Street Eaters (photo by Adam Thorman)

Blood::Muscles::Bones comes on the heels of several years of relentless global touring. Recorded during a heatwave in Portland, Oregon, what went to tape reflects the intense reality the band has been living – a two-seat compact truck crammed with multiple amps, drums, and empty coffee cups; dense basement shows in the midwest that turned into swamps; shows in haunted German schools-turned-to-squats, medieval French catacombs, smoke-filled Japanese practice rooms, and abandoned Hungarian aluminum factories. 

In the middle of all the wildness and urgency, Street Eaters kept honing their sound, tenaciously driving inward towards the dark heart of the sun. Blood::Muscles::Bones shows this focus, reflecting a leaner, meaner Street Eaters. Cutting deep into the band’s sonic guts, the album’s 10 tracks are bloody, sinewy, jagged and sincere to the core.  Blood::Muscles::Bones will be released on June 17 on Nervous Intent Records in the US and Contraszt! Records in Europe.
Ghettoblaster recently caught up with Street Eaters’ Megan March to discuss the band’s approach, tenacity, and their forthcoming record.  This is what she told us.
It seems as though being in a band hasn’t provided the glamour for you that the young kids daydream about — the LP was recorded during a heatwave, tours in a two-seat truck, and a variety of aesthetically less than desirable venues worldwide.  But it hasn’t been that bad, right?
Touring in a two-seater truck is a choice and a privilege, and at this point it’s what we’re accustomed to. We see it as a freedom to be able to tour at all, and lucky to have the opportunity to record in a studio. True, we have worked our asses off for years to earn these opportunities, but we don’t take them for granted. The venues we play are really fun and exciting – the shows have energy and are set up by people who care about our band. I couldn’t think of anything more awesome, and that’s what keeps us going.
Is there anything more punk rock than tenacity?
I’m sure there’s a million answers to this question, but I think tenacity is important for anything you care about, regardless of the confines/liberation of “punk.”
Had you seen much of the world before being on tour with the band?  What parts of the world are most receptive to Street Eaters’ approach?
Neither of us had ever been to Japan before, and although I’d been to Europe to visit family and go to school, seeing Europe as a touring band is a unique experience. John’s only seen Europe through touring with Street Eaters, as well as his past bands. We were not at all on vacation – we drove a two-seater rental truck ourselves and played nearly every night for 6 weeks without any road crew. It was great, and we met some very inspiring people. When we tour we are on a mission. 
Is there a concept or theme behind BMB that ties the record together?
There are several themes in the record, survival being one. Tenacity is a big one too – continuing to fight regardless of what your limitations are/ they can be strengths. It could also be said that by very dint of being a two piece band with drums and bass, we are working within limitations to create something beyond typical.
When did you begin writing the record and under what conditions was it recorded?
Some of the songs were previously released (“Running Dog”, “Dead Parts”), and as the rest of the songs were coming together, it became clear that those particular songs needed to be a part of the record – recorded the way we play them now. We definitely saw this record as a whole vision, instead of pieces pasted together out of necessity. We had some other songs that we considered for the record, but they didn’t make the cut. 
We recorded the record at Buzz or Howl Studio in Portland OR, which is pretty far away from the bay area. It was a really powerful experience to be focused in a studio for 4 days without any distractions. Our engineer, Stan Wright, became a part of our band for those few days and helped us get the raw, powerful sound we were going for. 
Who contributed to the record’s engineering, production, mastering, and were there any guest on the record?
Stan Wright (Buzz or Howl Studios) recorded and mixed the record with us, Daniel Husayn mastered it (North London Bomb Factory) and there was no “production” or guests.
What benchmarks were the band able to achieve this record that you hadn’t in the past?
We recorded everything fairly fast, so the process was pretty immediate. The tracks went straight to 2-inch tape, and were mixed on an analog board, so whatever levels were there, stayed there. Unlike digital, you can’t go back later and make slight adjustments. I think this helped us from “over working” the mixing, and really kept the sound raw and immediate. 
Wipers, Slant 6, Unwound, Karp seem to be prominent influences for you, and it seems that the post-punk sounds cultivated by those early frontrunners are gainingpopularity and steam as of late?  Have you found a lot of like minded/sounding bands during your travels?
We’ve been a band with those influences you just listed since 2008, and have gotten to play with many of the current bands that members of our influences are now in, including Big Business, Survival Knife and Hungry Ghost, Quasi, The Ex, and a ton of others I can’t think of right now. We also like (and play with) a lot of bands that we wouldn’t necessary consider an influence on our music. We don’t always necessarily play with bands we sound similar to, but rather bands that share our ethics – ethically, we consider ourselves a punk band, and that community is important to us. We take really long tours to many different parts of the world, where local influences can vary, which is really cool! I wouldn’t mind at all if there were more bands in the same musical vein as us – the world needs more lady drummers!!
So there have been times when you played with a band whose sound or aesthetic was very dissimilar to Street Eaters, but whom with whom you got along famously, or found more in common then you knew was originally there?
Absolutely. Many of our best friends play music that’s different from ours. I like to think we have good musical taste that’s not stuck in one genre. There are, however, definitely some musical “moods” that we work better with than others, and those tend more towards the ominous end of the spectrum.
Were Nervous Intent and Contraszt a team before agreeing to work the Street Eaters LP or did you introduce them?  
Nervous Intent is our own label, and we were thrilled that Contraszt offered to put out the European release of the record. 
Is it collaborations like this that make the world of independent and punk music so small and interconnected?
Sure!
What are Street Eaters’ artistic goals for the future?
We want to keep writing music and touring. It’s quite simple.
(Visit Street Eaters here: https://www.facebook.com/streeteaters?fref=ts.)