R13 How's the tour going?
DYThe tour's going great, this will be the third show, we've done London, Birmingham and now we're here in Manchester. I think we have about five more in the UK, another three in Germany. Everything has been super good so far, actually all the shows have been sold out, the crowds have been great, the other bands have been great.
R13 So the reaction has been good?
DYWonderful, it's been really cool.
R13 You're only playing three dates in Germany, why is that?
DYWell, we have a USA tour straight after this and we always try and get to the UK, and we thought while we're at it try and fit Germany in as well. We have a pretty good history and good fans in Germany so we're doing what we can before going back to America for that six-week tour.
R13 With Bleeding Through being more cutting edge metal, do you find it difficult to break in other parts of Europe, in particular Scandinavia?
DYIt have been a little bit tougher, but we have played up there. We went to Norway and Sweden with Sick of it all, which was weird because we were with a hardcore band in a place that is more metal orientated. We've toured in the States with a lot of bands from there, such as Soilwork, Arch Enemy and Cult of Luna. We'd love to break and play more over there though, but so far we haven't had the demand or reaction.
R13 Are there any difference in the fans from America and the UK?
DYIt's about the same, all very intense, in fact most of the English speaking world. Australia has been very good to us.
R13 Are you planning any festivals this year?
DYWe're hoping to play the Download Festival this summer.
R13 Do you prefer headlining the smaller venue or playing the bigger arenas as a support act?
DYWhen we're headlining it's better to play the small venue because if the place is full it make you feel really good to be up there, as appose to a huge room which is only half full. It's nice to get every one packed in.
R13 How are the sales of 'The Truth' coming along?
DYI think it's selling really well. It's doing well in the rock charts in the UK, it's number one in the Hot Topic chart in the US.
R13 How many units of your last album 'This is love, this is murderous' did you shift?
DYI'm not sure about the UK, but in the US it sold 110,000. Hopefully the new record will be more than that. If the first few weeks is anything to go by it should be pretty cool.
R13 In your biography it states the new album is more brutal and more melodic than your previous works. Was this intentional?
DYI think it was a natural progression, we're all fans of Slayer and Pantera so heavy music is always going to be an inspiration for us. I believe we've expanded musically and polished our sound, I don't think we aimed to make the heavy parts heavier and the melodic parts more melodic, it's just us. I think it's more musical, more memorable.
R13 Don't you think that more melodic just means there are better hooks on the album?
DYYeah it's got choruses, hooks and parts that people remember.
R13 So what happens on your next album? Can you keep on getting heavier or will you go more melodic?
DYI think we'll stay heavy, we're still trying to develop and try new things as a band.
R13 I've been having trouble trying to pin Bleeding Through to an actual scene, Do you feel part of a scene? You have the capability to tour with Lamb of God, Sick of it all and Cradle of Filth.
DYI think there's a new scene, a new genre coming out. The bands today have a certain look that hasn't been around before and were one of the first bands to do that. I'm not sure what you call it, but it's just the new thing I guess.
R13 But you can tour with any of the new wave of American heavy metal bands.
DYWe definitely fall into that category, we also fall into the AFI and Avenged Sevenfold category and we also fall in the category with Sick of it all and other Hardcore Bands. I think touring with those bands have really helped us.
R13 One of the British magazines have called you 'The future of heavy metal'.
DYThat would be nice.
R13 A little bit of pressure on you then?
DYNo, I don't think so. Lucky for us they've said good things, if they want us to be the future of heavy metal then let's do it, let's go for it. We'll always try our best, out do ourselves and put on the best show we can.
R13 How much of the writing process are you involved in?
DYThis time round it was much more involved. We were home for a couple of months and spent everyday in the rehearsal rooms, going over material, recording it, talking about it, basically planning it, trying to come up with a formula that works.
R13 So you write as a band?
DYWe definitely write as a band. Usually Scott or Brian would come in with a musical idea to get things started and it goes from there. We all add our bits to it, except for vocals, Brandon writes all the vocals.
R13 Have you changed much, sound wise, from your beginnings??
DYMaybe a little bit compared with our early demos about five or six years ago. It was more black metal mixed with hardcore and now we have expanded into different things but we still incorporate all the other stuff.
R13 And do you think that is was a natural progression?
DYYes, it was a natural progression I think.
R13 One thing that makes Bleeding Through stick out from the rest of the other bands is the use of keyboards. Have you always had keyboards?
DYWhen the band started there were no keyboards. We got the idea to do because a friend of ours, Molly, could play keyboards. We were listening to a lot of black metal and a lot of European metal such as Soilwork who have electronic sounds, and we thought we'd like to try it, so our friend Molly played keyboards and soon after she was in the band, and people seemed to like it. Molly left a few years ago and now we have Marta.
R13 The choice of keyboard sounds is lush and very grand, is that Marta's doing?
DYWell, we worked a lot on the keyboards this time and Marta worked very hard on the keyboards and sounds, and I think they stand out more on this record. There's a lot more going on with them than with previous albums.
R13 Don't you fear they will take over?
DYNo, you don't want them to drown out the guitars.
R13 How long have you been playing drums?
DYI've been playing for thirteen years.
R13 And your preferred equipment?
DYI don't have an endorsement yet but I like remo a lot, so if they're listening...(laughs) I use Remo all the time.
R13 Who's your drumming idol?
DYMy father was a drummer, I grew up listening to a lot of classic rock, later on it was Rush and Neil Peart. When I started listening to metal I liked Vinnie Paul and Lars Urlich.
R13 Do you get chance to listen to much music?
DYThat's all I do. I love listening to Neurosis, Morrisey, all kinds of stuff, so does the band.
R13 And your main influence growing up?
DYMy favourite band were always Metallica.
R13 What's your highest point of Bleeding Through so far?
DYRight now. The first week of the new record coming out, the sold out shows, whenever we're working and seeing the results for ourselves makes us pretty excited, but at the same time we don't take it for granted either.
R13 And your lowest point?
DYLowest points wouldn't be anything to do with the music business but things like going on tour with a broken down van, being in an accident, waiting at airports, having to cancel a show, stuff like that.
R13 If you had the chance to do it all over again, is there anything you would have done differently?
DYNot really, I'm pretty happy with the way things have gone. The new album is how we want it to sound. We've been full time for a couple of years now, perhaps in the early years we could have worked a bit harder maybe because it took a while for us to step out from everyone else.
R13 How do you record?
DYI go first with the drums and then we'd build it, but I think any major recording do it that way. If you record live there's always the problem with tracking. Drums are always going to bleed into the guitar sound and vice versa.
R13 What's next for Bleeding Through?
DYWe're going to be touring for a year and a half. After the US tour we're off to Australia and Japan, come back to do Ozzfest in America and then hopefully a European tour later in the year. I'd love to go to South America, in fact I'll go anywhere.