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Bleach
: "It's
totally a fresh beginning," says Bleach lead singer Dave
Baysinger of the band's new self-titled release. "The
experiences we've encountered this past year have taught us
to grow. God has given us a renewed vision. I've never felt
closer to God than I do now."Bleach's
crisp, hooky attack now features the guitar of new member
Russ Fox, formerly of Seven Day Jesus, who also made songwriting
contributions to the new album. Bleach proves to be equally
adept at surveying aggressive modern rock such as "Sun
Stand Still," acoustic-based tunes like "All That
Is Sweet" and "All To You" and hooky, riff-driven
tracks such as "Straight Shooter," "Race"
and the first single, "Once Again Here We Are."
But more than the musical diversity that Bleach displays,
Dave says he's proud of the vulnerable nature of the lyrics.
"During the writing of this album, we were all dealing
with some heavy issues in our lives. We couldn't do anything
else but turn it over to God. If you wanted to boil the whole
album down to one theme, it would probably be 'without Him,
we can do nothing.'" Guitarist Sam Barnhart adds "God
can do a better job of showing me what He needs from me, what
He needs for me to say, than I can do trying to figure it
out on my own. We just laid these efforts at God's feet and
said, 'here we are, we're giving You every bit of ourselves,
and we're willing to be used completely." A desire to
be used by God is the cornerstone on which Bleach was originally
founded when the members met as students at Kentucky Christian
College, the alma mater of label mates Audio Adrenaline. But
even after developing a regional following among college students
and youth groups, Sam confesses that the band never thought
being musicians would lead to the kind of ministry opportunities
Bleach has enjoyed. "I thought I was going to be a youth
pastor somewhere. During my junior year, we had to decide
if we were going to go full time. We prayed and fasted and
asked God to show us if this is really where he wanted us
to be. Probably within a month, we had a record deal. Even
then, it was never about what a record deal could do for us.
We thought in terms of how having a deal could grow our ministry."
Within nine months of signing with ForeFront Records, Bleach
had released its debut, Space, which garnered the band a Dove
Award for Modern/Alternative Rock Song of the Year. A year
of touring (over 200 shows) and a two-month writing sabbatical
yielded the band's acclaimed follow-up disc, Static, which
netted Bleach a Dove nomination for the hyper-kinetic #1 hit,
"Super Good Feeling."
Bleach was
produced by the members of the band, in conjunction with ForeFront
artist Pete Stewart (formerly of Grammatrain.) Dave says the
diverse musical textures of the album are in perfect harmony
with the Bleach's overall goals. "We want to challenge
people. We've always been bold with our message. We're here
because of Jesus Christ - that's the only reason. If there's
anything special about us, it's not really us; it's the gifts
that God has given us." The band comes out of the blocks
offering those gifts to God in the first single from Bleach,
"Once Again Here We Are." "God will give us
an opportunity to do his work and we'll get so busy doing
his work, get so caught up in serving Him that we forget why
we're doing it in the first place. So this song it just re-stating
our commitment. We're going to continue to serve Him until
there's nothing left to give or He tells us to stop."
That sentiment is also echoed in the lyric "So here is
my offering/only downbeats and a string" from the ballad
"All That Is Sweet," penned by drummer Matt Gingerich.
"Even though the music may not be the best or super polished,
it's us," explains Dave. "And it's beautiful to
God. God wants us with our blemishes. Our mistakes are part
of us." Several tracks on Bleach, including "You,"
"You Are Good" and "All to You" evoke
a psalm-like attitude of worship, something one might not
immediately associate with a high-energy band like Bleach.
"I think part of worship is having a great time and expressing
joy," says Sam. "But a large part of it is being
on your face, at the throne of God. 'You' is probably a good
example of that." "Sun Stands Still," another
track written by Matt, combines aggressive riffing and vulnerable
vocals to create an intense worship experience. "It's
partly based on Joshua's battle with the Gibeonites,"
explains Dave. "God holds the sun still in the sky to
allow Joshua to win the battle. The same God who held the
sun holds our lives together today through the bloodstained
wrists of His son." The members of Bleach have packed
an incredible number of experiences into their first three
years of existence, something that the band brings to bear
in the mature and self-aware songs on Bleach. "You get
hardened to the process of traveling and the mechanics of
road life and the recording studio," says Dave. "That's
where the song 'What Will the Anthem Be?' comes from. When
the music's done and the stage is empty, what have we ultimately
accomplished? Hopefully it will be that we touched people
in an eternal way."
 _.:Bleach
Official Site
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