Hey Indeyevid! Congrats on your first ever EP "Biting the Fork." Tell us a bit about how you guys started and how you got into alternative punk rock.

The initial concept for the band was created by me (Amanda) between the months of August through September. It was getting old jumping from one band to the next prior, and nothing was sticking, thus, I wanted to start a band from the ground-up, and make it mine, which by September of 2022, Indeyevid was in its early stages of being a band. I created the band name inspired by the word "individual", by cutting out the last three letters "ual", and changing the "i" in the middle to "eye", I created the word Indeyevid. I was very specific on my team players a.k.a bandmates, Mike was initially the drummer for the band, we used to gig together with our own separate bands, and gratefully got him aboard when he was the first person I asked to join the band. Mary and I have been making and playing music together ever since we met, and she had no hesitation to play bass and do primary vocals. Lastly, Andrew (Drew) joined us as our new drummer in October 2022, where he was a fill-in for a gig that ended up sticking around, and Mike switched over to lead guitar for the band at that point. We all collectively were into the punk genres even before knowing each other, which made it much easier to decide on a genre and overall create a sound for Indeyevid.

Listening to each track on the EP, I noticed that all these songs nearly sound more hard rock and alternative punk mixed together. What were some of your influences growing up? Did you just listen to punk rock or did you listen to other kinds of music too?

I believe all our influences come from different subgenres of punk. I personally gravitate toward hardcore punk, while Mary is more old school punk. Mike falls into indie punk, and Andrew came from alternative punk. I think collectively, when combined, our influences create an overall unique sound that, like you said, can be considered into multiple genres of music, which is exactly what I was going for. I don't want to fall into one genre only and be categorized, the band should be dynamic in its sound, and have the flexibility in genre to amuse people from all different music tastes.

I noticed under the song credits that you guys co-wrote all the songs on the EP. Tell us a bit about how you come up with songs.

I (Amanda) write the rhythm guitar track first, then send it over to Andrew who adds a drum track, next it is Mike who will write a second guitar track if I haven't done so already, and Mary will put on the final touches in most cases where it is vocals, and a bass track. Sometimes the writing process changes hence if I or Mike were to do vocals, but overall, it always starts with guitar.

The first track off the release, "Cold Shoulder," is not only a total banger, it's incredibly catchy! What is this song about and what were some of your inspirations for the sound of this song?

I had the riff written months prior before anything else with Cold Shoulder, originally, this song had a couple of titles before deciding on Cold Shoulder. Started off as "Catchy Riff Song", then, "Ind-eye-vidual", and lastly "Cold Shoulder". The title ties in with what the song is about, overtime having the experience of knowing a person, place, or thing you've known so dearly slowly fade away into an almost reminiscent state to which it is basically going cold on the sentimental value you once had with it or them.

The song "Smuggle" is an interesting track because of the way the guitar riff goes from D to B flat to A to A flat then back to A and then repeats. It then changes key to E flat at the end. The riff kind of sounds a bit hard rock meets surf rock. What does the title mean and what inspired you to write this song?

I got the title Smuggle from the television series Airport Security, I was watching an episode, and like in most of them, someone is smuggling illegal items. When I first heard the word, I thought it could have been a cool name for a hardcore band, but ended up as a song title for us! I rarely ever consider music theory intentionally when writing music, hence I gravitate toward punk because of the freedoms it has and unbinding laws of music theory. I wanted to write a song that had more of a swing than it did with a fast tempo and push like our other songs on the EP do. I wrote Smuggle with the intention of letting it be a slower tempo, and the key change was just a little spice added into the mix of the song to keep it interesting.

The last song on the release, "Get Off My Back," has such an infectious guitar riff! It almost sounds more straight up metal than only punk rock and is without a doubt the shortest song off the EP. Do you guys prefer writing under a minute or over a minute long songs?

I believe the shorter the song length is, gives the desire to hear more, thus, it isn't intentional that some of the songs are written in under a minute, but in most cases we typically have our song lengths in under two minutes. It is quality over quantity in these cases. As long as the song is impactful, intense, and gets the purpose across, leaving it under a minute just creates a want to play it again!

Out of your upcoming shows, which are you most excited about playing?

Our last show for this chapter of Indeyevid is August 19th, 2023. It is going to be a very meaningful and sentimental show, as it may be the last ever show that we have Mike in the band, and who knows what else. It is the last show before Indeyevid goes on its purposeful hiatus, and thus, we will be giving it our all in this performance. The show will be at an underground DIY venue in Rahway, New Jersey. Other bands on the bill are Lavender Sky, Flesh Terror, and Kirkby Kiss, some bands that we have grown with as Indeyevid, and think fondly of.

Other than your upcoming shows, what are some of your other plans for the rest of 2023?

Indeyevid is actually planning to go on a purposeful hiatus for a bit after this summer. We all have other bands we are prioritizing, such as Mike's band Radar and Satellite, Amanda and Mary's band Bride Riot, and Andrew's band 10Penny. Indeyevid is not over, but in the meantime, I will be writing material, and may or may not release a couple singles and or an EP, but as of now, it will be a bit before the band is gigging again.

Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?

Thank you readers for reading, and thank you Thommy and Lazlo of Blow Up Radio for giving us this opportunity.


Artist Links:

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Artist Bio:
(Pronounced "IND-EYE-vid"). Indeyevid is a northern New Jersey-born alternative punk band, consisting of members Amanda (guitar), Mary (bass), Mike (guitar), and Drew (drums).