Bleeding Through - Living TheOC Life

Thu 25th May, 2006 in Features

Brandan Schieppati thinks I dress like a “Bogan”. Schieppati, the impeccably stylish, frontman of metalcore band, Bleeding Through has been learning a few Aussie words to add to his So-Cal vocabulary and the word “Bogan” is one of them.

“Australia is a perfect mix, of southern California and London! There’s a lot of similarities in the fact that like, where I live and Australia is very beach-orientated, everybody just kinds of kicks back and surfs, so that’s really familiar.” He explains, “I guess that’s why I don’t really get much homesick! I think the only major differences between the two places are the terms for things… like, you guys call ‘Hessians’ like, ‘Bogans’?!?” he laughs. “Fashion is slightly different too… I just think there’s more fashion in the States. Well, where we are we have Hollywood, and a lot of that kind of shit. So fashion’s a lot more accessible.

“You know what I’ve noticed is that girls wear knee high boots everywhere… Australia loves high boots! I don’t pay attention to men’s fashion, cause it just seems to me that all guys wear a black hoodie and jeans, and like Converse or something and that’s pretty much it.” He clarifies “But I pay attention to women’s fashion, things like the high boots, tucked in jeans… the ‘rocker’ look is kind of cool. I like it! It’s a good look… It’s like, ‘bogan-wear’ for women!” he laughs.

Bleeding Through were out here on a co-headling tour with As I Lay Dying last week. But Schieppati admits that the tour this time round is a lot more relaxed. They’ve already done all of the touristy things like hold a koala and look at sharks last time they were out here. Schieppati describes this tour as being more like a holiday than work, making more time for the band to hang out and surf.

“We just go to Boost juice everyday… well, because in the States we have Jamba Juice, and here’s it’s Boost Juice so we call it, ‘Jamba Boost’!” he jokes.

Not only is Schieppati surprisingly humorous, he also lives up to the reputation of being immaculately well groomed. The band are known for their fashion savvyness, so much so that they have even been referred to as “fashioncore”. But Schieppati doesn’t seem too fazed by it, especially being from the OC and all. “It’s kind of difficult because there’s a lot of haves and have-nots [in the O.C]. There are people who have a lot of money and they kind of have everything, and then there are a lot of people who are, not necessarily down-and-out but sort of like, don’t have as much.” He explains: “it’s a really competitive place and I think that’s why there are a lot of bands that come from there now. But I guess it keeps you on your toes and it helps you grow up, and mature, and for the most part feel really humble” admits Schieppati.

“There’s always been a deep-rooted hardcore, metal and punk scene. Early on, it was bands like Black Flag and Circle Jerks and stuff like that. All those bands that come from Southern California, they played in Orange County.” He describes, “The Vandals use to play in Orange County, Social Distortion, that kind of stuff. Then it got kind of sunny with bands like No Doubt and Lit. And all those bands that kind of took over so it was hard for bands who played heavier music. And then all of a sudden there was a kind of a switch when people embrace heavier type of music. That’s why you see a lot of bands now, like Atreyu, Avenged Sevenfold and a lot that come from a ten mile radius and they’re doing what they’re doing and they’re doing good!” he says.

The upside of living in the OC is surprisingly not the fast that they share the same address as the infamous TV series, it is that Schieppati and his friends can all have fun together by hanging out at Disneyland whenever they feel like. “I live like, fifteen minutes away from Disneyland, I even have a yearly pass!” He laughs as he tries to find it in his wallet to show me. “We grew up, and went there all the time. We just go there and hangout. Everybody there buys year passes, which is kind of cool. We would just go there cause some nights we don’t have anything to do, so we say, hey let’s go to Disneyland! So it’s kind of crazy!” he laughs.

Bleeding Through’s album The Truth is out now