, and MERV.
  J: I play drums in a death/grind band called BLOOD DRUNK and my most recent project FAMINE which is straight up crust along the lines of State Of Fear and Consume.

  Bryan: For those unaware, tell us a bit about Kamloops... how's the scene? Where and how frequently do shows happen? What local bands are you guys stoked on? Any bands you've had the opportunity to play with in town who stand out as particularly special for you?

  

  B: Kamloops is a small town in the interior of British Columbia. We currently have an amazingly vibrant scene for the size of our population. There are constantly shows at our local punk house, the Little Big House, as well as the occasional bar show. Local standouts would be SKUFF, SHITHAWK, DAMNED GRAVE, FTL, D//COMPOSE (RIP), and YOUNG OPPRESSION (RIP). Bridgeburner has had the honour of playing with MASS GRAVE, VILE INTENT, NAPALM RAID, WINTERS IN OSAKA, and so many others there.
  D: Little Big House rules, pretty much the only grind location here. We got to play with those SixBrewBantha guys once or twice there I think. All the bands from Squamish and Vancouver help keep this place alive.
  J: If it wasn't for LBH we wouldn't be where we're at right now. I could list hundreds of rad bands that i've seen in that basement. Mostly Skuff like 1000 times.

  Bryan: You recently completed your first tour out to Winnipeg's almighty Arsonfest, tell us about your experience on the road. Best shows, memorable bands you played with, crazy random shit that went down, etc.

  B: Yeah, we shared a bunch of dates with our friends in VIOLENT RESTITUTION. Arsonfest was an amazing experience, I am so grateful that we were asked to play this year. Tour was amazing, so many awesome people and bands. GOWL, MISANTHROPIC NOISE, SHOOTING SPREE, NORTHLESS, ARCHAGATHUS, VIOLENT GORGE, THE GREAT SABATINI, and every date the we saw VIOLENT RESTITUTION were standouts for me. We had a couple of nights where we camped with VR where crazy shit happened, like when I fell off of the front of the van straight to my back, hahaha. All in all, it was an amazing time, and I can't wait to get back out on the road!
  D: Arsonfest was at Negative Space this year, great venue. GOWL ripped me a new one. Brian got stoned once (while he was "sleeping"). Gas station fried chicken, the freshest. Played with GRIMACE in Saskatoon. Saw BURN COLLECTOR, PALE FACE, and VIOLENT RESTITUTION at a house in Edmonton. INTENTIONAL VEHICULAR MANSLAUGHTER killed it during an afternoon Arsonfest show, and so did the poutine.
  J: Arsonfest was so sick this year. Gowl was definitely my favourite performance that whole tour. Your an idiot if you bail on a chance to see them. Winnipeg also has the best poutine in Canada.

  Bryan: You guys have also made the journey to play the last three editions (and counting) of Squamish's now bi-annual blast extravaganza Fastcore Fest, discuss your experiences with this fest and what makes it special enough to be worth the long drive every six months.

  B: Fastcore Fest, is a definite highlight of the year for us. We love all of our crazy Squamish friends. If anyone gets the chance to play, or even just attend this fest, it is completely worth it. Camping in a beautiful setting, listening to rad bands, and partying with the coolest people, how could you get any better?
  D: Keep putting us on Fastcore! Brian somehow gets a nosebleed whenever we go there.
  J: We will always put time in our schedules to play fastcore every year. It's pretty much a fucking holiday to us!

  Bryan: What does Bridgeburner's discography look like so far? Your recordings sound deadly, where and how do you record? Where can the public go about acquiring copies of your releases?

  B: We have four releases to date, half of which are so DIY you are lucky if you have a physical copy hahaha. Our first release was a 3-way split tape with Squamish buddies SHOOTING SPREE, and HYPEREMESIS from Campbell River. After that we did a split with local party-rockers and good friends SHITHAWK. We have just released a split 12'' with Vancouver's AHNA, and a split tape with locals SKUFF. Everything is up for download and streaming on our Bandcamp site, and you can grab anything recent from us at any of our shows. All of our recordings so far have been done at the same place that we jam, the 'SlaughterHouse.'
  D: I live at the 'SlaughterHouse', which we've turned into a DIY studio. So far we've put out the Bridgeburner stuff, Honour & Devour tape, DAMNED GRAVE's new release.

  Bryan: Plans for the future? Upcoming shows, releases, tours?

  B: We have a couple of splits that we are writing for currently. Sometime next year we would love to tour the states.
  D: Play a bunch of local shows I imagine.
  J: Ask us to do splits with your band!

  Bryan. Where can we go online for information on what's happening with bridgeburner? How does one get in contact with you?

  B: We try to keep our Facebook up to date as much as we can, just search our name on there. We also have a Bandcamp (www.bridgeburner.bandcamp.com) with all of our releases on there. Our contact information is on both of those sites for anyone that wants to get in contact with us.

  Bryan: Any final thoughts you'd like to add?

  B: GRIND OVER MATTER

  
  

  ~Bryan