You may have seen our review of American melodic hardcore quintet Break And Enter well we were lucky enough to secure some of their time to discuss their sound and their scene:
Hi guys, how are you?
Hey Dan, we’re great, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! We’re excited to talk about the release of our new album, “The Call of The Void.”
First up, introduce yourselves and the band to our readers.
Break And Enter is a 5-piece melodic-hardcore band from Nashville, Tennessee. The band is brought to life by Brock Steele – vocals, Isaac Jensen – drums, Ashley Briggs – lead guitar, Aidan Gorey – bass guitar, and Joe Schremmer – rhythm guitar.
So, Nashville is not really known for it’s melodic hardcore music being the proclaimed ‘birthplace of Country, how did you stumble into this style?
We’ve found that there’s a lot more to Nashville than just country music. All five of us come from different backgrounds, geographically and musically. We all met at Belmont University in Nashville, and were brought together through our love for punk and metal music. Some common favorites of ours include bands like Stick To Your Guns, The Ghost Inside, Beartooth, and Wage War. Those bands were huge influences for when we recorded our debut EP, “Welcome Home” in 2015. Break And Enter quickly found a place in the Nashville metal scene, and we’ve been crafting our unique sound ever since. We solidified our presence in Nashville by performing alongside touring bands such as Wage War, Vanna, Trophy Eyes, Darkness Divided and more.
Have you found it hard marketing yourselves locally?
Fortunately, it hasn’t been too difficult marketing the Break And Enter locally. We feel like Break And Enter has a unique sound and image that sets us apart from other metal bands in Nashville. We’re one of the few metal bands Nashville with a female guitarist, and our new album has both hardcore and metalcore elements, that differentiate us from bands of those genres locally. We’re really grateful for the support we’ve received from the Nashville metal scene.
Your debut album came out last mont. How long has this album been in the works?
Our new album, “The Call Of The Void” was just released on January 12th, 2018 and we’ve been receiving awesome feedback so far. All positive comments, thankfully!
The album has been in the works since Fall of 2016. In the spring of 2017, we returned to our friend Trevor Hoffort in Nashville, Tennessee to produce and record “The Call Of The Void.” We previously worked with Trevor on our debut EP, “Welcome Home” in 2015. This time around, Chris Baldani, another producer and musician in Nashville, worked alongside Trevor in the production and recording process. Together, they really helped us create a unique new sound that is a lot more mature than our EP.
What are your personal favourite tracks from it?
Joe – “The Call Of The Void,” the title track from the album, because it riffs hard.
Isaac – “Spineless” because Ben Mueller from the Nashville band Owls In The Attic has a vocal feature and it’s sick.
Aidan – “Burn” or “1071,” I love the breakdown in “Burn” and the bass solo in “1071” is ridiculous, in the best way.
Ashley – “Last Goodbye,” I love how punk the song sounds in comparison to other songs on the record and I think Brock did a great job with the lyrics.
Brock – “The Call Of The Void” also. I got to sneak in some references to an alien invasion in this song and I think it works pretty well.
You released a video for Sticks And Stones. How was it recording that?
“Sticks And Stones” was the third music video we released as a band and it features our extremely talented friend Stephen Loveland from the Nashville band Elmyra. Austin Huelsbeck shot the video for us at a studio in Murfreesboro, Tennessee one weekend, and it was a really fun experience. We released the single and music video together in December in preparation for the January release.
What are your plans for the rest of 2018?
This year, we hope to start playing more shows regionally. We already have a couple shows lined up in Nashville, Little Rock, and Statesville this spring. We’re also looking forward to making new music with our two new members, Aidan and Joe, this year. We plan on taking a different, more relaxed approach towards writing while we continue to have tons of new shows. We also plan on creating more merchandise, launching an online store and putting out some videos on our YouTube channel in order to be more connected with our fanbase.
Finally, we’re quite disconnected from your local scene over here in the UK, are there any other bands you would suggest we check out?
Nashville has a growing metal scene that’s definitely worth checking out! Some of our favorite local bands include The Human Condition, Elmyra, Conquer The Distance, Chariot The Moon, Owls In The Attic, and Dusk Before Dawn, just to name a few. Everyone in our local scene is worth supporting. Morgan Carney is the master of the local scene around here and has spent a lot of time booking shows in our market. We are really blessed to have worked with great, local companies such as Twisted Atlas Booking, Music City Booking, and Rocketown.
Thanks guys, good luck for 2018 and we will see you on the road!
Thank you so much Dan! Best of luck to you too. We hope we make it your way soon.
Hopefully this has whetted your appetite and you feel like checking out our review of the album, which you can do here.