As time goes on, life itself begins to eat away at trends. A music genre or clothing style that may have been popular in 2006 is definitely not as popular in today’s world. In music, genres or trends tend to die out quickly, leaving bands, as well as venues, out of money and success. In the case of Metalcore, Prevailer seems to be bringing life and enthusiasm back into play. Prevailer is a Progressive Metalcore band from Philadelphia, PA. Formed in June of 2015 the band currently consists of drummer Dylan Volb, bassist Corbin Smith, vocalist Bobby McGruther, along with guitarists Jackson Newcomb and Tim Dyson. With their debut self-titled EP being released in September of 2016, Prevailer have played quite a few shows around the East Coast, some of their favorites being at the Hanger (Vineland, NJ), Starland Ballroom (Sayreville, NJ), Theater of Living Arts (Philadelphia, PA), and the Voltage Lounge (Philadelphia, PA). Although Prevailer as a band have not played all of these venues together as a band, members of the band have played these venues with older bands that they’ve been in. When Prevailer initially formed in 2015, they decided to take ideas from inspirations that they’ve all had, from bands such as I, The Breather, Forevermore, and others included. As Prevailer began to write their debut EP, they came across a tune a sound that is now known as “Bleed Me Dry”. The band loved this song and set it to the side while they continued to write the rest of their EP. Prevailer had lots of time to write and record their EP since their bassist, Corbin Smith owned his own recording studio, Soundsmith recording studio.
When the band was finished recording their record they set goals for themselves, something that they wanted to accomplish within the next few years after releasing their debut EP. All members of Prevailer knew that they wanted to make music, open up for bigger bands, and meet lots of new people as a career. So, in September of 2016 the band dropped their debut self-titled EP, “Prevailer”. The band made their EP available on ITunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, and youtube, which gained the band recognition around the Tri-state area. As Prevailer played shows around the Northeast, they stood out in the scene for being very interactive within the band, as well as outside of the band, throughout social media, and generally just being one of the few Metalcore bands from Philadelphia. For the people that are not aware, the music scene around Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and Maryland has a lot of hardcore and Downtempo bands. All of which are very talented of course. The band expresses that the best things about touring are being able to do what they love, playing music, getting to meet new bands as well as getting to meet new people. Along with touring the members of the Prevailer enjoy skateboarding, producing music, playing games, dirt biking, and being depressed (joke, maybe). When the band is asked what changes in the music industry should be made, they replied with that there should be more support for bands that put their time and dedication into their music, more enthusiasm towards the bands that play live shows, they also believe that streaming sites should pay more to bands for their music to be played, and personally asked the people of New Jersey to stop leaving shows once their friends band is done their set (honestly, supports these great bands).
To wrap up my interview with Prevailer, I asked them if they had any personal tracks on their record, something that meant something to them. Members of the band replied with “Bleed Me Dry, Lexington, and Same Mistakes”, giving me reasonings for some of the bands that are most definitely better left unread. And when asked about anything that they wanted to say to fans/ readers, they simply replied with “Hit up Corbin Smith for recordings”. In conclusion I found out that not only are Prevailer talented, and full of enthusiasm on stage as well as off stage, but they all are genuinely great dudes. You can purchase and listen to music by prevailer on ITunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, Youtube, and soon other sites where you’ll be able to purchase physical copies of their music along with apparel. To get in contact with Prevailer you can email them at Prevailerbandphilly@gmail.com, and you can message them on their social media accounts. 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.
