by Ashley McAteer
Jesse mentions that Mika Miko was almost a way to test the waters of songwriting and helped them see this is what they really wanted to do. “Our first band was together” says Jesse, explaining how natural it felt when they performed. In a band, it’s simple- you either really connect with someone musically or you don’t. It’s no question that Jesse and Jen really do connect. “The lack of competition helps make it really easy” says Jesse. Jen agrees, who meets up with us after a few questions.
Bleached’s sound is more poppy than their last band and when asked how that came about, the girls explain that they just enjoy pop music. The band tends to stay away from the more political aspect of their scene and Jen writes lyrics about what is on her mind which seems to be mostly relationship based. In their songwriting, Jen begin by playing guitar and setting singing melodies. Then, she passes her work on to Jesse to add the bass line and guitar leads. Bleached has recorded with the same drummer a couple of times who sometimes will listen to the band’s mostly standard song structure and throw in his non-pushy input.
Their debut album Ride Your Heart Out was released early this month. The sisters told me they really experimented and pushed themselves on this record. Jesse even played a lap steel for the first time. Their set in Philadelphia on Saturday night consisted mostly of songs off Ride Your Heart Out, but I see no reason for complaints about that. “Love Spells” was a highlight but the entire set was fun to watch. The girls showed great gratitude for fans coming to an early show and invited everyone to a show they were playing later in the suburbs. Jesse and Jen seem to be really interested in what they’re doing and the show solidified it paying off.
