THE BRONX
By Rei Nishimoto
Three the Hard Way
L.A.’s hardcore hooligans get in touch with their inner mariachi
There aren’t many bands that work as hard as The Bronx. Staying true to who they are isn’t always hip, but they have no regrets doing things this way. They recently completed a short tour with Every Time I Die and Stick to Your Guns across the East Coast.
“It’s a good little hardcore tour,” says frontman Matt Caughtthran, calling from Toronto, Canada. “It’s always interesting when you’re hanging out with Every Time I Die. They’re good friends of ours. We get into a lot of trouble together. I think when we get back into the States, that’s when the trouble’s gonna start.”
They spent this past summer on the Vans Warped Tour, getting acquainted with fans under the scorching sun.
“It was great man,” the singer continues. “It was surprisingly a lot of fun. It was a good chance to play in front of people who have never seen our band, and hang out with some friends we haven’t seen in a while. It was a really good time. It’s always fun going across the U.S. in the summertime. It’s always a fun thing to do.”
The Bronx last month released their long-awaited full-length record entitled III. This is the first of two full-length albums they recorded under their own White Drugs label and using their own studio.
“It’s our first time recording with Ken [Horne], who is our additional guitar player, and our bass player Brad [Magers],” Caughtthran says. “They’ve been in the band for a while now and it cemented us together, going through the recording process. I think it’s the best [the band’s] been. I think the band’s relaxed and loose, and also confident. Recording in our own studio was cool. It was frustrating at times, since we had to work out the kinks when it came to studio gear.”
The songs on III have evolved and sound stronger than ever. Fans got an early taste of the record with “Knifeman” which was met with strong reaction. Plus Dave Schiffman (System of a Down, Audioslave) produced and engineered the record, giving the band that added punch in their sound.
“He brought a guru-type attitude,” Caughtthran says. “He wasn’t hands-on, as far as sculpting songs. The songs were pretty much there. He was the guy we could bounce ideas off of. He was the medicine ball in the middle of the room. When we needed that extra input, he was there. He’s a great engineer and he’ll get some great sounds on the record as well.”
While the band will be focused on III, they also have a second record coming out in March.
“It’s called Mariachi El Bronx,” Caughtthran explains. “It’s a mariachi record we did. It’s the next step of the band. It’s not rock ‘n’ roll mariachi — it’s really traditional and old school.”
Having the band name The Bronx has drawn many misconceptions about what they are truly about. The band has heard a variety of them, and some simply fall way off the mark. To add to the confusion, on the video for “They Will Kill Us All (Without Mercy),” the band used a rapper friend to lip-sync the song’s lyrics.
“If you watch it with no sound on, it looked like a hip-hop video,” Caughtthran explains. “For a long time, people thought I was black. So it worked rather well. Whenever we would do interviews, people would be like, ‘You’re not black!?’ ‘Yeah, I know.”
ON THE STAGE: Dec. 5— The Echo (L.A.)
On the web: thebronxxx.com
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