Introducing To the Bone
To The Bone was born in early 2003 by Jeff Bridi, Nick Bohensky, and Dave Wilson. The band's main influence is the thriving historic metal, hardcore, and hard rock scene of their Northern New Jersey and NY base. Their vision is to take classic old school hard rock/metal, punk, hardcore, garage, and sinister elements and craft them into stripped-down brutal songs that hit you like a truck and keep you under its wheels.
Introduce the line-up to our readers?
Nick Bohensky "Devastation" - Guitars / Jeff Bridi "Pulverization" - Bass and Vocals / Dave Wilson "Annihilation" - Drums
In your own words describe the band's sound & influences?
Basically, we describe our sound as organic sinister metal. Its stripped down, raw and dark, with classic old school metal, punk, hardcore, thrash, garage, and experimental elements. In addition, our songs are very melodic. Reviewers are unsure how to categorize us, and that fits us just fine. It is nearly impossible to be original and distinct nowadays, however we feel we have our own sound and others seem to agree.
Where & what studio did the production take place of your current "Bone" release?
The production took place at the Rosemont Recordings Studio in Madison, NJ, which is partially owned by To The Bone. Many of the songs were written in the studio. We recorded the drum tracks first and built many of the songs around that foundation. Its a very unique way of writing as opposed to playing songs live for a few months and then trying to put them to tape. We also self produced the album. Nick recorded and mixed it, while Jeff and Gene Bohensky mastered it. Dave worked closely with Grant Oswald on the artwork. The CD took over a year to complete and it was released in December 2004 on the Rosemont Recordings label, also partially owned by To The Bone.
Who's that dude on the front cover?
A couple of years ago, Nick found a blank journal-type book with the skeleton on the cover during our pillaging and plundering of the local annual peasant harvest festival. We thought the skeleton was bizarre and that he'd make a great classic metal album cover. After a bit of digital clean up, his path was set to be To The Bone's official mascot. Since we use the nicknames Devastation, Pulverization, and Annihilation, you can call him Emaciation. He's kind of like our version of Iron Maiden‘s ‘Eddie'.
Tell us about the current scene in your local area & how does "To The Bone" fit in?
Northern/central NJ is part of the greater New York City metropolitan area and has a great hard music scene. There is no touring band that has not played here. We are home to WSOU, L'Amour, CBGB, Maxwell's, The Stone Pony, NYHC, and Megaforce Records, among others. We were teenagers in the early to mid eighties and witnessed metal's birth. We heard Metallica and Nirvana first, but they weren't the first or only metal, hardcore, or punk we grew up listening to. The scene supports the best of the USA and Europe. The East Coast is harder and darker than the rest of the US, and To The Bone's music reflects that.
The current scene is rather interesting in that it has so many bands that offer different types of metal across the landscape. There are the bands with ‘Cookie Monster' vocals who may be technically good, but don't offer distinction or melodic originality. There are also solid rock-type bands, but they don't have too much in terms of metal songwriting. Another current trend is the alternating emo/screamer type metal that is ultimately confusing. Don't get us wrong, we dig some of that shit too, its just that we don't try to be something we're not and we don't follow the "flavor of the month". To The Bone plays loud in-your-face metal. Our songs are short and to the point. We stick to our guns and we like to think we leave our listeners wanting more instead of being bored or confused.
What are the band's long & short-term goals as far as touring, recording, writing etc.?
Our long and short term goals are to write more songs, play in front of festival crowds, sell CDs and downloads, and to continue the cycle. We are currently working on our second release, due out in 2006. We are also promoting ourselves through our official website at http://www.tothebone.tv and through http://www.myspace.com/tothebone. We sell our music through avenues such as cdbaby.com, tower records.com, itunes.com, and ballbusterhardmusic.com. There isn't a quest for world domination, we're just happy to build our fan base. We're always on the lookout for new ways to promote the band.
Any gripes about the music industry?
The short answer is that we are intentionally outside of the traditional ‘music industry' and are happy to have the ability and talent to produce our own music on our own terms, without sacrificing quality. That being said, the music industry has produced a lot of great music and is partly responsible for the ability for bands to do their own thing as well.
How did the band name come about?
Well, we had just finished recording a song called "To The Bone" in our studio one night, and in a semi-drunken haze Nick and Jeff thought it was a good name for a band. The next day when told of this news, Dave let out a metal scream worthy of the band's name. Seriously, the name fit our metal sound and also fit the Skeleton on the album cover. A sample lyric from the song is "Cut away the bullshit and strip it to the bone". Its about keeping one's life to the bare necessities, which is also a reflection of our songwriting philosophy. It also could be said that it was derived from Whitesnake's "Slow N' Easy", but that would be fuckin' ridiculous.
What do you feel sets "To The Bone" apart from other Metal Acts?
The songs and their arrangements. Many have subtle changes that call for the listener to hang in there and pay attention. Repeated play of the album is a requirement when listening to our music. The songs are built with a compositional approach, even though they average less than three minutes. It's tough to come up with complete and cohesive short songs! We aren't chasing trends and are happy to be doing our own thing, on our own terms, whether anyone likes it or not. People are often surprised that we put on a powerful live show that doesn't sound like any other band out there. A recent review stated "To the Bone can survive in a saturated market due to their unique sound". We definitely think that is true.
Tell us what each member brings into the band?
We've been playing music together for a long time, since high school. We've digested the hard music of the 70's through today, and incorporate this into TTB. In addition, we know each other's playing nuances, and each individual's musical personality is present in our music. We can play metal one minute and turn to ambient improvisational music the next. We feel that we can blow any of those shit ‘jam bands' away, if that's what we wanted to do.
So what do you guys do when you're not making music?
Promoting the band, working day jobs (unfortunately), hanging out with friends, raising families, listening to music, attending concerts (we recently saw Queensryche) and drinking beer. We live our lives the way we choose.
Describe a "To The Bone" fan
A "To The Bone" fan is someone who wants to listen to metal done by a group that knows how it should be done. All balls. No bullshit.
Can you tell us a bit about your current release?
It's a ten-song 30-minute romp through the metalsphere. The music and lyrics are down and dirty, yet accessible. The songs are mostly mid-tempo, with some outbursts. Our song titles can be a little quirky and are usually within the context of what heavy metal titles should be named. Some examples are "Supernova Casanova", "New Plague", "Know Your Beast", "Give It The Gas", and "Down The Throat". You get the idea.
What is the most outrageous thing that ever happened to you or the band on stage during a performance or rehearsal?
A while ago, some biker dude jumped on stage one night during one of our songs and tried to sing along with Jeff . He also beat on Dave's drums. He was drunk as hell, his ass crack was showing and he kind of stumbled a bit. We got pissed off and stopped playing, which seemed to embarrass the guy, who immediately jumped off the stage and went back to the friendly confines of the bar. Real funny shit.
Your musical influences and why?
As far as genres go, our main influences for To The Bone's music would have to be Seventies Stoner Rock, Progressive Rock, NWOBM, Gothic/Death Metal and Doom Metal. The usual suspects: Sabbath, King Crimson, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Metallica and Type O Negative. Really, the list could go on for days. When you enjoy music as much as we do and have amassed some serious CD collections, you tend to take a bit here and there from each one of them and incorporate it into your own sound.
What can fans expect to see at a live show?
A kick-ass, energetic, and tight set: Organic sinister metal at its finest.
Where do you see the band in 5 years?
As long as we continue to enjoy what we do, we'll still be bashing out 5 years from now. Again, we're not looking for huge sales (although that would be nice), we just want to play metal music for those who want to hear and enjoy it. No compromises will be made in our musical vision in order to gain more fans. Accept us or don't. To The Bone will endure.
Who would you like to tour with and why?
We'd love to tour with Disturbed, System of a Down, or Type O Negative. Not only out of admiration, but because we are similar to them in the use of melody, heaviness and song writing. We can definitely hold our own on the metal stage with these guys.
Do you have a special ritual that you guys do before you hit the stage?
No. Not Really. No biting off the heads of bats or anything. Basically, Dave likes to warm up with some drum exercises while the rest of the band hits the bar. If there's some nice talent to check out, we do that too.
Parting Shot?
Get Boned.
