I arrived at Jillian’s and called Bleeding Through’s tour manager. No answer. I waited 15 minutes for a call back. Still nothing. I decided to text him, and he said they were doing sound check and that he would bring me Derek after they were done. I met Derek in the game room of Jillian’s and we did the Interview there. He brought along his beautiful wife for the short and painless interview.
(*Editor’s note: Seriously, Jordan’s not lying about this. Every chick associated with this band is smoking hot. I did Mad Libs with Marta for like an hour and a half at their halloween show last year at the Glasshouse. Even with skeleton facepaint I wanted to do things to her that are illegal in several states. – RacketBoss*)
Racket Jordan: What is your name and what do you do for Bleeding Through?
Bleeding Derek: I’m Derek Youngsma and I play drums.
Racket Jordan: How has it been opening up for Slayer and Manson?
Bleeding Derek: It’s pretty sweet man, It’s kinda like a dream tour. We’re a band that’s come up playing in garages and basements and all that stuff. And we moved from that to like Amphitheatres, it’s pretty crazy and they’re some hero’s of ours like Slayer, I mean Manson is even bigger. But we are all excited to be playing with Slayer because they are awesome guys and a band we have always looked up to.
Racket Jordan: Does Manson’s crowd respect you guys?
Bleeding Derek: For the most part, I think it’s going pretty well. I mean we’re going up and playing in front of a lot of people that have never heard of us or seen us and I think a good 80-90% of them are pretty psyched by the end and its good to see.
Racket Jordan: What’s the story behind the name Bleeding Through?
Bleeding Derek: Um, I don’t know actually. Bleeding Through was formed a long time ago, about 7-8 years ago, and they actually had the name before I joined the band and I think it’s kinda like a face on reality. You know, the fact that our emotions bleed through our music and the fact that we are kinda open and real. Well, we try to be, as far as our personal stuff, and lyrics and other things. Our lyrics are very personal. Like I said, I didn’t join the band till after.
Racket Jordan: Who is your biggest inspiration?
Bleeding Derek: My Personal Inspiration?
Racket Jordan: Yes
Bleeding Derek: I’d have to say as a drummer it would be Vinnie Haul. I mean you’re not gonna be able to find another drummer in the history of metal that has played and that has put his own style. He plays hard, he plays good. He is just a drum god. [laughs] Pantera is one of my favorite bands ever, I have never actually got to meet him though, but one day…
Racket Jordan: When you step on that stage, what is running through your mind?
Bleeding Derek: What’s running through my mind when I step on that stage is pure focus, and I just wanna get up there and play my heart out and play my ass off basically. If I’m not sweaty and on the verge of collapse by the end of the show, then I am not fully happy with it. We just wanna get up there and pour everything, and that’s sort of our focus when we go on. We try to be as riled up and intense as possible.
Racket Jordan: When you’re in a shitty mood, what puts you back in a good mood?
Bleeding Derek: Um, my wife. That’s it.
Racket Jordan: Is that her right there? [as I point to a pretty girl walking towards our table with a yellow shirt and amazing tattoos]
Bleeding Derek: Yeah, that’s my wife.
Derek’s wife: What?
Bleeding Derek: When I’m in a shitty mood you put me in a good mood. The question was, “What puts you in a good mood when you’re in a shitty mood?” and I said, “My wife.”
Derek’s wife: [laughs] I would hope so.
Bleeding Derek: Or just having a good show. For the band’s sake. If we have a show that goes really well… It gets rough being out on the road for a long time and being away from home and stuff. But the littlest thing will just like get you, and you know your like, “Wow, this is rad what I’m doing. Sure I’m tired, sure I’m hurt, or whatever. But this is rad, I get to do this for a living.”
Racket Jordan: If you could have one super power, what would it be?
Bleeding Derek: I would… umm… I don’t know. That’s a lot to go ponder.
Derek’s wife: Time warping so you could see your wife more. [Laughs]
Bleeding Derek: I’d like to travel through time actually, that would be good because every body wants to know what’s gonna happen in the future. I would also like to go back in time and do a lot of things right. Not that I have a lot of regrets, but I would probably like to go back to high school and do stuff I missed, just like little stuff.
Racket Jordan: Does Marta have more groupies than the guys?
Bleeding Derek: Marta Defiantly has the groupies. We have a lot of male groupies due to Marta I would say, but it’s rad. She is a good aspect to the band that a lot of other bands don’t have, and uh and it helps us reach more people and Marta handles it well and it’s really cool.
Racket Jordan: If you could remove any state from the country, which one would you get rid of?
Bleeding Derek: Aw, that’s rough, because you don’t wanna offend anyone. Let’s just say New Hampshire, because we have never played there.
Racket Jordan: You? Or the band itself?
Bleeding Derek: The band itself, I don’t think we have played Montana either. I would like to get out there eventually. I’d like to go everywhere. We are actually going to Alaska in like a month and we are really excited.
Racket Jordan: Who are you guys gonna be playing with when you go up there?
Bleeding Derek: I don’t know, probably just some locals up there.
Racket Jordan: That shall be interesting.
Bleeding Derek: Yeah for sure.
Racket Jordan: What does being successful mean to you?
Bleeding Derek: Being successful to me is being able to do what you wanna do and being yourself, and being able to continue to do that I guess. If you wanna make a living freakin’ skydiving or whatever, where you can actually make a living, then awesome. I wanna make a living playing drums and make a living being in a band, and it’s kinda happening. You know, it’s not like major, but we definitely have the vehicle to keep doing it and to kinda have a normal life besides being in a band without having to worry about a job and things like that, because the band is our full time job, and it has been for years.
Racket Jordan: It’s just getting better and better
Bleeding Derek: Yeah! And success is the story of Bleeding Through, and it’s a full climb our entire career. It’s always been next level, next level and that’s our plan and our goal. And that is success to us!
Racket Jordan: All right, that was it! That was all the questions.
Bleeding Derek: Cool, thanks.
Derek’s wife: That was painless.
By Jordan Golladay