Did you know that Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo shuns the label of role-model? Or that the band essentially started out as a joke? What about the man-sized holes left in the walls of people's homes after the band's performances? Stick around and we will answer these questions and more!
10 Fun Facts about Disgusting by Beartooth
1 Solo Project
Similair to David Grohl's work on the debut Foo Fighters album; all songs on the debut Beartooth album were written, performed, and produced by Caleb Shomo, with the exception of one song "In Between" which was co-produced by Goldfinger frontman John Feldman.
"When it comes to creating songs and developing the record, I’m the only one who has anything to do with it. That’s how Beartooth started: me making songs by myself. I have a band live, and everyone is of equal importance. I just make the songs on the record." - Caleb Shomo; Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014)
2 Disgusting
The band's debut full length album was written in large part as an outlet for Caleb's depression.
"I was in a really dark place and the record was kind of my way of working through it." - Caleb Shomo; 5 Questions with Caleb Shomo of Beartooth, Liz Ramanand, Loudwire (Sep 1, 2015)
"The lyrics on the record are pretty much whatever I was feeling at that moment. The whole point in the beginning of Beartooth in general was, while I was in Attack Attack! I was just in an incredibly dark place in life, and I was pretty miserable. Beartooth was my escape and my kind of therapy in a sense. I would write these songs and try and be as honest as physically possible just to get that relief for me personally. I didn’t even think it would be something I’d show a lot of people or that anyone would care about it." - Caleb Shomo; Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014)
f the debut album -- what does this title mean to you personally?
It was just the way I was feeling when I wrote that record. I was in a really dark place and the record was kind of my way of working through it.
How was the overall creative and recording process for the full length album?
It was good, honestly it was very smooth. I did the record myself, I have a studio in my house. I would just go down and write songs whenever I’m bored or if I can’t sleep in the middle of the night I would just go and work on music. It went well.
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
f the debut album -- what does this title mean to you personally?
It was just the way I was feeling when I wrote that record. I was in a really dark place and the record was kind of my way of working through it.
How was the overall creative and recording process for the full length album?
It was good, honestly it was very smooth. I did the record myself, I have a studio in my house. I would just go down and write songs whenever I’m bored or if I can’t sleep in the middle of the night I would just go and work on music. It went well.
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
Read More: 5 Questions With Caleb Shomo of Beartooth: New Album ‘Disgusting,’ Leaving Attack Attack! + More | https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral
3. Beartooth
The band received their name from the famous Northwestern pioneer "Beartooth" Bundy, who once wrestled four bears in a single evening, including the 1866 Bear-Wrestling Championship against his old nemesis Spare-Tire Teddy... right about now, some of you are thinking "Wait, a minute... I grew up in the Northwest and I've never heard of Beartooth Bundy." Well, you would be correct. I made the whole thing up.
While
Beartooth is indeed an awesome name for a rock band, the origin of the
name is significantly less awesome. As Caleb explains...
"Our old bass player grew up in a place called Beartooth Court. We all
just thought it was a cool sounding name and it worked for us, so
that’s what we ended up calling the band." - Caleb Shomo; All kinds of loud crazy.., Elinor Day, The Edge (April 24, 2014)
4. Man Sized-Holes
The band became known for their willingness to play at house parties, which lead to a few homes being incidentally damaged.
"I know that a lot of people don’t always have venues near them or the money to get to shows, and that’s a shame, because all kinds of loud crazy music like hardcore, metal and punk start off in people’s basements. I just wanted to get back to that kind of laidback vibe, really. There’s nothing else like it, because there’s no rules, just people jumping around and leaping off stuff...
We never intentionally trashed anyone’s houses either; we tried to
be very respectful to anyone who was nice enough to let us play in
their house. But, we had a couple of shows where we finished playing and
there were a couple of man-sized holes in somebody’s wall! The people
that came to those shows did get pretty crazy!" - Caleb Shomo; All kinds of loud crazy.., Elinor Day, The Edge (April 24, 2014)
5. Influenced by Billy Talent
Music
for "Beaten In Lips" was partially inspired by Canadian punk rock band
Billy Talent. As guitarist Taylor Lumley explained in a 2014 interview:
"We kind of just write what we want to hear. For that song, Caleb was listening to a lot of Billy Talent and Trash Talk. You can see a lot of those influences there. It just reflects a lot of what we were listening to at the time." - Taylor Lumley; Beartooth talks Disgusting release and religious views, Claudio Zelaya, FIUSM (Nov 12, 2014)
6. No Encores
Despite
what some people may have surmised, "One More Song" was not written as a
cheesy attempt to have a good song for encores. In fact, the band
actually preferred not to do encores.
7. No Role-Model
Although
Caleb enjoys the fact that fans find his music relatable and has helped
them through some dark times of their own, the songwriter is also
reluctant to view himself as a role-model. Instead, he likes to think of
himself as a person who writes music that lets others know that they
are not alone.
“Know that when you’re listening to the record, I was just coming from a place sitting alone, writing songs to get my head on straight. I’m not trying to write songs to change the world... This band is just me being honest with myself...
I’m just doing what I do. I don’t think I’m a person that deserves to be the voice of others." - Caleb Shomo; Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014)
"I think people idolize musicians too much, honestly... feel free to appreciate the musician... take what you can from the music. If it helped save your life, that’s wicked, but you can’t basically put your life in someone else’s hands that you don’t even know. That’s crazy... we didn’t save your life, you were the one to make the choice to save your own life and that’s the reality. Obviously, if we could have helped put your mind in the right place, one way or another, that’s awesome, but, at the end of the day, I didn’t come find you and pull the gun out of your hand, you did that yourself and be proud of that. Use that and be strong." - Caleb Shomo; Interview: Beartooth, Mary McComish, Under The Rockies (2014) - https://www.undertherockies.com/features/interview-beartooth
8. "Beaten In Lips"
Dark
imagery portrayed in the music video for "Beaten In Lips" was inspired
by stories of abuse Caleb heard about from various people he spoke with
at shows.
"It’s a pretty common thing. It’s sad. Going to shows for some people is a big release from being abused. It’s so sad and literally shatters my heart to talk to someone who’s been cutting him or herself for years and years because he or she has dealt with family abuse, or is heavy into alcohol and drugs just to bury it..
If its happening, you don’t really hear about it. It’s not something people want to talk about because they’re ashamed or embarrassed. Some sick parents make their kids feel like they deserve it, which is horrifying. That’s a very big reason I wrote the song. I guess if people are going to hear it, I’m going to tell them my view on it, straight up. If you’re an abusive person, you’re a sick person. You need to figure out what’s wrong with yourself." - Caleb Shomo; Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014)
9. A Joke Band
Ok so maybe "joke" is the wrong word but Beartooth initially started as a therapeutic outlet of sorts for Shomo, while he was still performing in Attack Attack! It was only at the request of others who saw potential in the music who prodded Shomo in to going forward with his new project.
"It started as an outlet for
me when I was in Attack! Attack!. I would sit in my basement and just
write. My friends said they thought it could be something more and I
decided: why not? I love touring and I liked the idea of doing something
where there wouldn’t be much pressure on me. So I just went for it." - Caleb Shomo; Go Behind The Scenes With Beartooth, Georgina Newman, Red Bull (Jan 1, 2017)
10. "Sick And Disgusting"
Caleb Shomo almost left the album's final track off of the album for personal reasons.
"The song Sick And Disgusting off the album is a very personal song and kind difficult for me to relive. It’s very intense." - Caleb Shomo; Go Behind The Scenes With Beartooth, Georgina Newman, Red Bull (Jan 1, 2017)
"Specifically... “Sick And Disgusting,” is a song I didn’t even want to put on the record. That song was so personal and vocally was really tough to listen to. I don’t ever really listen to that song at all. I hate listening to it and having to relive that moment, but at the same time it was good for me." - Caleb Shomo; Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014)
Sources:
5
Questions with Caleb Shomo of Beartooth, Liz Ramanand, Loudwire (Sep 1,
2015) - https://loudwire.com/5-questions-caleb-shomo-beartooth/
All kinds of loud crazy.., Elinor Day, The Edge (April 24, 2014) - http://www.theedgesusu.co.uk/features/2014/04/24/all-kinds-of-loud-crazy-music-starts-off-in-peoples-basements-an-interview-with-caleb-shomo-from-beartooth/
Beartooth talks Disgusting release and religious views, Claudio Zelaya, FIUSM (Nov 12, 2014) - https://panthernow.com/2014/11/12/beartooth-talks-disgusting-release-and-religious-views/
Caleb Shomo Talks Beartooth Video "Beaten In Lips" (Interview), AltPress (May 13, 2014) - https://www.altpress.com/caleb_shomo_talks_beartooth_video_beaten_in_lips_interview/
Go Behind The Scenes With Beartooth, Georgina Newman, Red Bull (Jan 1, 2017) - https://www.redbull.com/au-en/new-album-interview-with-red-bull-records-stars-beartooth
Interview: Beartooth, Mary McComish, Under The Rockies (2014) - https://www.undertherockies.com/features/interview-beartooth