It’s been almost 25 years since Bane dropped “Give Blood”, and those songs are still getting people moving at hardcore gigs. The Worcester, Massachusetts crew put out their second full-length in October 2001, ten tracks of fast, melodic hardcore packed into just under 26 minutes, with Aaron Bedard shouting his lungs out and plenty of parts made for the whole room to join in.
By then, these guys had already been around for six years. They’d released “It All Comes Down to This” in 1999, toured around the US and Europe, and were building a following. But “Give Blood” really kicked things up.
Guitarist Aaron Dalbec has been chatting with Tony and Anthony from Podioslave Podcast for the record’s 25th anniversary, looking back at those years, the recording sessions and what happened when the album finally came out.
“We had something to prove with this record… we just gave everything to this to kind of prove ourselves.”
There’s some cool history here. Dalbec had started Bane while he was still playing in Converge, and both bands released records in 2001. So he ended up playing on “Give Blood” and Converge’s “Jane Doe” in the same year. Pretty wild when you look back at it now.
“Give Blood” was recorded with Brian McTernan at Salad Days Studios in Maryland and released through Equal Vision Records. McTernan had worked with Bane before, and the connection has lasted well beyond those sessions. Dalbec now plays bass in Be Well, where McTernan handles vocals.
The Bane lineup at the time included Bedard on vocals, Dalbec and Zach Jordan on guitars, Pete Chilton on bass and Nick Branigan on drums. Songs like “Snakes Among Us”, “Ante Up” and “Some Came Running” became regular favourites, and the record closes with “Ali v. Frazier I”, including that big gang shout of “Give Blood”.
Funny enough, the album title came from Bedard simply throwing the idea out to everyone.
“If I remember correctly, Bedard just presented it to us. It was like, ‘How about this?’ And it was perfect.”
Once the record was out, the difference at gigs became pretty obvious to Dalbec. Bane had been growing steadily with their earlier releases, but the new album brought another jump in the number of people coming out to see them.
“Once Give Blood came out, it was like this whole nother level of everything.”
The band kept touring and putting out records for years afterwards, eventually wrapping things up in 2016 with their farewell shows at the Worcester Palladium. They got back together for a special benefit show in 2021, honouring their late friend and former bassist Brendan “Stu” Maguire, before properly returning to gigs in 2023. And they’ve been busy playing again ever since.
And after all these years, Aaron’s still pretty happy with how the whole thing turned out.
“We actually did what we wanted to do, and like we made the record that we really wanted to make.”
The new Podioslave conversation goes further into the writing of “Give Blood”, working with McTernan, and what it was like being involved in both Bane and Converge back in 2001. Tony and Anthony also get Aaron talking about what people have told him over the years about the record and the place it still holds in their lives.
The full episode runs 57 minutes and is available on Podioslave, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Give it a listen, especially if this record was a big part of your hardcore years.
