According to frontman Caleb Shomo, Beartooth’s second studio album,Aggressive, acts as a self-reflection on a darker time in his life, fuelled by the mayhem of mental illness.
After a busy 2015 festival season, Shomo retreated from the road to write, perform and produce the emotive follow-up to 2014’s Disgusting alongside songwriter John Feldmann and producer David Bendeth. Despite his hardships in past, the Shomo sums up his current situation through the sweet, simplistic style of his fresh ink: “Everything is cool man.”
“I named this one Aggressive because I felt it was the best word to describe the emotion of the record as a whole,” says Shomo. “I think the lyrical content is a bit more angry than the first record, but it’s also more hopeful. The majority of the songs are about reflection on my childhood and the things that got me from being a kid to where I would be in my life to write a record like Disgusting. All of that pisses me off a tonne, that I went through those years of life with such severe depression and anxiety. But sometimes bad shit has to happen for things to turn around, and I’m alright with that.”
Returning to his basement-turned-home-studio for the new record, and finding comfort in his familiar surroundings, the vocalist says the underground environment provides an essential ingredient for the hardcore Beartooth sound.
“I’d written roughly three songs over the course of the record cycle, but I don’t really like writing on the road,” Shomo says. “I prefer to keep studio time and touring time completely separate so I don’t get too burnt out. It’s the energy of the whole thing – I think the record really needs to be made in the basement. That’s where I learnt how to record and where I first started writing music. To me, that’s the place I feel the safest and free to do whatever I want. There’s nobody around, so I don’t get nervous trying things – I just try all of this random crap until it fits together, and I feel comfortable doing it in a space like that.”
While he values the freedom to explore a range of musical elements, Shomo assures Beartooth fans that there have been no drastic changes made to the overall set-up. Instead, he’s honed in on the aspects that motivate him the most. “One thing I did want to do was sing a bit more,” he says. “Over the two years of being in a band and touring, I’ve just really fell in love with singing, so I wanted to push myself. Other than that, I wanted to write a good Beartooth record. I didn’t want to completely change up the sound or anything. Two guitars, bass, drums and vocals – I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
Having recently parted ways with drummer Brandon Mullins, Beartooth have recruited a replacement for tour dates, but they will officially remain the same core four-piece for the time being.
“We’ve been working on building this thing for a very long time and it’s very near and dear to us, so we’re just going to stick with the four of us right now,” says Shomo. “But the guy who’s been playing with us, Connor [Denis], is absolutely unbelievable and we are very happy with him. I don’t think he’ll be going anywhere – hopefully he sticks around as our touring guy. It’s all about making everything stronger and making sure everyone that’s there is the best person for the job, and it’s worked out for us.”
Currently on tour in the US, the Beartooth boys have had the pleasure of supporting some of hardcore’s biggest heavyweights in the past, taking their music to a whole new level.
“We toured with some really cool bands on our first record cycle,” Shomo says. “I had a lot of fun touring with Bring Me The Horizon; they were awesome and have really good crowds. We toured with Slipknot – that was unbelievable. If we ever got a chance to do either of those tours again, I think we’d be pretty stoked. When you get a chance to play to a new audience, that’s how a band really grows. Obviously things are a little different these days with the internet and everything being so readily accessible, but even then, you can’t really experience a band until you go see them live.”
Clearly thriving off the excitement of it all, Shomo admits his adrenaline addiction almost got the better of him on a recent visit to the Red Bull headquarters in Austria, where guests are often thrown into adventure sports.
“It was pretty cold out, so I didn’t do it so that I wouldn’t get a cold and screw up my voice – which sucked because I wanted to, but a lot of the dudes went skydiving and then Taylor [Lumley, guitar] got flown around in one of those crazy trick planes. I wanted to do nothing more than skydive – I definitely love pushing myself when it comes to adrenaline. If we had a day off the next day, I’d have jumped out of a plane, I’ll jump off a cliff, whatever, I’ll do it!”
Aggressive is out now through Red Bull/Unified. Beartooth supportPierce The Veil at Big Top Sydney, Luna Park on Wednesday August 17.
