Buried Beneath Me Talks “Let It Burn” and What’s Next for the Band
With their EP freshly launched and their new single, “Let it Burn”, Buried Beneath Me shows no signs of slowing down. We caught up with V to talk about the next chapter in the record’s story, how it fits into the overall concept, and what fans can expect both in sound and in the live show experience. From behind-the-scenes challenges to the deeper emotional threads woven into the music, V gives us a candid look at the creative process and the vision driving this latest release.
What can you tell us about this upcoming single? How does it fit into the overall arc of the EP?
This next song is really about letting things take their course. We already met the villain in a previous song, we already found out about a deathbed, now we are finding out the reasoning for Deathbed. The interesting thing though-and you might not even find this out after the album drops-is the “How.” I’ll let fans figure that one out. This song really is about letting it all go and letting the fire transcend what it needs to be into the next best thing.
Has the sound or message of this track evolved at all during the last few chaotic weeks?
Not really. This song has been in its final form for some time now. Ste Kerry's work on this track didn’t change it much. With some of the other tracks on the record, when we had it remastered we were taken back by how much better it was. This song-and maybe this is my personal opinion-hasn’t grown much or changed because of Ste’s work on the song or for any other reason. It’s a pretty cut and dry metal song in my opinion.
You’ve been juggling a lot lately, how did you find time and focus to get this one finished?
That’s a great question that I don’t even know the answer to! I’ve been on vacation over this last week and have been trying to play catchup. We actually submitted album art for this song the day before we left for our vacation.
How do you usually approach visual storytelling for your music?
Visuals are so important in today's music market. It’s almost more important than the music in some regards now. Which sucks, the video really did kill the radio star. But, I personally believe that it opens up a realm of theatre to music. I actually very much dislike plays, however I love when that world crosses with concerts. There are so many bands that just go on stage and play. That’s not BBM. We are here to provide you with a SHOW. I want you to come out to a BBM show and be blown away by what we have planned. It’s going to take a lot of money and planning and honestly I’m not sure if people will even like it or understand what we are trying to do. But we will never find out if we don’t try. So with visual story telling, it really all stems from the narrative of the music and the concept behind the album. There are reasons for everything, from sounds we put into the music to social posts, emails, and all the way through to the concerts.
Do you already have a vision for this track’s artwork or video, or is that still developing?
Yes, [the artwork] is completed now and we are excited about it. It brings more light to the story. Every single [we release] will do that. It’s crazy to think that the first release was already four months ago! So much of the story has been told and so much has yet to be revealed.
What lessons have you taken from this whirlwind release cycle so far?
More planning, more money, and more team members. The thing I want people to understand about this is, music is really hard work. This record has taken me-at the time of release-over a year and a half to bring to life. By the time we have released the record and pushed it into shows into next year, it will be a 2 year completion time. The amount of planning to do a music video, the amount of money that goes into production of a record, production of videos, purchasing physical copies etc. It’s a ton of money and a ton of work. Certainly more than I should be taking on myself but until we can afford more team members, I’m happy to suck up the extra work to help push this release.
With the EP now out and another single on the way, what are you most excited for next?
Record release! We’ve released the songs that myself, the team, and 3rd party fans have suggested we use as singles. The EP has a few extra tracks on it if you buy the physical copy and the rest are singles that we have released during this cycle or that have yet to be released. The other two tracks are only for the physical copy. With that said, I was insistent on keeping some really great tracks for the record. I always hated when bands would drop these fire singles, only for the rest of the record to fall flat upon its release. People are going to freak about the songs on this record that are left over from the rollout. These tracks are not just "B-sides" they in my opinion are a bigger part of the record and the narrative. I think the songs we chose to keep and release with the record are going to be more impactful than the ones we have already dropped. People tell me they absolutely love “Deathbed” because of the “fire” section. In that section it says, “set fire to your dreams” the thing is it’s this big old group chant and it really makes you feel a part of the song. Not to give anything away but there are a few more songs like that on the record that will be released in October, and they are even better than deathbed in my opinion.
How are fans responding to the latest era of BBM? Any surprises there?
I think if anything, it’s as expected. Before the name change…this band was already headed in the direction of alternative rock and alternative metal. It’s not like we blindsided them with this step. I think fans knew it was coming. I think they were expecting it. The Moonlight EP was already a change in sound from the previous sound we had which we never released music under anyway. But now writing this record and really stepping into the alt rock and alt metal space, I think fans knew that we wanted to push that direction. For me personally, it was the best thing to do. I wrote all of these songs, I performed all of these songs. With the help of Tra$hdog and his expertise with mixing and producing we brought them to life. There is 1 song in particular that I’m very excited about. I’ve been told that when you are listening you can really hear the emotion and feeling that I put into writing it and singing it. That was my intent, because every word in that song is absolutely true. I’m not going to say which song because I really don’t want people to worry about me. But it’s all true. It’s life lived and from the people who have heard that song they always say, “I can really feel your pain and emotion in those lyrics.” And that was my intention. I’m telling you this because I want people to know that when they listen to this record, even though it is a concept record, there is a lot of truth and real emotion put into these songs from my own life. This “latest era” of BBM, isn’t just about, “Oh lets try a new direction.” No. This is about putting my own words, thoughts, feelings, and emotion into a format that I felt connected with me the most. My only hope is that people also find some sort of connection with that. The genre, the music, the lyrics are all in my bones and I believe that there are other people out there that will feel it when this record finally drops. It might be a new era of BBM, but I really believe it’s going to be a very important era in the legacy that will become Buried Beneath Me. This new era has also helped us grow a lot more than the old era as well and I think that is a great indication that we are headed in the right direction.
Buried Beneath Me continues to push forward with relentless creativity and momentum, keeping fans engaged with each new release. With this new single, “Let It Burn”, the band shows no signs of slowing down, building on the energy of their recent EP and setting the stage for an exciting chapter ahead.
Keep up with V and BBM via Loud and Heavy Booking.
