Real musicians do not give up so fast. Longtime running bands such as Bloodgood and Stryper will both release a new studio album this fall. Another band who will return with a new album is Bride, the band was formed in the 80’s, by brothers Dale and Troy Thompson. Below an interview with mainman Dale, he speaks about the upcoming album “Incorruptible”, the past & future and much more.
TMR: Hello to you from´The Metal Resource’ Holland, how are things going there in West Point, Kentucky ?
Dale: Bride is busy promoting the new CD “Incorruptible.” West Point is usually quiet with the exception of a train derailment once every few years.
TMR: Will you Introduce yourself and the current line-up please [name and instrument]
Dale: I am Dale Thompson vocalist and lyricist for Bride. My brother Troy is the musical writer. At the moment we are not a functioning band per say but we had a band play on the CD. It has been 4 years since our last CD so the players we have used in the past are actively with other bands now. Bride is now strictly a recording band.
TMR: For those who are not familiar with ‘Bride’: Tell us the brief history of the band.
Dale: We formed in 1985 after calling ourselves Matrix for about two years. Throughout the years we have recorded over a dozen full length CDs released worldwide and we have been a fixture in the underground scene ever since. We have in the past toured extensively throughout Brazil, The U.S. Scandinavia and Europe but in recent years because of personal obligations we have become a recording band without supporting the CDs by paying out and touring.
TMR: Are you guys full time musicians ? If not what kind of job or school do you do beside the band ?
Dale: No we are not full time. We have always had really good stable every day jobs with benefits and insurance so we have not quit our day jobs for fame and fortune. I work security for a huge company in Louisville KY and Troy works for the government in computers.
TMR: Why the name ‘Bride’ ? Is there a story behind it ?
Dale: The name Bride comes from the Book of Revelation meaning “The Bridee of Christ.”
TMR: What is your musical background ?
Dale: I am self taught and have always had a gift for writing and vocals. I started off in the early days with poetry and short stories and evolved into writing music and putting lyrics to the music. Since then I have written 4 novels that are waiting to be published. The books are “The Eternal Mortal Series,” and are being edited at the moment. Troy my brother is a classically trained musician and plays many instruments. We grew up playing tradition church music but after I discovered a distortion pedal it wasn’t long before we moved into heavy metal.
TMR: Who writes the music/lyrics in ‘Bride’ ? .. how do you get in the mood for writing music? And which bands/situations have influences you for writing music and lyrics ?
Dale: Troy and I are a songwriting team. I never write the music rather I make musical arrangements and create melodies. Troy writes all of the music. We just meet and start throwing ideas together until it sounds like a song and something that we would be proud to share.
TMR: How do you describe the music of ‘Bride’ the best ?
Dale: We are a glorified garage band that writes metal and hard rock.
TMR: How does ‘Bride’ stands in life till events in the world, religion and politics and in which proportion stands that till your music and lyrics ?
Dale: I write lyrics from the heart and sometimes they are influenced by heavy convictions based on world events, my spiritual beliefs or like the new CD there is a lot of relationship emotion poured into it.
TMR: For a lot of bands the lyrics are just a accidental circumstance, but for some bands they use them to communicate ! ..can you tell us how that is for ‘Bride’ ?
Dale: I try to convey a message. Every song that I have ever written is about me. If you want to know who Dale Thompson is, read the lyrics of the songs I have written over the past 30 years.
TMR: Is there a highlight you will always remember, since the beginning of ‘Bride’ ?
Dale: Playing Brazil for the first time to a crowd of 100,000 plus stands out in my mind.
TMR: And the worst thing were ? [if there is one]
Dale: Losing our long time friend and fill-in guitarist Steve Osborne to suicide.
TMR: What is your favorite album top 5 of all times ?
Dale: I personally like bands not really any particular album so I can give you my top five favorite artist of all times. That would be Muse, Tom Waits, Rage Against the Machine, Johnny Cash and The Rolling Stones.
TMR: What makes you laugh?
Dale: I am the funniest person I know. But I enjoy good stand up comedy.
TMR: How do you promote your band and shows ?
Dale: I promote bride harder than anyone else. I am always online hitting up Facebook groups with sample songs and communicating with friends of the band.
TMR: How do you prepare for a show?
Dale: In the old days we would just rehearse until we could play the songs in our sleep. We would make up a lot of music and lyrics on stage as well when we got bored playing a song the same way so many times. Some of our best live performances were created on the spot.
TMR: What is the big difference between performing in the 80’s/90’s and nowadays ?
Dale: In the past we had real support from record labels which was a good push now as an independent artist going through a distribution company we do not get tour support. Our music now is primarily for the Bride fans that know who we are. We find it difficult to reach a new audience.
TMR: Describe your show, visual and musically ? And tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
Dale: If we can work out the details we would love to return to Brazil one last time. But our live shows are high energy knock out punch shows every night. We leave nothing in the ring when we are done. That was an old boxing term “leave nothing in the ring.”
TMR: Name some of your favorite bands to play with live [past and future] and tell us why ?
Dale: The Newsboys and Audio A was always great. We enjoyed the camaraderie and Guardian and Whitecross were fun to hang with as well. Our best experience was with Stryper back in about 1991. We had a great tour with those guys.
TMR: What is the dumbest question you have ever been asked?
Dale: Nothing comes to mind though I have been asked a lot of dumb questions.
TMR: Do you have a life philosophy / favorite quote ?
Dale: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 13:15
TMR: Are you visiting many gigs and what do you listen to these days?
Dale: I listen to my Pandora stations, Johnny Cash, Chemical Brothers, Rage Against the Machine.
TMR: Tell us about the hardrock/metal scene in your area please?
Dale: I know little about it, I know longer live in that world.
TMR: What’s your outlook on the record industry today?
Dale: I think it is having a rebirth but was dead for a long time.
TMR: What can you tell us about your upcoming album “Incorruptible” [such as the recording proces, the songs, who did the artwork?]
Dale: am not for sure the artist name who put the CD cover together but I requested a Steampunk theme and they delivered. I love the Steampunk look. It is like Mad Max meets the future with a twist of the past.
TMR: The album will be released on October 29th. via ‘Retroactive Records’. How did you get signed by them ?
Dale: They approached us and we are really not a signed band. We have worked out a distribution deal. We could sign with a different label today if we wanted.
TMR: Dale you are also a writer, what can you tell us about your books? Where can they be bought ?
Dale: As a writer I have been inspired by Sci fi writers and movies and after seeing a documentary on this ancient book called the Codex Gigas I began writing a sci fi novel about time travel. I ended up writing 4 books total in the series which can be found on our web site www.bridepub.com
TMR: What are your plans for the [near] future with ‘Bride’ ? [European Tour maybe]
Dale: Bride will promote the CD the best we can through the internet and I am leaving the U.S. at the first of the year to live in New Zealand. So the future of bride is uncertain at this point. With today’s advance technology it is not impossible to write and record from anywhere in the world and to send the compositions through the Internet to be mixed and mastered so virtually I could be in one country and Troy another and still record another Bride CD.
TMR: What advice would you give to fellow bands?
Dale: Practice a lot, write to make yourself happy first. Try to write a couple of songs for the public at least and just don’t give up. It is a hard life. But we have been blessed.
TMR: Dale thanks for your time and the interview, we wish ‘Bride’ all the best … Is there anything you wanna say at last? [any final statement ?]
Dale: Trust God not man. Be spiritual not religious and know your identity in Christ Jesus because there and only there is there perfect love in this world.
Discography [Studio Albums]:
Show No Mercy [1986]
Live to Die [1988]
Silence Is Madness [1989]
Kinetic Faith [1991]
Snakes in the Playground [1992]
Scarecrow Messiah [1994]
Drop [1995]
The Jesus Experience [1997]
Oddities [1998]
Fist Full of Bees [2001]
This Is It [2003]
Skin for Skin [2006]
Tsar Bomba [2009]
Incorruptible [2013]
Weblinks: Website / Myspace / Dale’s Facebook
Video below ‘Everybody Knows My Name’ & ‘Troubled Times’ (Metal Mission, VHS)
Video below ‘Free’ (From the upcoming new album “Incorruptible”)