Post-hardcore outfit Murals released a powerful new single “11:11” ft. vocalist BJ Allen (Zero Trust, Full Scale Riot) on Equal Vision Records. Allen’s lyrics explore themes of hope and personal strength in the face of adversity, made all the more gripping by his caustic vocal delivery. The song hits hard with angular riffs that call upon Allen’s classic hardcore roots and the bands propensity for writing tunes that are equal parts emotive and aggressive. The band will donate a portion of all proceeds from the song to Make-A-Wish. You can stream the song here.
Murals is a creative alliance between three talented instrumentalists – Shane Gann of Hail The Sun / Sufferer (guitar), Blake Dahlinger of Sufferer (drums) and Tony Bautista formerly of Mannequin Mishap (bass), alongside a revolving roster of vocalists. The main influences for this project are actual stories from the vocalists themselves, which drives the band to make powerful works that fully capture the feelings involved. While they may finish a song before it’s presented to the vocalist, they revise their arrangement and production approach to correlate the music to support the story being told. The single was self-produced, and recorded individually in Chico, CA (drums), Phoenix, AZ (guitars), and Houston, TX (bass) before vocals were added from southern New Jersey. All three core members are rhythm section players at heart – the listener can distinctly hear their love for solid foundations and infectious riffs on each track.
Murals had this to say about their latest single:
“We are so proud and honored to have been able to work with BJ Allen on ’11:11′ – it’s a surreal feeling, to hear our composition supporting such a personal and powerful message. We hope people are touched by BJ’s emboldened lyrics, and reminded that we’re only ever facing one moment at a time”
Vocalist BJ Allen had this to add about his lyrics:
“One of the hardest things for me was seeing young children and families going through a far harder struggle than I was. As a parent I couldn’t imagine the struggle and the stress. Make-A-Wish foundation gives children and families facing terminal illness hope. Some have even gotten better and credit the encouragement they received from Make-A-Wish foundation for helping them through their struggle.”
Murals’ overall mission is placing emphasis on the importance of community. With each single drop, proceeds will be directly donated to organizations and causes of the vocalist’s choice in an effort to give back to those who need it most. The band plans to release music consistently throughout 2022.
The single was self-produced, and recorded individually in Chico, CA (drums), Phoenix, AZ (guitars), and Houston, TX (bass) before vocals were tracked in southern New Jersey. Mixing and mastering was completed by Kris Crummett.
Murals is Shane Gann (guitar), Tony Bautista (bass) and Blake Dahlinger (drums).
About Murals:
Murals is an exciting and innovative new project which showcases three talented instrumentalists and an ever-rotating range of vocalists. Shane Gann (guitar) met Blake Dahlinger (drums) at a shared gig in 2012 where their personalities meshed seamlessly. Shane approached Blake in 2015 to play drums for a project called Sufferer – a stand-alone album about a day in the life with anxiety & depression. Shane and Blake recruited industry friend Tony Bautista (bass) as the touring bassist for Sufferer before being invited back to be involved with Murals.
After originally considering the potential future of Sufferer, the pandemic ended up changing Blake and Shane’s trajectory when they saw a broader set of opportunities opening up with the idea of Murals. The band’s mission is to offer support to those facing challenges and injustices in our modern world by collaborating with a range of artists speaking personally on issues they themselves have been affected by. The whole idea is to have different vocalists speaking not on these topics, but from these topics, to connect most earnestly with the groups they aim to support. Murals hopes this approach will allow them to channel the love & support within the creative community to help create real progressive, social change.