DISTORTED SOUND MAGAZINE
DISTORTED SOUND MAGAZINE
Written by JAMES WEAVER
Rehabilitation. By definition the word means the action
of restoring someone to health or normal life through
training and therapy after imprisonment, addiction, or
illness. It's a process many of us, from all walks of life,
undergo to help improve after periods of adversity. No
one knows this better than THE FIVE HUNDRED, a
band who have poured absolutely everything into their
poignant and hard-hitting debut record Bleed Red. “The
lyrics were all written in the space of two-three months
and I guess there is a common theme there” explains
guitarist Mark Byrne, speaking about said lyrical content.
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“I like that about our song-writing on this album because
it was all condensed into a small amount of time, the
songs all have a particular feel to them and the lyrics all
have a particular theme to them. It all came naturally and
that is the right way to go, the moment you sit yourself
down and force yourself to be creative, it just doesn't
happen does it?” With themes ranging from depression
to addiction, OCD to tourettes, Mark and his bandmates
are leaving no stone unturned. It's an admirable approach
to the record's lyrical content and in an age where the
stigma surrounding mental health is being eroded away,
does Mark hope this record can connect to people on
a much deeper level? “I write lyrics for myself and my
band, it's my release and our release, but, if it reaches
out to people and they connect with it, that's huge for me.
That's quite humbling. I never set out to almost become
a frontman for this sort of movement, and I guess no one
does, you write for your own demons, you write for your
own way of coping with this shit. But if anyone listens to it
and connects with it on their journey, that's amazing!”
Indeed perhaps that is the greatest achievement a band
can hope for with a record; to connect with their audience.
Sure, financial success is an obvious goal to strive for,
but surely it is so much more rewarding when a person
finds that connection to the music? THE FIVE HUNDRED
more than have the potential to make those connections,
and whilst the hard-hitting lyrical content will surely
resonate with many, having a killer sound certainly helps
too as Bleed Red oozes in class, free of the constraints of
genre-tags. “When we get asked to describe our music,
one of our first reactions is that it's hard to put into one
genre. Most journalists don't like that, they say “well every
band doesn't want to be pigeon-holed into a genre.” No
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