Our introduction to Bring Me Solace came as part of the showcase of local talent at Savage Fest earlier this year. While Bring Me Solace is fairly new to launch upon the Portland area melodic/progressive metal scene, it doesn’t take long for fans to recognize the degree to which these gentlemen are dedicated to developing their sound. Blending technical savvy with dynamic metal and lyrics pregnant with philosophical pursuits, these Portland based musicians are preparing to release their debut EP “Nomadic Refuge.” Bring Me Solace provides tunes for fans who enjoy hardcore that utilizes the mids, as opposed to dwelling solely in the lowest regions of tone, a baseline that walks further in a single set than you probably did for the entire year, pace setting double bass and thought provoking lyrics.
The Bring Me Solace approach to music and lyrics comes across as very thoughtful and precise, what does the typical writing process look like for you dudes?
Josh (Vocals) & Garrett (Drums) As far as the music writing process, we write our songs starting with Cory, Brandon and Adam, combining riffs and bass lines, but always using a drum machine and laying down a foundation of how we think the drums may sound while we write. Everything comes together almost simultaneously, and Brandon and Cory have a HUGE part in the drum writing process. Garret looks over the drums, learns parts, and changes things that he may want to do differently, though usually we have a pretty good idea how they will be while we write guitars and bass. When it comes to vocals Josh and Brandon generally are the ones who write the lyrics. Some songs we literally write to the song and others we may use pre-existing lyrics and fit them to a song, fully finished or not. After lyrics have been written and we feel that they flow with the song we will revise them together and change certain vocal patterns, if needed. The writing process for us is very much “democratic” in the sense that we all have our say and encourage each other to come forth any creative ideas or concerns.
What is in a label? You are listed as progressive hardcore, how much emphasis do you place on that designation and what does it mean for your sound?
J&G Ya know, we chose those because out of the options given, they seem to fit us best. 
We are definitely metal, we are definitely progressive, and we always try to make things melodic and dynamic. We can get a bit technical at times, but we try not to overdo it. We don’t really care how people classify us really, we compose music we solely enjoy and hope that others will be able to feel it and enjoy it as much as we do. We don’t follow necessarily what the trend may be at the time or judge our direction or what we should do according to what is going on out there. Though, we would never want to continue writing music that may get old, or become unpopular, we feel our music is fairly well-rounded and diverse enough to hopefully be able to just be heard and appreciated no matter what direction the metal/hardcore scene takes.
A band that skates together stays together, right?! How has your friendship developed and been tested as you embark upon this journey as a band?
J&G Man, I sure would think, but I guess that’s not always the case. Four of us come from heavy skating backgrounds, and two of us love to ride motocross, so it all works out well. We are fortunate to be grouped together because we get along so incredibly well. We have all grown to be straight up best friends and basically brothers, and as hard as it can be with bands, we are pretty confident disagreement or conflict won’t be a factor if/when this group disbands. So far we haven’t done much touring at all, so I guess we could say the real fun, or testing hasn’t even taken place yet, but just from all our personalities and how well we get along in general, we don’t expect too many rough roads when it comes to that, but then again we understand being a band can be rough at times and that we are nothing close to immune those situations.
You are hard are work recording your debut EP, how is this going and who are you working with?
J&G We are in the process of writing and recording our first official release. This release is going to be a six-song EP titled “Nomadic Refuge” and if things go smoothly we plan to have this released by late October. We are self-recording this EP with our guitarist Cory Smith. All of our recordings have been self-recorded by Cory.
Your song “Of Solitude” seems to touch on Pantheistic-esque perspectives, do you identify with a specific belief in this regard?
J&G I’m really glad you caught that underlining theme within the lyrics. The song is basically realizing that nothing is external to you and finding peace in that concept. I cant speak for the rest of the guys but as far believing in a higher power, the pantheistic view of God makes more sense to me, personally, than the Judeo-christian or any other incarnation.
Christian bands often have the battle whether they are a Christian band or Christian in a band – are you a Buddhist band? Are you reppin’ Buddha-core?
J&G Haha, great question. Were definitely not a “Buddhist band”, nor are we a “Christian band” or anything of that sort. A few of us are quite interested and practice Buddhism, and a couple of us are technically not engaged in any religion whatsoever, though we all are very much interested in religion and science, and all that good stuff. Many of us read about that kind of stuff, and really just like to think of the “wonders” of the world, culture, and all the crazy mysteries and whatnot that lie “out there”. …And on that note, we tend to end up discussing those topics quite frequently amongst ourselves, and quite often ha ha. …I wouldn’t say were reppin’ Buddha-core, but dang if you know anyone that is, hook us up with a show with them!
The chorus for Nomadic Refuge declares, “Our salvation is in the bare essentials. They can’t hold me down. I won’t ever submit. I will always prevail.” Salvation has become a broad term, for the purposes of this song what do you mean by “salvation” (from what)?
J&G Basically Nomadic Refuge is about the purest form of freedom which is without government and authority. Living outside of the lines of society and the cookie-cutter way of life. In the song, salvation means to live as a nomad, which means to migrate from place to place and live off the land. In this way we could create an equilibrium for all living beings which in turn leads to our ultimate salvation of peace amongst this universe. Of course I use the term nomadic as an artistic term rather than literal. Its basically a metaphor for living life the way life was meant to be lived, in harmony.
Bring Me Solace is a 5 piece Progressive Metal band from Portland, Oregon whose current roster includes: Garret/Drums, Cory/Guitar, Josh/Vocals, Brandon/Bass and Adam/Guitar. Listen to the music and keep up to date via the BMS Myspace. See them live at The Satyricon 10/8/10 w/ Across The Sun, Regiment 26 and Chin Up Rocky and keep an eye out for their debut EP “Nomadic Refuge” to release soon. Read our review of the BMS performance @ Savage Fest from earlier in 2010.
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