Record Label(s):
USA – Tooth & Nail
Canada – EMI
UK & Mainland Europe – Rude Records
Australia & New Zealand – El Shaddai Records
Japan – Grindhouse Recordings

Booking:
USA – Jordan Cocklin @ ETA Live
ROW – Mel Young @ X-Ray Touring

Recent Releases:

Change can be a great thing, but it doesn’t always happen overnight. For some bands, the process can take the better part of a decade, between locking in the right lineup, finding the ideal sound and forging a unified creative vision. After eight years as a band, heavy metal trailblazers Blessed By A Broken Heart are finally there, and are embracing the changes as yet another chapter in their already distinguished career. And the best is yet to come.

After spending the last three years writing their third full-length release, Blessed are ready to get loud and make some noise, featuring new members, a retooled aesthetic and a sharply honed focus on monster hooks, sure to have fans everywhere banging their heads and hoisting lighters and phones high up into the air. One thing is clear: Blessed have come to bring the rock.

“We’ve been writing this record for the last three years, kind of like a Def Leppard thing. You can’t rush greatness,” says drummer Slater. “We’ve grown—We’re still a fun, carefree band with songs about partying and having a good time and everything rock ‘n’ roll’s all about—but we’ve got some songs that are more serious, and a little more personal. We’ve all grown as musicians, too; it’s more technical and a lot more melodic, yet still heavy.”

Blessed By A Broken Heart began in 2003 in Montreal, Canada after being founded by bassist Tyler Hoare, and the band issued its first recording—All Is Fair In Love And War—just a year later, in 2004. Early tours included a notable run with punk-core sensations A Day To Remember, who were on the road for the first time. Blessed continued to evolve over the years, with guitarist Shred Sean joining the ranks in 2005 and vocalist Tony Gambino signing on in 2007, leading to the band’s 2008 release, Pedal To The Metal, on Century Media Records. In those five years since their inception Blessed toured incessantly, including playing jam-packed houses in the U.S., U.K., Japan mainland Europe and Australia, performing alongside bands such as Judas Priest, Bring Me The Horizon, Steel Panther, Megadeth and Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster. In 2009 Blessed parted ways with Century Media Records, paving the way for their current collaboration with Tooth & Nail Records.

Over the course of the last eight years, Blessed has experienced a near constant evolution, including various lineup changes, and a stylistic progression away from pure metalcore in favor of more traditional metal and hard rock. One listen to the new album and it’s apparent that Blessed are no longer the same band that recorded All Is Fair, and if you ask the members, that’s their saving grace. Staying ahead of the curve and distancing themselves from the pack is the key to longevity, and the reason the new album will resonate with even the most veteran headbangers.

“We’ve definitely matured as a band. We really wrote this album collectively, and it just naturally had this progression of where we all wanted to go,” says vocalist Tony Gambino. “It naturally went in this direction. I think all of us are over the hardcore/metalcore stuff; we were one of the first bands that were successful doing that back in 2003. Now, there are millions of bands trying to be like that, and we want nothing to do with it. We’re not in this to follow the trends—we’re in it to do what we love.”

And indeed, this latest record is not your typical modern metal album, by any stretch. Between its anthemic choruses, rich keyboards and scorching guitar licks, the album evokes the feel of a classic ’80s metal album a la Mötley Crüe and Guns N’ Roses, yet moves beyond sheer nostalgia into true creative territory. Blessed are quick to point out that the genre is something the band eats, sleeps and breathes, and this time around they’re playing for keeps, channeling their passion into a serious, yet still fun, compendium of songs that keep the hair metal torch burning, sans irony, here in 2011.

“The whole band is still obsessed with the ’80s, and that’s bled into our lifestyles. It’s not just when we’re on tour: We all kind of dress ’80s; we still have mullets. It’s become part of our lives,” says Gambino. “On the last album, we used more of the cheesy side of the ’80s, and this album we used a little more of the mature side. It’s a little less fluff, a lot less cheese, a little more serious. We’ve kind of gone a little more classic metal and heavy rock ‘n’ roll. It’s real organic how it all came together.”

Another stylistic departure was made with the band’s choice of producer. Instead of tapping the usual suspects for a metal record, Blessed opted to work with pop-punk/rock veteran James Paul Wisner (Dashboard Confessional, New Found Glory, Paramore) at his South Florida HQ. It proved to be a sound move, between Wisner’s skills at enhancing Blessed’s melodic leanings and his abilities as an engineer, which resulted in what’s arguably the band’s best sounding recording to date.

“We scoped out a lot of producers, but because this record was a lot more commercial-savvy, we wanted to go with someone who wasn’t just some metal guy,” says Slater. “We wanted to go with someone who had a touch with good songwriting, good substance to songs, and someone who has a good background working with people who have written really catchy songs. More than just producing, he brought his engineering skills, too, and he can get a really good, clean sound. I think that was the best thing he brought to the table: being able to take our style and make it sound sonically in the right place.”

Beyond just the authenticity of its tone, Blessed’s latest effort tracks pulse with a prevalent heartbeat that stems from the songs being a true labor of love; writing them was very much a hands-on process that the band spearheaded through their own initiative. Over the last few years, Blessed have been writing literally everywhere, using Slater’s mobile recording rig, known as “The Cave,” to document the sessions. Besides the obvious productivity advantage of such a setup, the fact that Shut UP and ROCK! was written in a variety of locations adds to the album’s diversity, taking on different tones and feels based on the environment where inspiration first struck.

“Wherever I’m at we’ll set up this little recording rig and write, and over the last three years, we’ve been in so many different places. It’s kind of funny, because songs were written in different parts of the world, and those songs all have different vibes,” explains Slater. “The Seattle songs are darker, thanks to all the rain. [laughs] The New York ones are the hardest rocking. The Florida ones are all about partying on the beach.”

On the new album Blessed have also continued their topical discussions of faith and spirituality, combined with the reality of everyday life and touring, but have taken a personal, inordinately subtle approach to such themes, which is a rarity these days, when in contrast so many bands are aggressively spreading the word. “We just wrote what we were feeling at the time. We’re not one of those bands to try to shove our views down people’s throats,” explains Slater. “We just want to sing about what’s on our mind, whether it’s love or a relationship with a girl, or our faith, or partying all night on the beach. We do it all. We’re not some church kids who are trying to pose to be a heavy rock band.”

So after three long years that saw significant lineup changes, vast musical growth and countless road miles, Blessed are finally armed with a bold new record, and are ready to bring their unique brand of metal to the masses; the only question is whether the world is ready. Rocking ultra-hard amid a scene that’s become reliant on copycats, clichés and trends, the Blessed are taking the genre back to its roots, and doing everything in their power to destroy stereo speakers across the globe.

“The whole vibe of this record is to forget all the bull crap; no matter what the song’s about, just shut up and rock,” says Gambino. “There’s so much watered down music in the scene, and we’re kind of just trying to bring back the real roots of rock ‘n’ roll. At the end of the day, we’re trying to rock as hard as possible.”

Connect with Blessed By A Broken Heart:
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Buy the band’s latest record here.

Drew Lawson – Vocals/Guitar
Ben Jackson – Bass/Vocals
Roo Buxton – Guitar/Vocals
Liam Broad – Drums

Life’s a bitch, but it’s really the moment when we give up, shelve our dreams and harden our hearts that we truly die. For the members of rising pop-punk quartet Summerlin, that’s no way to “live,” and the band’s upcoming full-length debut, You Can’t Burn Out If You’re Not On Fire, is a rallying cry for anyone who dreams of escaping their dreaded daily grind, and boldly shouting their true intentions to the world.

Summerlin are making good on their pact: The Leeds (Yorkshire), England-based band are only in their early 20s, and still work day jobs when not touring, but this new record may be the final step toward leaving it all behind. Based on the album’s message, it’s a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, driven by Summerlin’s unwavering determination to not only succeed, but to also do it on their own creative terms.

“Growing up, you’re young, you enjoy life, you don’t really think about or do much, but you get a little older and you start to realize what the world is really about and the negativities that go with it” says singer/guitarist Drew Lawson. “Growing up’s definitely one of the themes…the record is about responsibility, and how you just strive for things. A lot of it is about finding yourself.”

Summerlin formed in late 2008, when members of various Yorkshire bands began looking for something musically different, and gravitated toward classic pop-punk like Blink-182, New Found Glory and the Offspring. The band began writing material with a sound that combined pop-punk with the harder elements they also loved. The early growing pains and lineup changes ensued, but by summer 2009 the band unveiled an EP, So Make Your Move. Early tours began in the U.K. and Europe, climaxing with an appearance at the 2011 Slam Dunk Festival, alongside the likes of Less Than Jake, The Starting Line, Goldfinger, Anti-Flag and Set Your Goals.

All the while, Summerlin were developing a clearer picture of the band they wanted to become. Lawson took on the role of DIY producer/engineer, tracking all of the group’s early and ongoing demos, and eventually the role became semi-permanent. Rather than risk having an outside party potentially water-down the band’s sonic essence, Lawson opted to self-produce You Can’t Burn Out If You’re Not On Fire. The result is a clear impression of Summerlin’s diverse take on pop-punk and post-hardcore, fusing unforgettable melodies with pulsing breakdowns and shreddy harmonized guitar licks. Not bad considering they tracked in a Yorkshire council house, much to the ire of neighbours.

“It’s something I’ve always done, because I normally track most of the demos we do anyway,” says Lawson of his role at the console board. “We just got sick to death of going to studios where they didn’t do what we wanted to. We got together and decided if we put enough into it, we could do it ourselves. It was just that nobody got what we were trying to go for, and at the same time, we knew what we wanted.”

For the final piece of the puzzle, Summerlin tapped the legendary Pelle Henricsson (Refused, Entombed, In Flames) to mix and master the completed tracks. Sequestered in Henricsson’s Tonteknik studio in Umeå, Sweden, the band had the rare opportunity to pick the brain of an industry icon, who’s produced some of the most important recordings in punk-rock, metal and hardcore. As is his trademark, Henricsson was vital to further preserving the grit Summerlin wanted to retain in their music.

“He’s a guy I always wanted to work with, even before this band. He did records I love—basically every Swedish punk band I was into when I was younger,” explains Lawson. “We didn’t want to go with somebody who would end up thinking we were just a pop band. I wanted somebody who doesn’t really know necessarily what our genre is, but knows how to capture rawness, and at the same time get great melodies. It was mainly about just getting raw and aggressive, but keeping our melodies intact.”

Borrowing a famous quote from Doors frontman Jim Morrison, the title You Can’t Burn Out If You’re Not On Fire succinctly summarizes the heart of the record—you’ll never risk a glorious downfall if you haven’t ever soared. Kicking in hard and fast with opening cut “Let It Go,” the album projects a consistent message of hope, tempered with the ugliness of daily reality our protagonists must overcome.

“’Let It Go,’ is basically about alienation and loved ones leaving you because of it,” shares Roo Buxton, the group’s guitarist .“It’s describing how someone feels: They just want to sleep to stop negativity in their heads, and depression. It’s weird, because it’s a really uplifting song—a really major based song—but the lyrics are quite dark within it. It describes how anything would be done to sleep and escape the situation.”

The track “Sink Or Swim” continues the theme further, this time focusing on the pivotal decision every musician must make when faced with embracing music as a lifestyle and career, or clinging to anchors like jobs, homes and girlfriends. Summerlin went through multiple lineup changes since their inception precisely due to such issues, and the band couldn’t help but channel their frustrations into the lyrics.

“ ‘Sink or Swim is about, in a broad sense, taking the plunge and fully committing into what you want to do. It’s about taking that leap and committing to something, and what happens, happens,” says bassist Benjamin Jackson. “The song’s really about an ex-member who didn’t want to, so we wrote the song while he was actually in the band. He didn’t really know all the lyrics were about him while he sat across the room.”

The departure of one of those former band mates was the impetus behind Lawson picking up the guitar full-time. Re-organized as a four-piece, the ex-quintet is now tighter live, and closer as friends, than they’ve ever been. With the four of us now, it’s solidified; we’re on the same wavelength. We’re like a band of brothers.”

With You Can’t Burn Out If You’re Not On Fire targeted for a spring release, Summerlin are gearing up for what promises to be a hectic, exhilarating year. Extensive touring is expected behind the release, starting initially within the band’s U.K. backyard and neighboring Europe, before moving on to total global domination and adoration. Whatever the result, Summerlin are having the times of their lives, finally, making music that deeply means something to the members. It sure beats the hell out of punching a clock, provided music fans see past the various flavors of the week, and continue to support bands with genuine integrity and something valuable to say. If so, Summerlin’s gamble will pay out handsomely, and there’s plenty more to come.

“The overly trendy stuff just doesn’t last, but we still have to win over people, I suppose,” says Lawson. “We’re not trying to make something that’s trendy; as cliché as it sounds, we’re just playing music that we love to play. It’s our debut album, so first we’ll be touring back home with this, but then hopefully we’ll be hitting the U.S. and Japan next. We’re just going to tour the hell out of You Can’t Burn Out, and then get on with the next record.”

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