1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Pedro: We are just 4 guys from L.A. California that grew up jamming together and listening to metal. We all live apart now but we decided to start releasing material again.
2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Ronnie: The Ascension Ep has a progressive, death metal, melodic, and death-core sound to it. It’s heavy, fast-pace, and groovy all together. Our previous Ep had more a death-metal and death-core vibe with a bit of prog in it as well but nothing compare to our new Ep. This new Ep really shows our musical growth that we’ve had over the years.
Ivan:
I feel like our sound is maturing on this ep. And compared to the stuff released in the past I feel like the music was cool but it wasn't as refined and not as heavy, but I feel like we're getting where we want to be, sound wise.
3.The band was broken up for awhile, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
Ronnie:
The cause of the split is due to our responsibilities with college, work, and other new interests that were barely beginning to develop at that time. The decision to reform Black Bile was to come back to the scene with new music and see how far can this band really go since now we have new technology and social media to gets ourselves more out there.
Ivan:
I feel like it was just life hitting most of us, with me focusing more on work, our drummer and bassist at the time going to school, and our main man moving, it was just put aside for awhile.
George:
Probably what really split us overall was when our guitarist, Pedro, got accepted to a new school in Colorado and flew on over there. That left only 2 members of the band local to each other while the other two were pretty far. The decision to reform really came as a shock to me, i got a call from Pedro saying "hey i wanted to start recording some of those tracks again, send me a bassline to these tracks..."
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Ivan: Well, we mostly explored some political and agnostic topics. Mostly about our views on life and society and I guess self reliance, to put it shortly.
Pedro: Yeah I think because we were influenced by hardcore there's a bit of self-reliance themes in there. Since it's violent music it's an outlet for us and hopefully our fans.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Black Bile'?
Ivan:
I think we were just pretty young when we agreed on the name, but I like to think of it as we are the black bile of society, darkest most guttural shit you'll hear man. Haha.
Pedro:
I always liked how our name just sounds gross; like we could be a goregrind band or something but there is a deeper meaning. Our band name is a reference to "humorism" which suggests the human body is filled with four basic substances [black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood]. Black Bile was thought to be the cause of melancholia, introversion and depression; however you also need it to be focused and concientious. This yin-yangish notion was just really cool to us at the time.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Ronnie:
Some of the best shows that we’ve played were at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Hollywood and backyard shows. It’s cheap and the perfect place to get a large crowd of people to come out and listen to new local bands. Venue shows can sometimes be hard to bring out people especially if there are a few bands in the line-up that no one really knows about or cares about.
Pedro:
Backyard shows are cooler than venue shows to me. We shared the stage with some of my favorite bands like DOAK, So This Is Suffering, and Face Your Maker because of house shows.
Ivan:
I remember playing this house show [...] we were sharing the back yard with Destruction of a King, and we got a very good response from the crowd, everyone was pitting and kinda losing their shit, so it was very cool man. And I feel like our stage presence wasn't bad, we were always moving especially Pedro.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Ronnie:
Not at the moment, since we do need a bit of funds to get a van and hit the road.
Ivan:
I would hope to eventually play some shows again, but I feel that the backyard scene has died down a bit, so we would probably have to try to book shows at little venues, or bars. Which is still cool, I just wanna play.
Pedro:
Yeah maybe when we all settle down with school we can book a bunch of venues in the west coast and do a mini-tour. For now we'll be pushing new music and production.
8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a a label or have received any interest?
Pedro: We are open to a label or distributor. We would want help getting our music to an audience and in record stores.
Ronnie:
So many good labels are out there but [whenever someone] comes at us with the best deal, we’ll know from there.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
Ronnie:
The feedback that we have gotten from our fans lately has been pretty good. It’s awesome to have people buy our music online and support what we do. It’s people like them that inspires us to write new music.
Ivan:
I feel like we've always had good responses towards our music from fans of the genre, but I feel like when we would play live, it would take people a little longer to get into, physically. But people have genuinely liked our stuff.
Pedro:
I remember what Ivan means. Our first EP sound was very technical and chaotic, like Brain Drill or Psyopus and when would play people would just freeze and stare at our playing haha. Our local scene was really used to the generic-hardcore-formula bands (like "2-step here, circle pit here, mosh here"). I think that's what gave us some notoriety, the fact that we were different but still fit in in the death-metal, thrash and any-core scene. Things a different after dropping this EP though.
George:
After releasing Ascension, we got some pretty positive feedback. Many people were in disbelief of how different we sound now compared to before, but I'd say its definitely for the better.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Ivan:
I hope to see us becoming a little more unified, and bringing a different, reminiscent sound to people again.
George:
I see us definitely trying to put out more new music and hopefully setting up more and more gigs to really get this game going
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Ronnie:
Some of the bands that really influenced my style of playing will have to be bands like Burning the Masses, Fallujah, Necrophagist, Lamb of God, and The Black Dahlia Murder. Lately I’ve been listening to Entheos, Plini, Gorjia, and Intervals.
Ivan:
I used to listen to a lot of Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation, The Red Chord, and Arsonists Get All The Girls. But I would dabble in a lot of genres at the time too. I still do. Lots of jazz, indie, hip hop/rap, 80s hardcore, new wave. Lots of stuff.
George:
Bands that really influenced my style of playing were Northlane, Born of Osiris, Aegaeon, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, Necrophagist and Veil of Maya.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Ivan:
Non musical interests include using psychedelics to expand my mind once in a good while, and going out and exploring nature and traveling. Most of this is also done to get inspiration for music too, so maybe they don't count. Haha.
George:
Non musical interests are hard for me to describe seeing as my life of revolves around music. Im majoring in Music Composition at UCR, and im also in an idie/jazz group that hired me, as well as taking control of my main goals of being a producer/DJ (which a release is currently underway). I dont have time for anything else, and all that is music.
Ronnie:
I’m usually taking photographs or shooting small film projects when I’m not making music.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Ivan:
Ummm... I guess I appreciate the interest you took in the band and the music man. It's cool to hear from someone like this, and it's pretty fun to do stuff like this too man. Thanks!
George:
For all the Black Bile fans out there, thank you so much for supporting us, and big props to those following us since '09. Were gonna come back and bring more for you guys, so just stay put... it will be worth it
Ronnie:
For all of our fans out there, keep supporting your local bands and stay tune for more heaviness!
Pedro: We are just 4 guys from L.A. California that grew up jamming together and listening to metal. We all live apart now but we decided to start releasing material again.
2.Recently you have released an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording and also how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Ronnie: The Ascension Ep has a progressive, death metal, melodic, and death-core sound to it. It’s heavy, fast-pace, and groovy all together. Our previous Ep had more a death-metal and death-core vibe with a bit of prog in it as well but nothing compare to our new Ep. This new Ep really shows our musical growth that we’ve had over the years.
Ivan:
I feel like our sound is maturing on this ep. And compared to the stuff released in the past I feel like the music was cool but it wasn't as refined and not as heavy, but I feel like we're getting where we want to be, sound wise.
3.The band was broken up for awhile, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
Ronnie:
The cause of the split is due to our responsibilities with college, work, and other new interests that were barely beginning to develop at that time. The decision to reform Black Bile was to come back to the scene with new music and see how far can this band really go since now we have new technology and social media to gets ourselves more out there.
Ivan:
I feel like it was just life hitting most of us, with me focusing more on work, our drummer and bassist at the time going to school, and our main man moving, it was just put aside for awhile.
George:
Probably what really split us overall was when our guitarist, Pedro, got accepted to a new school in Colorado and flew on over there. That left only 2 members of the band local to each other while the other two were pretty far. The decision to reform really came as a shock to me, i got a call from Pedro saying "hey i wanted to start recording some of those tracks again, send me a bassline to these tracks..."
4.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Ivan: Well, we mostly explored some political and agnostic topics. Mostly about our views on life and society and I guess self reliance, to put it shortly.
Pedro: Yeah I think because we were influenced by hardcore there's a bit of self-reliance themes in there. Since it's violent music it's an outlet for us and hopefully our fans.
5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Black Bile'?
Ivan:
I think we were just pretty young when we agreed on the name, but I like to think of it as we are the black bile of society, darkest most guttural shit you'll hear man. Haha.
Pedro:
I always liked how our name just sounds gross; like we could be a goregrind band or something but there is a deeper meaning. Our band name is a reference to "humorism" which suggests the human body is filled with four basic substances [black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood]. Black Bile was thought to be the cause of melancholia, introversion and depression; however you also need it to be focused and concientious. This yin-yangish notion was just really cool to us at the time.
6.What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Ronnie:
Some of the best shows that we’ve played were at the Whiskey A-Go-Go in Hollywood and backyard shows. It’s cheap and the perfect place to get a large crowd of people to come out and listen to new local bands. Venue shows can sometimes be hard to bring out people especially if there are a few bands in the line-up that no one really knows about or cares about.
Pedro:
Backyard shows are cooler than venue shows to me. We shared the stage with some of my favorite bands like DOAK, So This Is Suffering, and Face Your Maker because of house shows.
Ivan:
I remember playing this house show [...] we were sharing the back yard with Destruction of a King, and we got a very good response from the crowd, everyone was pitting and kinda losing their shit, so it was very cool man. And I feel like our stage presence wasn't bad, we were always moving especially Pedro.
7.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Ronnie:
Not at the moment, since we do need a bit of funds to get a van and hit the road.
Ivan:
I would hope to eventually play some shows again, but I feel that the backyard scene has died down a bit, so we would probably have to try to book shows at little venues, or bars. Which is still cool, I just wanna play.
Pedro:
Yeah maybe when we all settle down with school we can book a bunch of venues in the west coast and do a mini-tour. For now we'll be pushing new music and production.
8.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a a label or have received any interest?
Pedro: We are open to a label or distributor. We would want help getting our music to an audience and in record stores.
Ronnie:
So many good labels are out there but [whenever someone] comes at us with the best deal, we’ll know from there.
9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?
Ronnie:
The feedback that we have gotten from our fans lately has been pretty good. It’s awesome to have people buy our music online and support what we do. It’s people like them that inspires us to write new music.
Ivan:
I feel like we've always had good responses towards our music from fans of the genre, but I feel like when we would play live, it would take people a little longer to get into, physically. But people have genuinely liked our stuff.
Pedro:
I remember what Ivan means. Our first EP sound was very technical and chaotic, like Brain Drill or Psyopus and when would play people would just freeze and stare at our playing haha. Our local scene was really used to the generic-hardcore-formula bands (like "2-step here, circle pit here, mosh here"). I think that's what gave us some notoriety, the fact that we were different but still fit in in the death-metal, thrash and any-core scene. Things a different after dropping this EP though.
George:
After releasing Ascension, we got some pretty positive feedback. Many people were in disbelief of how different we sound now compared to before, but I'd say its definitely for the better.
10.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Ivan:
I hope to see us becoming a little more unified, and bringing a different, reminiscent sound to people again.
George:
I see us definitely trying to put out more new music and hopefully setting up more and more gigs to really get this game going
11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Ronnie:
Some of the bands that really influenced my style of playing will have to be bands like Burning the Masses, Fallujah, Necrophagist, Lamb of God, and The Black Dahlia Murder. Lately I’ve been listening to Entheos, Plini, Gorjia, and Intervals.
Ivan:
I used to listen to a lot of Black Dahlia Murder, Cattle Decapitation, The Red Chord, and Arsonists Get All The Girls. But I would dabble in a lot of genres at the time too. I still do. Lots of jazz, indie, hip hop/rap, 80s hardcore, new wave. Lots of stuff.
George:
Bands that really influenced my style of playing were Northlane, Born of Osiris, Aegaeon, Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, Necrophagist and Veil of Maya.
12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Ivan:
Non musical interests include using psychedelics to expand my mind once in a good while, and going out and exploring nature and traveling. Most of this is also done to get inspiration for music too, so maybe they don't count. Haha.
George:
Non musical interests are hard for me to describe seeing as my life of revolves around music. Im majoring in Music Composition at UCR, and im also in an idie/jazz group that hired me, as well as taking control of my main goals of being a producer/DJ (which a release is currently underway). I dont have time for anything else, and all that is music.
Ronnie:
I’m usually taking photographs or shooting small film projects when I’m not making music.
13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Ivan:
Ummm... I guess I appreciate the interest you took in the band and the music man. It's cool to hear from someone like this, and it's pretty fun to do stuff like this too man. Thanks!
George:
For all the Black Bile fans out there, thank you so much for supporting us, and big props to those following us since '09. Were gonna come back and bring more for you guys, so just stay put... it will be worth it
Ronnie:
For all of our fans out there, keep supporting your local bands and stay tune for more heaviness!
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