Look, when we started promoting Namba Black Market Day, Bleeding Wounds had a different name. We probably won’t get around to updating it everywhere, so just know that anywhere you see ‘Scream Out’, that should actually say Bleeding Wounds.

The new name comes with a fresh lineup and a bit of a shift in sound – less crossover thrash, more early-90s metallic hardcore – but we’ll let them explain that.

BAD HABIT: Three or so years ago, there seemed to be a real drought of exciting young bands. Now it feels like an explosion of action. As the youngest and freshest of the crop, how have you found the reception? 

BLEEDING WOUNDS: I think it’s been wonderful, to say the least. Two of our shows have had more than 200 people in attendance. The scene is growing in an unprecedented manner. In my opinion, there’s never been a better time to start a band, as there’s such a dedicated thriving community in the scene at the moment.

It has been mind-blowingly positive – the fact that people have built on the foundations of the scene to a point where we can get chucked in the deep end and play for such lively crowds, even two hours up the coast, is something we are all so grateful for.

BH: Bleeding Wounds shares a few members with No Allegiance, and the bands operate in similar circles. What prompted you to form another project?

BW: It started as a school project for us. Originally, four members were in the class that it was supposed to be a project for. Me and Tim wanted to write some heavier material aside from No Allegiance, and everyone was keen.

Unfortunately, school and parents for a band of 16-year-olds can get in the way, but me and Tim still wanted it to live on as an outlet for a different sound.

Being in bands together actually made the process less daunting, as there was familiarity with working together and having cohesion and chemistry, even when experimenting in the newer heavier style, which has allowed us to get creative within the new sound.

BH: Your debut show had a pretty massive turnout – 250 excited kids in Redlands was pretty mind-boggling to see. What stood out to me was the significantly different clientele. Circle pits, cosplays etc. It looked like a mob of people previously unexposed to the scene’s nuances. There seems to be two opposing poles in hardcore: the push to remain as accepting as possible, and the belief that being too open risks dilution and the loss of defining and essential attributes. Where does Bleeding Wounds stand on this? Is there a middle ground to be found?

BW: I think it’s clear there has to be a middle ground. It’s becoming a very-used quote in the scene but aptly so in my opinion, "hardcore is for anybody but not everybody", and I think that perfectly sums up where we are.

It’s been truly heart-warming watching as bands like Pimp offer a gateway into the scene, like we saw with Redlands. I watched as a horde of teens in My Chemical Romance shirts badly try to two-step to a powerviolence band like Flogg and I thought to myself, “how cool it is that these people who might never have heard the music or been to a proper hardcore gig before are trying to be immersed in the culture”.

I think it’s nothing but a win if those people stick around and start coming to gigs. Unfortunately, I also see people coming to shows to cause issues, deteriorating hardcore culture by complaining when people mosh on them, or only coming to shows to get inebriated and mosh, and they don’t care about the music.

That’s where I think this whole thing splits off – whether people care about the music. I spoke to one of the cosplayers after Redlands and they were a big Minor Threat fan and loved No Allegiance and Flogg and all of the actual hardcore bands. It was truly a happy moment helping them get into that local scene. But I also watched at the recent Coorparoo show where people were doing hard substances and starting fights, with no care for the actual music playing. If you enjoy hardcore, come to hardcore shows and try to get immersed, but if you only turn up to cause issues with no care for the scene or music, we have no place for that.

At the end of the day though, it’s important to try and welcome the newcomers and teach them these styles and nuances, instead of immediately gatekeeping the genre. Having these people have a safe, accepting community and an outlet for anger can stop people going into hurting people in real scenarios or falling down a path of alcohol and drugs.

We all find hardcore at our own pace, and we wouldn't have found it without school friends getting us involved. All in all, people will always try to gatekeep it from newcomers, but without people who want to get involved, there is no scene. All that being said, if someone refuses to respect the values and decides to trash venues, ruin events and have no care for the music, there isn’t a place for them in the scene.

BH: How does coming from an area like Redlands differ from places like Brisbane and Nambour? Has that end of the train line location deterred a strong scene from building? Has it made those who stick with it more dedicated? How do you get hundreds of kids to travel to a Redlands YMCA and mosh to Integrity covers?

BW: I think we kind of got gifted with the regular alternative scene that has been building in the Redlands – mainly through Dead Trigger Records and skatePUNK – there were already people as far as the northside who were used to catching public transport all the way to the YMCA to attend shows. I think that really helped what we were building – playing at the YMCA and having that dedicated alt scene make the effort to see Pimp and Konfess that day.

There was also the Sunny Coast scene, who drove all the way down to see No Allegiance, Flogg and us play. I think it might be hard for HxC in the Redlands to grow as quickly as Brisbane and Nambour, just due to it being further from any major city, but if the scene keeps putting on great events, then more people will start realising it’s worth the trip.

It’s odd, because it’s an area known to be full of oldies, in its own little world. But with all the bands itching for opportunities, there can and will be a scene – it just needs to be developed by people like Provoked Violence putting on as many shows as possible and growing from the ground up, like Nambour.

BH: You previously operated under the name Scream Out; now you’re nodding to a Bluetality track – why the change? Is your style shifting too? Are Merauder overrated?

BW: Well, Scream Out was the name we used when we were mostly playing crossover covers, finding our feet. It’s the name of a Suicidal Tendencies song, and we felt like it fit. Then we all agreed it’d be more in line with our collective tastes if we moved to that metallic hardcore sound, and for months it felt like the name didn’t fit anymore.

We also discovered an Italian punk band called Scream Out – that was when we realised it was time for a change. So, no, our style isn’t shifting – the name change is catching up with the change in style we made a while ago, plus new band members. Although, the new tracks definitely have more of that groovy metallic hardcore feel.

On one hand, people treat Merauder like the greatest group of musicians ever formed. While I do really love them, I can see where the criticism comes from. But to me, at least they live up to the expectations, cause they are just phenomenal – a style of hardcore not seen very often these days.

BH: Before performing that United Forces cover, you mentioned Bleeding Wounds initially forming as a crossover thrash project. Was the tonal shift intentional, or a gradual process? Are there members in the band vying for different musical styles? How does it all come together in your songwriting?

BW: Everyone in the band listened to more metalcore, except me, originally. When I found my found myself putting on Earth Crisis albums whenever I was on the bus, we all agreed that it was more true to our influences as musicians. While there’s probably still some influence from our other genres, such as crossover and second wave NYHC, the main goal is always to write sick-as early 90s metallic hardcore before it became so diluted with things like melodic metalcore.

We want to create a raw aggressive mix of hardcore punk and metal. Crossover felt similar to our other projects, and there was no love or inspiration while writing. At the current moment, it’s just me and Tim doing the majority of writing, and coming together building on a riff or beat and using both our influences and inspiration to write something true to us.

BH: Thank you for your time. Do you have any final words? Shoutouts/fuck yous? Where can we see you next?

BW: Fuck bigots, fuck creeps, free Palestine. Catch us at the Nambour Black Market Day on Sunday 5 October – gearing up to be a great gig.

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