-Interview- Let The River Swell (2/25/13)

Let The River Swell
www.facebook.com/pages/Let-the-River-Swell/363526870401436
From: Johnstown, PA
Sounds like: Metal

www.facebook.com/pages/Let-the-River-Swell/363526870401436



1. How did the band come together and form? Who thought of the name “Let The River Swell” and is there any meaning behind it?

Various members of this band have played together in the past. Tyler and Devin started working on a few ideas while Devin was living in Orlando with Dan. In time Orlando didn’t work out for the both of them and they moved home and pretty much just started working on our debut EP and putting the band together. After the writing and recording was finished we started playing shows almost immediately and we were off and running from there. The name Let The River Swell came from a proverb we found that goes “Let the river swell when there is something in it.” We take river to be a metaphor, like when life is good, let it swell and overflow. If life is bad let the river swell and wipe away everything so that you can start over again. That idea is reflected in a lot of the lyrics to our songs.


2. Your new release “Vendetta” is soon to be released. What do you want listeners to take away from it?

Vendetta is a straight up angry record. Our first CD was a little more emotional and heartfelt where as this one is meant to rip you apart from beginning to end. We try to write songs that are very to the point, but are also very open to interpretation because everyone goes through different things in life. We want LTRS to be able to help people get through rough times and be easily relatable to anybody’s situations.


3. How would you describe your music to the average listener?

We are definitely a metal band, but we’re always trying to incorporate other influences into our songs. Tyler has a great sense of melody so we let him go off and he’s always coming up with something interesting.


4. What can people expect from your live show?

We have a lot of fun when we play live. There is a lot of energy from every member and we all have our own unique vibes as performers. We get really into playing, Dan through his bass through the ceiling at our first show by accident, so something crazy could always happen.


5. Who are three bands you’d like to tour with?

Parkway Drive one million percent! We all love that band and they're are a big influence on us so playing with them would be a dream come true. Bring Me The Horizon has always put on a great show when we’ve seen them so they’d be pretty awesome to tour with and hangout. Last but not least, Attila. Who wouldn’t want to tour with them? There wouldn’t be one dull moment on that outing!


6. Who did the design work behind the EP and what was the inspiration?

Our friend Kevin Pribulsky designed both of our CD covers. He’s a great supporter and did a great job on both of them. Our hometown Johnstown is on the cover of Vendetta looking pretty apocalyptic.


7. What’s your take on the current state of metal?

There are so many sub genres of metal that we for see it continuing to grow. The genre has become very popular over the last few years, and as with anything popular comes over saturation of the markets. We’re trying to do things a little different with the genre and are excited to move it forward into the future!


8. What’s the music scene like there in PA both locally and state wide?

The music scene is great! It's still growing but more and more kids are showing up to shows, it seems every city has its own family of kids that come to every show.


9. What’s your take on legal/illegal music downloading?

We’re all about getting music into the hands of our fans, listeners and friends. Both our self-titled and Vendetta will continue to be available for free to anyone who would like to download it. We’d rather have kids listening to us any way they can. If they want to pay for it that’s awesome! But we understand sometimes money is tight. Music is about the sharing of emotions and energy between musicians and listeners and that’s all that matters to us.


10. What’s next for Let The River Swell?

We’re currently writing for our first full-length album that we’re aiming to record this summer. We’ve got plenty of shows lined up through the spring, basically we’re just getting started and we plan on going all out this summer.


11. Any shoutouts?

Corey Barndt for helping us get so many awesome gigs so early in our band-hood, Kevin Pribulsky for the awesome covers, Angie McAndrews for designing the disc artwork for our first EP and everyone else who has helped us so far!