During this series of interviews from the Blue Ridge Rock Festival, I conversed with artists from all over the United States. This particular band plays more the role of the hometown heroes for this festival. Let me introduce everyone to the band GraveBound!
The metalcore band is based out of Richmond, VA, which isn’t too far from the festival grounds in Danville, VA (about a 2 1/2 hour drive). The band consists of Kyle Richards (vocals), James Lovato (guitar), Joseph (Joe) Johnson (bass), and Johnnie Martin (drums). I had James and Johnnie chatting with us that day. James provides most of the songwriting and Johnnie handles most of the social media and booking for the band. The four members have known each other for about 10 years playing on and off in various bands together. James explained that the band was originally under the name of Heard By Eyes, with Kyle also playing guitars, Johnnie on drums, different vocalist and no bassist. After some discussion with their management, they decided to do a rebrand and renamed to GraveBound. Why that name? As James explained, “I think initially, like any band, we were trying to think of something that was just ‘cool’. Something that would roll off the tongue, something that wasn’t Heard By Eyes, and that would stand for something we were all good standing by.” They wanted to go a different direction with vocals and made Kyle their vocalist and then brought in Joe to play bass. James shared the story on how they originally met Joe. “We met Joe, actually, off of Craig’s List. We put an ad out for a metalcore guitarist back in the day. And he shows up with his Dad, he’s like 17, I’m pretty sure he thought we were going to kill him. It just worked out. I haven’t had many things work out from Craigslist. And that did.” They’ve been together as GraveBound for 2 years.
GraveBound‘s metalcore sound as they describe it from their website is “punishing riffs and dreamy synth-pop”. When I first listened to their music I immediately compared them to I Prevail. James talked more about their sound. “I really like production heavy music cause I feel it elevates the song into a theatrical piece of music….I like adding in violins and all different types of interesting synth because you can get so many different sounds and such a different feel of a song. So I like to write a lot of the songs in a very roller coast feel. There’s ups and there’s downs and I’m not just screaming at you for 3 1/2 minutes….I wanna make you feel something for that entire song.” He pulls a lot of his influences from Architects, Wage War, Memphis May Fire, Slaves, and Caskets.
The band are supporters of mental health awareness through their music. James explained, “We spoke about things like depression, anxiety, and different things that people go through. Honestly, our old vocalist was heavily going through a lot of that, so a lot of that hit home with him. I think it was a really big topic around that time as well and we just wanted to show our support and say, ‘Hey you’re not the only ones going through this. This is how we deal with it and this is our music for you to maybe help you get through it.'” I asked if their single “Tonic” was talking about mental health. “So it’s a little bit. I think “Tonic” was at the middle of COVID…and it’s about being really fed up with being stuck at home and not doing anything and being fed up with where we were with COVID.” It’s a fantastic song where you can watch that video below.
One of their other singles I loved was “Failure By Design”. They recorded all of their tracks remotely and sent it over to their producer. “One of our strengths is that we’re able to do a lot of this remotely,” James said, “We all have the gear and the know-how to say record a demo of a song and get it to a producer.”
The band released Phobia an EP in 2019. It had a lot of focus on mental health when their formal vocalist was still with them. They had some crazy stories to share off two of the videos from that EP. “Erase Me” was a thank you video to their fans for being such big supporters of their music. Johnnie explained how they funneled a ton of fans into Johnnie‘s basement and recorded the video with them as if it was one huge party. “Disconnect” was filmed in a grain silo and they were 200 feet off the ground at the top of the silo performing this song for the video. James said, “There were holes [where they performed] and you feel through them you would break and potentially die.” The band also released “Disconnect” as an acoustic song and a cover of Shawn Mendes’ “Wonder”. They followed up with new singles with “Failure By Design”, which was the first single with Kyle on vocals, “Tonic”, and then “Familiar Skin”. James said they have a lot more songs they’re sitting on at the moment and waiting to release more this year. The plan is to have as James says, “a steady drip of content” throughout the rest of the year.
GraveBound is represented by Pin Up Artist Management and is an independent artist. While they would love to go full time with music, they all have very good careers and families to support. Realistically, they don’t see going full time for music any time soon. It is important for them to push the band as far as they can, but their families and careers come first.
When I asked what are some of their favorite songs to perform Johnnie said, “I love “Familiar Skin”. I love “Erase Me”. “Erase Me” is off our Phobia EP that we released in 2019. Honestly, I like all the new singles. I do like “Tonic” cause I feel like the crowd jumps for that and it’s pretty hype.” He also loves to do drumstick flips and catches. Johnnie says he’s the hype man and enjoys getting the crowd riled up. James added, “We try to focus on putting on a performance whether it’s in a video or on a stage. We don’t want you just to come out and hear our music and be like we’re playing a CD or whatnot. We wanna give you an experience, we wanna put on more than just playing and singing our parts.”
One of the things that blew my mind when I watched the videos for their music was Johnnie‘s drum kit. For most of the metalcore bands I’ve seen, his kit is small in comparison to most. But, the drumming he performs on this setup blew my mind! “Simplicity is the key, especially when you’re traveling,” Johnnie started off, “that is one of the biggest things there. You can have many different cymbals that can complement another and make it sound like something else. I play with a 4 piece. I have a snare, a mounted tom, a floor tom, and a kick. Honestly, I have nothing against anybody having 6 toms, but the stuff that we play I only need 2….you can make a small kit sound big. You don’t need the biggest kit ever. But, really the reason why I do it is for traveling reasons, it’s easier to keep up with, and honestly, it’s a lot cheaper too.”
When they’re not making music, Johnnie loves to workout and says he’s “a pretty decent gamer.” He recently set up a livestreaming setup so people can watch him game. He’s currently playing Call of Duty: Warzone and likes to play sports games like Madden. James also likes to workout and stay fit and spends the rest of his time with his family. He’s also a gamer and likes to spend time playing Call of Duty: Warzone, Overwatch, and Halo.
The band is playing Blue Ridge Rock Festival on Saturday, September 11th. Afterward, they are planning to do some shows in October. They will be playing at Canal Club on October 1st and then two shows on October 2nd and 3rd (locations were not announced at the time of the interview). They will also be playing Carolina Uprising on October 23rd. So come check them out at the festival or one of their local shows. If you see them at Blue Ridge Rock Festival visit their merch booth and help support them by buying a single, EP, merch as that’s how they continue to do what they do. Definitely check out their set at Blue Ridge Rock Festival, you won’t be disappointed! You can find their social links and the full video interview below!
GraveBound Social Links
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