Alternative rock trip Bleeder recently released a video for their debut single “If You” from their upcoming full length self-titled album coming out June 2. Check out the memoir music here:
The black and white video shows the band writing and recording their song in a simple setting that goes well with how calm the rock track is. The lyrics memorable “You don’t wanna be like anybody else” and “You just wanna be / Be yourself” illustrate the band’s mindset of going against expectations, and the video follows suit by taking a minimalistic approach among the sea of other loud and often cluttered videos.
Bleeder is a recording project started in 2014 by Shelby Smoak who is a long-time musician from the Chapel Hill indie rock scene, who has been a part of one musical project or another for the past 15 years. The name “Bleeder” came from Smoak’s memoir titled “Bleeder: A Memoir” that chronicled his struggle living with hemophilia and HIV. It was published in 2013 by the Michigan State University Press and soon after Smoak would go on a book tour along the East Coast sharing his story. The memoir won several awards including the National Library of America Book of the Year and Smoak would appear on radio and TV shows such as the Bob Edwards Show on NPR.
Smoak’s struggles in real life bleed into his songwriting, as each song on the upcoming album is filled with raw emotions that allows the listener to get a sense of Smoak has gone through. Smoak recruited Chuck Campbell (drummer for Charlie Post and Ugly) and Drew Speziale (frontman of Circle Takes the Square) to complete the band and the instant chemistry has given Bleeder great potential to reach new musical frontiers. All songs were recorded in Smoak’s basement, with Al Weatherhead (Sparklehorse, Camper van Beethoven, The Magnolia Project, Jennifer O’Connor) doing mixing and Tom King for mastering.
To stay up to date with all things Bleeder, be sure to check them out on Twitter, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Facebook, YouTube, iTunes and their official site. To learn more about hemophilia, click here.
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