Hi guys. Would you mind listing Bare Teeth’s band members?
Sure! I’m Greg, I play the guitar and sing. Then comes Titouan (guitar/vocals), Tom (bass/vocals) and Jérôme (drums). We started the band in late 2014/early 2015 and Jérôme joined soon after. JayJay (bass) left the band in March 2016 and Tom eventually joined in September 2016.
How did you come up with the name “Bare Teeth”?
Titouan brought the name and we all thought it was cool. “Bare Teeth” doesn’t have a special meaning but it can be related to something aggressive, like a dog growling and showing his teeth, or something happier like smiling. In the end, it’s very close to our music: we have some very aggressive riffs, shouted vocals but also some good melodies and more pop-oriented songs.
How would you describe your sound?
We don’t like to put labels on our music, but let’s say we are a punk/rock band that is also influences by thrash, crossover and hardcore stuff, but also by some good pop melodies. If you like bands like A Wilhelm Scream, Propagandhi, No Trigger, Belvedere or Darko, you might like us as well.
What made you go in to music?
I can’t speak for my bandmates but I’m the eldest of the bands (I’m 38) and when I was a teenager, rock music was still very popular on the radio. I was a lot into bands like Nirvana when I was in high school, and when Green Day’s “Basket Case” and The Offspring’s “Come Out And Play” got aired on the radio in 1994, it really got me into playing the guitar. I’ve started playing in bands when I was 18 and discovered more and more punk/rock bands. I’m still around 20 years after and I have no plan to call it a day! ?
Are you a signed band?
No, we are not. There are not many labels that can really “sign” bands. By singing, I mean having a contract that covers most of our recording, production and promotion fees, not even getting us paid. We’d rather work with smallest labels, do co-productions and work with dedicated people instead of having a deal with a big label, and feel trapped if they don’t want to push us forward.
Your upcoming release is titled ‘Bridging Oceans’. Can you tell us more about it?
It’s a split record that will feature 4 bands, each of them providing 3 songs. In addition of Bare Teeth, bands are Shames from Japan, Nerdlinger from Australia and Down Memory Lane from Canada. Labels involved are Thousand Islands Records (Canada), Disconnect Disconnect Records (UK), Attractive Records (Japan) and Pee Records (Australia).
What is the story / meaning behind this upcoming split.
I always loved split-records as it’s a cool way to discover new bands and have exclusive tracks. The title “Bridging Oceans” itself describes well what we try to do: make strong ties with bands, labels and scenes we are not part of, and try to bring ours on the table. I hope we can all meet someday and maybe tour altogether.
Describe each of your 3 tracks in two words.
Running Wild: depression, loneliness
Death Note: Japan, manga
Storytellers: dreams, achievement
What was the writing process like?
I used to write all the lyrics and most of the music, but things are changing. For this record, I provided two songs, but Tom wrote “Running Wild”. He did all the music and the lyrics, and he is also the lead singer on this track. Titouan and Tom will provide more songs in the future and they will write more and more lyrics, eventually singing them too. Our next record will be a bit different from the previous one.
What was the recording process like?
We recorded in 3 different studios, mostly because of schedule issues. Drums were done at Boss Hog Studio, then guitars and bass at Electrik Box, then vocals at another studio. Mixing was made by Olive T’Servrancx, who is my former bandmate. Everything went really smooth as we had no pressure for this record.
Who did you work with on this split?
We worked with Olive T’Servrancx for sound takes, except vocals that were done with Nicolas Tarridec. Olive also mixed our tracks. Mastering on the CD was done by Daniel Antix of Nerdlinger, but we also worked with Joe Reilly, the father of Trevor Reilly of A Wilhelm Scream. Joe did an amazing work and he makes anything sound better.
Will we see a music video for any of the tracks?
It’s still in the making, but yes! Definitely!
Do you have any shows coming up or a tour in planning?
We will do a release party on April 22nd in Lille, our hometown. We will play with Wolfrik (Canada) and The Affect Heuristic (Belgium/Scotland). The day after, we will open for Authority Zero in Saulzoir, France. Then, we will do a short Euro tour with shows in Czech Republic, France and Austria, including SBÄM Fest with bands like Authority Zero, Good Riddance, Useless ID, …
We have some more tours to be announced, but we keep it secret for now! ?
What else can we expect from Bare Teeth in 2019?
TOURS! We haven’t toured for a long time and even if we still have a lot of work to finish writing songs for our album, we miss playing on stage a lot!
When you’re not doing music, what are you doing?
We all have day jobs, more or less. Jerôme and I are dads, so we need time to focus on our families. On my side, I also run a company called Distrolution and we provide services to underground bands and labels. I have a lot of work, as I’m also an IT freelancer.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians not about the industry and just as an artist?
Pick an instrument, start a band, go on tour and get your shit done! The world is full of talented artists but there isn’t room for each of them. If you want to make a name, you not only have to play good music, but also manage yourselves as best as you can, make connections with other bands and labels, setup shows, invite other bands, release record on a regular basis, make promotion, … having a band, a serious band, is like having a second job. The good old days of labels spending a lot of money into bands are over. As Henry Rollings wrote: “Get in the van!”
Your coming off tour;
1/ Where do you go first?
JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN! JAPAN!!!
2/ Who do you see first?
I have a bunch of friends there. Not sure who I’d see first, but maybe Julien (lead singer of Drive Far) or Waki (head of RNR Tour). There are also a lot of bands we would like to play with : Shames (of course), Mexican Age, Radiobug, Tornado, Hollow Suns, Cleave, Stone Leak, Good4Nothing, Hi-Standard, …
3/What do you eat first?
I love Japanese food, but my guilty pleasure is to stop at a konbini and get some cheap food like onigiris or small cans of iced coffee.
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Sure !
https://www.facebook.com/bareteeth
https://www.twitter.com/bareteethmusic
https://www.instagram.com/bareteethmusic
THANKS !!!
