Alter The Press! Presents: These Branches
Having previously played in various hardcore bands, New Jersey's These Branches formed in spring 2009 have since developed their sound resulting in a well-rounded punk sound. It is a sound that relates to their home and as a result has seen them play shows alongside Settle For Less, Washington Square Park, Maker, The Dangerous Summer and Algernon Cadwallader.Despite going through a recent line-up change; the band are currently looking for a new drummer and bassist, These Branches are set to kick off 2011 with a new release, 'This One's On You'; a raw, fast record that sees the bands influences including Against Me! and Lifetime come into play, and perhaps more importantly for them keeping things DIY.
For Fans Of: Saves the Day, Against Me!, and Lifetime.
Alter The Press: Why should Alter The Press! readers check you out?
: eople should check us out because there's no gimmicks with this band. Everything we write and play isn't influenced by the popular "scene" or what is cool. It was never about and will never be about the money. Most importantly, we do everything ourselves (DIY). Whether its recording, custom making cabinets, booking shows or screenprinting t-shirts. We'd rather play basements and houses with 5 kids that give a shit rather than "pay to play" venues waiting for the next big thing.
ATP: What's the story behind the band?
These Branches: Nick, Ryan and Bryan were in a short lived Post-Hardcore band called Threads of Nona. Nick and Ryan were in an Ambient-Hardcore band Osterii. Both bands broke up in late 2008-Early 2009. Nick and Ryan started writing new, more "noise-rock" oriented music in Spring of 2009, which became These Branches. Wanted to make sure we expanded more than ever on our "diy" mentality. Recorded, duplicated and created own music and merchandise, giving as much away for free or cheap as possible. Played the first show June 12th, 2009- released first hand painted, limited edition EP "Blank Pages & Blank Faces" in July of 2009. Wanted to play faster. Started writing more Punk/Rock music for a full-length.
Bryan joined on guitar in Fall of 2009 then had to leave in Summer 2010 with work conflicts. Ryan quit Fall 2010 with personal issues. Ex-Osterii bassist Tony Jaber joined Winter 2010 along with Bryan re-joining, but temporarily playing Drums (full-time drummer still needed). Recorded debut full length- "This One's On You" from July 8th till December 8th 2010, being released for donation based downloads on February 12th (along with limited acoustic cassette version, "This One's On Me"). Played around 40 shows since inception.
ATP: Single highlight as a band so far?
These Branches: Being talked into driving 8 hours to Ohio by an Independent Record Company Owner (name withheld) who said if we hung out with him and recorded a demo in his studio over a weekend he would "work" with (sign?) us. The studio was a pit. Trash, bottles of urine and more crap was everywhere. Our "in-studio beds" were yoga mats and we were told it was the area with the highest incidents of crime in the city. The bathroom was outside of the main complex and looked like a complete nuclear disaster happened in it, you did not want to be in there. The producers were stoners who gave us no schedule to work with and didn't help us move a piece of equipment. We moved in and moved out in the early am hours later, taking residence and spending our remaining money (surprise- we didn't get back our deposit) to live in a hotel room for a few days, recording, drinking and roaming around. We got into a Bleeding Through show for free and hung out with them for a while, good guys/girls. Sure there has been amazing people/places we have gone, but this was undoubtably the most memorable experience and we captured it all for YouTube eternity.
ATP: What are your plans for the 12 months?
These Branches: We're releasing a full-length this month and then heading out on an Mini East Coast Tour in March. Play shows and tour a bit over Summer as much as possible (we don't have the ability right now to make this a full-time thing.) We've begun working on new songs already, and in turn planning to release another EP and potentially various splits and single releases. Hopefully find a way to get our music on vinyl and get more merchandise for our fans. Nick is planning on going to Europe in the Fall (looking for a co-traveler/band), so he will maybe play a few shows there if lucky.
'This One's On You' by These Branches is released on February 12th.
Official Site
These Branches on Bandcamp, Facebook and Twitter.
