Robex Lundgren virkblogg.

Have any of you played in other bands? I played bass in a cover band for a little while at the beginning of high school. Other than that I’ve never been in any other serious bands. Hector has played in a few bands from our local area, the most notable being Between the Heart and Home. Andrew also has played in a few bands from our area, such as As The Kingdom Falls.

How is it that you started playing music? Garrison and I started the band along with our childhood friend Daniel Proffitt back in 2007. We all loved heavier music and decided to just start playing together after Daniel showed up to our house on New Year’s Eve with a drum set.

What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Brendan Frey – Vocals – 22 Garrison Frey – Guitar – 26 Hector Fernandez – Guitar – 21 Fredy Menjivar – Drums – 18 Andrew Markle – Bass - 23

Have you had other previous members? As I stated before, we started playing music under the name My Ransomed Soul in 2007. We have gone through many different lineup changes and sound progressions. The only original members are Garrison and myself (Brendan).

Did you make music even when you were young? My parents started me in piano lessons around the age of 9. The band started when I was only 13 years old and I played my first show right before I turned 14, so I have been at this for a while now.

Where are you from? We are from the Baltimore-Washington metro area of Maryland.

What year did the band form? The band started playing together in 2007, but our first EP was not released until 2009.

What's your style of genre? Musically we have built our foundation on elements of metal and hardcore, while not hesitating to blend influences from various other genres.

What inspires you? Musically we have a wide variety of inspiration. Lyrically I usually pull a lot from my own political ideologies, life struggles, or my faith in God.

How often and where do you rehearse? When we are actively playing shows we try to practice at least once a week. We usually practice at my parents’ house in the garage.

How have you developed since you started with the music? The band has drastically changed overtime. We have experimented with various elements of metal, metalcore, death metal, deathcore, and hardcore music over the years. Every release we have put out is a progression of our personalities and musical abilities over time.

Do you have other interests of work outside the band? We all work full time in our respective careers or jobs, for example, Garrison works for a Fine Foods company, and I work in the Information Technology field.

Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? We have non-exclusively worked with a few agents over the years. We like to maintain a pretty DIY work ethic, but we are not opposed to working with agents in any form. 

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We have been on a small independent label before, and now we are independent. A label might work for some people but we have personally enjoyed being independent more than anything else.

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? I do all the lyrics writing. Garrison and Hector usually compose the music.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? I usually write lyrics separately from the music. When it comes time to put together a song, I will rewrite and rework my lyrics to fit with the music.

Do you compose in a certain environment? For most of us it’s not exact environment but more of a natural inspiration that motivates us to be creative.

Have you done any covers live? Never done a cover, some of us have mixed feelings about covering other artist.

What language do you sing in? English.

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? Years ago we played a venue in North Carolina and no one showed up other than the bands. Some of the bigger shows we have plays have been in our home area. We have played a few shows at Sonar in Baltimore before it was shut down that were sold out.

What ages are most of your concert attendants? It can vary, but I would say the majority are early teens to early 30’s.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? We do have some variation, but usually once find a set list we like we stick with it for a while.

Do you have a regular place you play live often? There are various DIY shows in our home area that we frequent.

What was your first gig like? The best way to describe it would be awkward. I was 13 years old and we played at my hometowns Spring festival. Most of the time country artist or soft rock artist would play. The younger kids were excited to see something like that, but the older crowd ran the opposite direction.

What was your latest gig? Our last gig was in our home area in the basement of a church. It went pretty well. Good vibes overall.

Have you had to cancel a gig? Not that I can remember. Once we commit to something we usually do everything we can to go through with it.

Where have you played live this year? Not as much as we have in the past years, but we have stayed as active as possible.

Where do you plan to gig the coming year? Planning to keep most of our shows on the East Coast this year. No big touring plans so far.

When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? We have been selling merch as long as I can remember. As of right now we have CDs and T-shirts in stock.

Where can people buy your merchandise? Myransomedsoul.bandcamp.com

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days? I’d prefer that they buy it, but I rather have someone listen to our music illegally than not listening at all.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? I think it has its pros and cons, it depends on who you are. Some artist could never be where they are if it wasn’t for people sharing their albums with friends, while others have been ruined. It’s a double edged sword really.

What do you think of my work? It’s great, we really appreciate you taking the time to interview bands like us.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? I think the bands I grew up with provide more inspiration than newer artist. They are the ones who laid the foundation for me in music. There are some new artist that can be inspirational, but it’s a different feeling overall.

Do you have any new material? Our newest album, Trilateral, was released this past February. If you haven’t heard it yet, do us a favor and check it out. Other than that, we are talking about writing new material. I have worked on some lyrics here and there, but nothing final yet.

What are your web sites? Myransomedsoul.bandcamp.com

How can people reach you? E-mail me directly: [email protected]

What are your plans for the future? Nothing that I can talk about just yet.

Do you have something to add? Our new album Trilateral is available for only $5 on Bandcamp. If you haven’t already, check it out, and buy it if you like it.