Los Angeles-based rock band Bleached came through Tucson to play a show at 191 Toole on Wednesday. With recent concerts and exciting activity taking place, 191 Toole is quickly becoming one of the best concert venues in town.
Bleached is touring the country in support of the band’s second album Welcome the Worms, released in April. The tour will take Bleached across the country, including sets at beloved punk festival Riot Fest and Carnival.
Bleached is a fun band full of energy. From its recorded music to its live shows, to the way Bleached describes their own work, you can tell the group loves what they do.
Nina Ulloa of the Daily Wildcat sat down with the band before the show Wednesday night to talk about the band’s new album.
Bleached said it finished recording a new EP last week, the day before it left for tour, but a release date for the EP has not yet been set.
Sister duo Jennifer and Jessica Clavin make up two-thirds of Bleached. Jennifer plays guitar and sings, Jessica plays guitar, bassist Micayla Grace rounds the group out and drummer Nick Pillot plays with the band on the road. Prior to the creation of Bleached, the Clavin sisters were in popular garage rock band Mika Miko until the band split in 2009.
Jennifer said she unintentionally used Welcome the Worms as a way to release frustrations about an emotionally abusive relationship and depression.
Jessica used the album as an opportunity to find her youth again after she had become self-conscious of her guitar-playing abilities. Finding confidence and trying new things while playing became important to her. Jessica wanted to return to the uninhibited method of playing she had employed in previous bands.
“I started looking back at previous bands [we had been in] and the performance and we’d just go crazy,” Jessica said. “We didn’t care what other people were thinking.”
Grace, who had had first joined the band as a touring bassist, contributed to the writing process for Welcome the Worms, a first for the band. Being a part of the writing process was an exciting yet nerve-wracking experience for her. For a time, she worried about messing up the album but came to enjoy the experience of writing as a group.
Bleached learns from every release it puts out, but the group doesn’t dwell on the past. Jennifer doesn’t like to listen back to their records after they’ve come out. The band does soak up the experience, using it to become better musicians moving forward.
“We learn from each thing that we do,” Grace said. “So everything you do matters, because it always leads up to the next experience. There is a lot of growth in this group, we are always ready for the next thing.”
The members of Bleached took what they learned from Welcome the Worms and used it to improve their upcoming EP. Grace said the band has been attending vocal practice and Jessica has been working on her guitar playing. They are focused on making their live show the best it can be.
The L.A. punk scene is an important inspiration for the band. Jennifer said all-ages DIY venue, The Smell, is an important part of the band’s journey.
“Without The Smell, I maybe wouldn’t even still be in a band today,” Jennifer said. “The Smell was needed to let this side of the youth punk scene out—that wouldn’t have existed without it.”
The band looks forward to playing festival dates with its favorite band Misfits and touring in Australia.
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