Life can have a lot of effects on people, different events create a variety of scenarios that were once thought to be impossible in the past. Although the outcomes to many of these problems can be harsh and even devastating to certain people, such events can create windows of opportunity for others. This opening doesn’t pertain to this article, in all honesty, but goes to show two sides of a story. Perhaps open the eyes of somebody into more than one side of a scenario. This week in music we have Repressed, a heavy or if you may hardcore band from Baltimore, Maryland.
The band formed in early 2015 and currently consists of bassist Timothy McCoy, guitarist Joe Pacheco, and vocalist Andy Reynolds. Repressed had drummer Daniel Marvel at the time of this interview but he departed from the band soon after. As of now, the band has two records, both being some of the best music produced in the scene. After forming in early 2015 the band began to write their first record which turned into what we know now as their Misery EP. In early 2016 Repressed released the Misery EP, a six-track extended play that included some of their most well-known songs to date.
After the band released their first record things began blowing up more for them, they played more shows and made a name for themselves in the tri- state scene. Repressed not only grew a reputation for their music but also their live performances. With Andy Reynold’s lovely hair and fanny packs, to how casual the rest of the bands dressed, the band surely made a name for themselves. Although the members of Repressed enjoy playing live and making music, they have lives outside of their music pursuits. Members of Repressed enjoy sports, playing and watching them, skateboarding and longboarding as well as hiking and engineering.
Of course like every band that I’ve gotten the chance to interview, Repressed are some pretty neat guys. Kind and full of mannerisms of course. I’m sure that’s what you came here to read, oh yes. The softy side of Repressed. After releasing their first record and playing lots of shows the band began to track once again. This time Repressed would now release a split EP with Abhorrance, a band that has since split as a band. Repressed held an EP release show for their split EP known as Growing Pains, which featured Cody Canning of Depreciator. Before I go on I just have to say, if you have not listened to these guys before, here you go. Once you listen to these guys it will compel you to see them live.
With Repressed’s Growing Pains split EP dropping in 2016, came some new expectations for a band. Although the band was satisfied with the outcome vocalist Andy Reynolds wishes that we had spent more time doing vocals for the record. Besides that the band was content with the EP, stating that they were glad so many people liked it. Being a musician in the music scene can be a bit stressful, but it can also bring lots of great things into play. Repressed believes that the best things about playing shows is the rush you get, watching the crowd as well. The reaction that the band receives as well as hearing people sing along the lyrics means a lot to them.
A lot of artists tend to listen to different types of music when writing their material, such as smooth jazz, or punk. Repressed enjoys listening to Kaonashi, as well as other styles of music so that they sound a bit more original. Of course like every band Repressed their favorite songs that they’ve written, their favorites being “From The Gutter” off of their Misery EP, as well as “Migraine” off of their Growing Pains split EP.
If you still are not motivated to listen to these guys yet, you can become motivated, or more so obsessed by finding these guys on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, and even Pandora. I must admit, listening to music is perhaps one of the biggest escapes one could have in their life. It can virtually erase all of the pain that somebody has experienced in a day, or heal situations through lyrics that somebody would’ve thought to be impossible before. It’s all in the lyrics and how you feel them. A lot of people have their opinions on the music industry, what is great about the industry and what should be changed about it. Repressed feels that people should stop ripping off bands for their money, this goes out to record labels and managers that have the band pay out of hand to produce their own music, then go ahead and dip into the profits of the record. The band also feels as if people in the music industry should stop treating music like it’s a competition; if we all worked together we could all get so much more accomplished.
Yet, since bands in the music industry are treated as useless people scavenging for fame, bands have resorted to competition-like behaviors. Bands often try to stand out, which could be hard to do in a day and age like this. Repressed feels that they stand out because of the way they present themselves, onstage they dress like normals dudes. A person that you would see walking down the street any day of the week, of course, if that person had a pineapple buttoned shirt and Disney fanny pack. Repressed also says that they sound original, and even at the time of the interview could not put a specific genre or label on themselves.
Like every band that I do interviews with, I asked Repressed what their favorite venues to play at are, all of the members replied that they love playing at the Voltage Lounge (Philadelphia, PA), The Haven House (A home somewhere), as well as The Masquerade (Atlanta, GA). Playing music means a lot to these guys, along with many other bands around the country, and world. With the music that bands play comes meaningful lyrics, when asked if they had any personal songs that they’ve written, Repressed, or Andy, replied that their song Change is very personal to him, since it’s about not having many friends when he was growing up, or even having fake friends at times. The song also covers past events in his life as well as all of the disappointment that he has experienced in his life.
As I wrapped up my interview with Repressed I tried to get to know them a bit more, which turned out great, since I will be filling in for them on drums on 1/22/17 at Polarity’s EP release show. All in all Repressed are some cool dudes, Andy, Joe, and Timmy are so chill, they seem like regular dudes when you talk to them but once they hit the stage things change fast. If you are interested in listening to Repressed before purchasing their wonderful music you can find them on YouTube.
If you are interested in getting in contact with Repressed for booking or other events you can contact their agent Tyler Saczawa at Tyler@thearchaggency.com. For my final question with Repressed, I asked if they had any last remarks for the people reading this article. Their response was so simple, yet so great. “Punk Rock and fanny packs,” some inspiring words there indeed. Thank you again for continuing to read my articles, next week I will be writing about my interview with Krooked Youth. Music is limitless, and the creation that everyone has inside them is truly special, never be afraid to show who you really are and express what you feel inside through music.
