I had the pleasure of sitting down with New York City band, BEND, a fresh and talented
group that is making their mark in the music scene. Giacomo, Zach, Jordan, Eugine, and Cam
shared how they came together, their influences, and what they aimed to achieve as a band.
From their creative process to their dream collaborations, we explored what makes their sound
unique and learned more about their journey and upcoming plans.
How did you guys come together?
Giacomo: So, I was bored at work and I really wanted to join a band. so I went on Craigslist and
on the first page was Eugine, Our guitarist, put up a post saying; vocalist needed a band like the
Strokes, Arctic monkeys, etc and I was like yeah I could do that.
Zach: I had actually been auditioning for other bands and getting really close, and then at that
point, I was already kind of over the process and then I got this call from Eug, you just ask me
all these questions about the strokes.I gave in and I played, but there was no pressure because
at that point, I was used to it.
Jordan: I joined like six months after that, probably from Reddit.
If you could tour with one ever, who would it and why?
Zach: Maybe Tool. That would be Jordans choice.
Giacomo: It’s difficult because you want someone who’s fun on stage, but also fun, but not too
fun. Like Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Zach: I’ll put Prince on there.
Cam: Okay, so we’re going dead or alive? Well that opens up a whole other world of
possibilities.I’d go with Green Day or Food Fighters.
What is a dream venue you wish you could play and why?
Zach: I don’t know, maybe like some cool outdoor venue on the west coast like The Gorge or
something.
Giac: There’s like this, remnants of a Greek theater in Sicily in Darbina that overlooks like the
water from above the volcano in the back and that would be like the most insane place I would
imagine we would ever play.
Cam: “Somewhere like that or like Red Rocks or something.”
What’s two words to describe the sound of your music?
Zach: Energetic and powerful.
Eug: Prospective and melodic.
Cam: Garage rock
What was the first time you realized you wanted to pursue music?
Zach: I think for me that was super early on. My dad’s a really great guitar player, and so he was
always playing and my mom plays pretty well too. She’d always just sing with an acoustic guitar
and stuff. So I always wanted to learn how to play guitar just to impress them and we also just
had a ton of music in the house. I always wanted to be in bands, and I was starting in my first
band when I was like 11. Now I wish I would have learned how to play drums, because I watch
cam play, and it’s so sick, but I’m too far along.
Giac: I knew I wanted to sing the first time I did karaoke. The first time I had the balls to actually
do it. It was because someone picked last night, but they left. And it’s like, does anyone want it?
I’m like, I do! and then I was like, oh shit, I actually do want this. Slowly but surely took me there
Jordan: So I was like a big iTunes guy, because I was like a kid, but I really had these music
videos and music of some bands that I grew up loving, I just was like, oh, that’s so cool, and
that’s something I want to try doing. So I played classical music until then, but yeah, that was
kind of what made me want to go to guitar music.
Eug : Oh yeah, Jordan is a great guitarist.He’s ranked number one on guitar hero in the world.
Jordan: Unfortunately, I’m getting too old. Yeah, my parents played instruments, I’ve been
playing instruments all my life. I just spent a little too much on guitar hero in middle school.
Cam: There’s a video of you like two years old just playing drums. Yeah, I was playing Green Day.
What would be the ingredients of a Bend sandwich?
Zach: There’s like salami and a guitar pedal for sure.
Giac: That’s what you’re gonna start with, salami and a guitar pedal?
Cam: What’s the name of that one? The classic pedal?
“What’s your goal as a band that you hope to achieve by the end of the year?
Cam: Less than three covers in a set.
Zach: I was going to say release as much music as possible, release a lot of music.
Eug: Just give me a single, you know.
Giac: Maybe a couple more interviews.
Jordan: Some more originals would be awesome. A couple venues we want to keep playing at .
What’s a dream collab?
Zach; We’re going to sing with Lady Gaga. Surprisingly a lot of us are fans of Lady Gaga.
Cam: We’re aiming very high. I saw Blood Orange perform with the Strokes, that was so cool.
Jordan: I’ll go with Turnstile.
Cam: We should cover Blackout.
What type of kitchen utensil would you be and why?
Zach: We practice with spatulas.
Eug: I was gonna say tongs because they’re very versatile.
Giac: Good set of tongs.
Cam: Yeah, we have videos of us having band practice with spatulas as drumsticks. Low
volume band practice always involves some creative use of alternative percussion.
What should people know about your band?
Giac: That, I don’t know, we’re like five very diverse individuals that are trying to still shape
something that’s very new for all of us because this is everyone’s first band. We haven’t had the
experience of other people that have had multiple attempts and styles. This is all just coming in
and we want to make music and this is our idea of doing that.
Zach: We’re playing on, we’re playing Washington Square Park on September 29th. I don’t even
think that’s our next show, but we should shout it out.
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