Written and Photographed by David Booth @hellbenderbluesmedia
On an otherwise quiet Wednesday night in April, the London Music Hall is what can best be described as a state of beautiful chaos. The headliner, Beartooth are playing the soundtrack to one of the most active mosh pits I’ve seen in years. Anyone who thinks millennials have gone soft haven’t seen a Beartooth show. The crowd exudes energy and the band’s frontman and writer Caleb Shomo is feeding off of it as much as the crowd is hanging on every song. The band has worked through most of the setlist, and Caleb steps up to the mic with the guitarist playing quietly in the background where he talks about the inspiration behind his most recent album, Disease.. Much like his songs, Caleb’s talk with the crowd is unflinchingly honest, to the point, raw, and relatable to its listeners. Shomo starts talking about negative thoughts that he fights and how a lot of people in the crowd have the same struggles.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of negative stuff in my head. I know a lot of you have had to deal with the same sort of thing. For me it’s a lot of insecurity. It’s a lot of depression and anxiety thinking it would be better for the world if I wasn’t in it, and I’ve struggled with that for as long as I know. And I always wanted to know why. Why me? So I decided to write a record about it. And I dove in a lot deeper than I ever have before and I figured out a couple things I think you should know.
It’s that for us, for these people in this world… Please, if I can just get a little bit of quiet? This shit’s really hard to talk about. So we’re just going to try to get through it and get back to rocking. But two things I figured out making this album. Number one is that this pain I feel in my head, in my heart, in my fucking soul is never going to go away. It’s part of me. It’s who I am, and it will be there forever, and unfortunately for anybody else in this room who feels the same shit, who has that chemical imbalance in their head, that’s just how it is. But… there’s a second thing I learned. I learned that no matter who I am, who you think I am, that does not mean that I am weak. That does not mean that I am small, and that does not mean that I am fucking worthless. That goes for everyone in this room. We are just human beings. Give yourself a fucking break once in a while, it’s okay. And I just want you to know my way to get through this shit, to carry on is all of you giving me this chance with this band and this music and you have no idea. I swear I would be dead and in the fucking ground if it wasn’t for all you amazing people who support music and who support positivity. I love all you too. This song goes out to my good friend Bobby. I fucking love you man. This song is called “Disease”.
Caleb Shomo’s Beartooth is a glimpse inside the head of the Former Attack! Attack! vocalist and the songs are unflinchingly honest about the things that haunt him. I had the opportunity to speak with Caleb on a call prior to his recent show in Houston about his experience writing and touring songs that share so much of him.
Caleb Shomo: How are you?
Dave Booth: None the worse for wear. So you guys are in a festival in Houston? How’s the show been so far?
CS: It’s cool man. It’s just kind of starting up. People are here, bands are here, music’s loud. Life is good.
DB: All those things make for a great festival. I caught you guys in London, Ontario a week and a half ago. You guys put on a hell of a show. It was a great time.
CS: Thank you man. Appreciate it. We love playing in Canada, man.
DB: We love having you up here. One of the guys I met who was doing photos, I saw on his Instagram page, just got a tattoo the day after the show. It said “I’m just fucking human”. I guess it was from something you said at the Toronto show. I thought it was interesting. I thought what you said at the show during a break in the music, where you were talking about your issues with depression and anxiety and stuff like that during the concerts, I think it’s a really cool thing. Is that something that makes its way into most shows, or was that sort of a one off?
CS: It honestly depends on the show. It depends how I’m feeling, the energy of the crowd. Some nights it just feels right. Some nights it feels like it would be a bit overbearing, it’s really just a natural thing. If I end up going on a rant and talking I sort of do, and if not then it’s just going to be more of a mellow vibe, but yeah. The times I have it seems to be pretty beneficial to some people. Talking to people afterward, they seem to get a lot out of it which is an absolute honor for me, because I’m just sort of up there rambling, sort of telling my story. To hear that so many people relate to it… I don’t know. I think it’s a good thing for the world, to understand that so many people deal with these mental things and don’t talk about it. To me talking about it is the only way to get better or cope with it at all, so it feels good.
DB: That’s the thing. It didn’t sound rehearsed or forced. It’s just something that came out, which is great.
CS: No. (Laughs) I’m terrible with rehearsing things. I know our songs but other than that I just yell random shit.
DB: Was this started up right after Attack! Attack!? Was this a response to it? You wanted to try something different so this is what happened? Doing your own thing without having to do a lot of touring? That was my initial understanding of it.
CS: Honestly, I just wanted to quit Attack! Attack! and become a full time producer and songwriter and just had this as some random songs I’d been writing to keep my head on straight. It just kind of turned into what it is. I started showing some friends and people in the music business. They said “If you want to do it again, we think you can. We think this is some cool shit”, so I said “All right, I’ll give it a whirl”, and however many years later, here we are, headlining our first festival. It’s pretty exciting.
DB: Oh! You guys are headlining, that’s awesome! I didn’t know that. Congratulations, that’s huge.
CS: Thanks man.
DB: It seems like it’s just a different place, where you started and where you’re at now, as far as the evolution of the band. Do you feel the sound of the band is evolving as well as a reflection of that? Is this what you always pictured the band being?
CS: I definitely think the sound is evolving as a band. To me the point of beartooth is just to write a record I love every note of and feel really passionate about and that gives me a lot of freedom to do what I want and try new things. It seems to be going really well man. I’m happy with the songs and really happy with how the latest album came out.
DB: It’s got to be a little bit paralyzing. You don’t want to be writing the same album all the time, but on the other hand, people tend to be fickle and find any excuse to say that a band has sold out as soon as you get successful. Social media is great at getting the music out there, but you’ve got every single voice out there being heard at equal volume.
CS: For sure. It definitely can get to be a balancing act, but at the end of the day, I just want to be happy with what I’m doing and I think if people like it, they like it,and if they don’t, they don’t. That’s fine with me. I just want to have a good time doing it while I can.
DB: That’s awesome. I respect the bands that are willing to do what they want as opposed to rigidly holding on to a sound out of some sense of obligation. I was talking to someone a while back about their new album, and he said “Often times people don’t know what they want until they hear it”. If you’re writing by poll, it never really comes out the way you want it to.
CS: Yeah man. I think the reality is the way this band started was me writing a record that I honestly didn’t intend on anybody to really hear and it was just something for me. Something personal. I think that’s what fans of beartooth appreciate. That they’re very personal records. The goal isn’t just trying to write some mass thing that’s universal. All these songs have specific meaning and means something different to everybody else. It’s been good, man.
DB: It’s one of the things I hear your fans saying. The lyrics are unfiltered and honest. The lyrics are pretty straightforward. There’s not a lot of dancing around to get to what you mean. You look at the lyrics and you understand what you’re trying to get across. Personally anytime I’ve done writing it’s tough to get to. Is that your natural tendency? Did it take some work to get there to be as direct as you are in the music?
CS: Depends on the songs. Some songs for me have completely different meaning than the lyrics. I use a lot of metaphors but at the same point some songs are really straightforward, dead honest. This is what it means. To me it depends on the song, depends on my mood and the topic I’m writing about. As long as I’m happy with it and it means something to me, I think the people who grew up with the band as we’ve progressed kind of feel the same way a lot of the time, so I just try to write songs that make sense.
DB: Are there any songs in particular that are special to you, that stand out as more meaningful to you than others? Any that you think of as “that song”?
CS: I’m sure. “Disease”, the title track means a whole lot to me. The song “Clever” is very personal. Every song on the record is personal, but those are two specific ones.
DB: In the last few years, music has experienced a great deal of loss with all the people in the industry who have died of suciide or self inflicted conditions like drug overdoses. It seems like it’s disproportionately high in this business. A business where people are on stage and doing what they really want to do, yet there are issues that these huge artists seem to have to deal with. Do you think the issues are something that is part of what pushes them to be creative, or is it part of the lifestyle that drives people to a bad place?
CS: Everybody’s brain chemistry is different, and unfortunately for a lot of people, there doesn’t have to be a reason. It’s just how you’re wired, you’re going to be depressed sometimes. You’re going to be anxious sometimes. I think at the end of the day it’s taking care of yourself and making sure you have time to be alone and staying healthy. Those simple things I think really help a lot. It’s tough out here in the music scene for sure. A lot of people in this world go down terrible paths. For me, I just try to keep my head on straight and push forward. That’s about it.
DB: Any thoughts as to whether or not the job is a cause or an effect of some of the issues? Is it that people who have this stuff going on want to write and want to create to get it out? Is it something that comes into the business? Is it the stress of touring? I was never out with a band, but I spent a good amount of time working on the road, and it’s easy to have a lifestyle instead of a life. It certainly wasn’t the easiest part of my life.
CS: It can be tough. You don’t really get any time to yourself. There’s alcohol and drugs pretty much anywhere you look. I meet a lot of people. It depends I guess on whether you can handle it or not. Whether you like it or not. For me I just love touring. It’s something that makes me happy. I know for a lot of people that’s not the case. To answer your other question I don’t know if being depressed or fucked up makes you more creative or want to get it out. For me, that was the avenue I chose to help myself with it. Writing songs and putting the words down on paper. I just try to keep my head on as well as I can on the road.
DB: What do you see the next direction of the band being? Are there aspects of the band you see coming more to the forefront over time?
CS: I genuinely have no idea right now. As of now, our record is pretty young and we’re on our new record’s cycle, so I don’t really want to dive into the new stuff. I’ll find out when I get there. Just write and see what sounds good.
DB: Is writing something you enjoy?
CS: Yeah. If I didn’t enjoy it, it would be a pretty shitty life.
DB: I know people who love performing and dread having to write, and people who love writing and are not at all interested in being on stage. For some they love the result but not the process of writing.
CS: For me, I write kind of the whole bit for the band, and I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t love it. It’s something I’ve always loved. I’m not everybody, but to me, this is everything. This is what I do. Music just kind of runs through my blood. It really helps me feel free mentally, so I love the writing portion. It’s certainly more difficult than the performing. Writing and creating is a lot different than going up and having everything all laid out so you just have to perform it, but it’s really really satisfying, and it just gives me a lot of time to be open.
Disease feels like a step closer to the mainstream, with more melodic vocals, and catchier hooks in the songs. To Shomo’s credit, he has moved the band in a more accessible direction without it feeling like a dilution of what has made Beartooth such a good band to begin with. Beartooth’s evolution is the band going with what works and just doing it better. The lyrics are more raw and direct and have a greater sense of personal revelation and rage against despair that needs to be acknowledged and released. It’s the sound of a person who is still struggling against his demons, as opposed to the sound of a person being lost to them, that gives Beartooth’s music it’s strength. In a world where lives of artificial perfection choke up social media feeds and reality tv, it’s easy to feel any deviation from an unreachable goal means that you are failing. One can find more strength in one’s struggles than successes, and more valuable lessons can be learned in peoples struggles than their accomplishments. The sense of having and sharing ones struggles is what has always given rock and blues music a sense of honesty, and it’s voices like Caleb Shomo’s that keep the genre relevant and moving forward.
