In 2020, multi-instrumentalists and songwriters, Brady Daniels and Matthew R. Gibson found themselves in the midst of health scares, changing professions, and a global pandemic. Instead of interpreting the changing times alone, they decided to focus their desire to write stories as a duo.
Stories that tell of life’s hardships and the strength it takes to carry on amongst the bitterness that can completely take hold of one’s very being. It is from the desire to persevere where they landed on their name, Bitter Therapy.
They began to write together, creating and recreating a library of dozens of new stories to tell. From Pop/Rock to singer-songwriter, this Mesa, Arizona band is exploring their sound; dedicated first and foremost to their desire to write and tell good stories.
Fresh off the release of their debut self-titled EP, ‘Bitter Therapy,’ we’re thriving in the realm of all that is the second single on the tracklist. “Free To Be,” embodies the Pop/Rock panache of the versatile stylings that Bitter Therapy taps into. In a buoyantly upbeat offering of feel-good vibrations, we’re fully enthralled with the musical evolution delivered by this dynamic duo as a wave of early 2000’s nostalgia sweeps in rapidly.
The amplified guitar riffs that chug alongside the rhythmic bass line complement each colossal percussion hit conveyed. Applying the saturated vocalization that drips lyrics of being overlooked and labeled by people who should know better than to judge you, you feel the authenticity seep in from the quintessence of Bitter Therapy and their heartfelt realizations.
Each musical component in this song allows for the perfect development of highs and lows on this sonic voyage of comprehension as the listener reflects on the boundless energy in lyrical motifs such as, ‘they said we weren’t thinkers. Said that we weren’t made for this.’
Being an elevated voice for those who can’t be heard, the morals of Bitter Therapy reign supreme as they pair their artistic talent with the power of good music with a message.
We’re thrilled to take a dive into your self-titled EP and listen to “Free To Be.” With such an empowering message shed through the lyrics, what inspired the creation of this song?
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and kind words. Free To Be was started as a simple idea of being around a person who seems to want you in their life but never really listens to a word you say. It’s about being overlooked and labeled by people who should know better and learning the hard and important life lesson to be settled in yourself where freedom can be found.
Could you please take us into what your audience can expect from the sounds and themes delivered on “Bitter Therapy?"
Sound-wise, we explore a more pop-rock sound on this EP.. Tons of drums, electrics, pianos, etc….But we also explore an electronic arrangement on the song, “Before I Go”. Lyrically and themes are all over the spectrum. There’s a song about a father with cancer saying goodbye to his little boy and wife. Another song about people settling for less than what’s best for them and their life. We just want to both create and cultivate good and interesting stories. We think there is something for everyone on the record.
Was the creative process that you endured for “Free To Be,” similar to the process endured for the rest of the EP? Could you please share a glimpse of the experience?
When we started as a band in May 2020, we already together brought a significant amount of material to the table. Free to Be was the 2nd song we wrote together from scratch with the desire to write something that would make people feel empowerment and freedom. We wrote the song in two sessions, music coming first, and lyrics following. The rest of the record was just us arranging and finishing songs that had already been written or almost finished. So when we entered the studio in January of this year, we really just spent our time selecting parts that would move people and connect them with the stories we were seeking to tell.
You dabble between a versatile offering of sounds when it comes to your music. Is there any genre easier to create in? Where did this EP fit on your scale of difficulty to construct?
We are both pretty melancholic in nature, so sad stories and themes come pretty easy to us, so this first EP was challenging in that creating the pop-rock music around the lyrics took some more focus. But if you listen closely to the lyrics, we’re tackling some pretty tough topics. On the opening track, Happy Now, it opens with really airy synths and bell-like Rhodes but the song is about a person taking a look at their own life in the midst of the injustice in the world and asking the hard question, “are you happy with your response to the pain around you?”, “are you happy now?”
What's next for you?
Matt and I are already hard at work on our next EP due out in August. This new record will be more of a singer/songwriter sound featuring more acoustic elements, like strings, Rhodes, and acoustic guitar. After we release this next EP, we’re planning in November to release a single (12 songs we’ve already written) on the first Friday of the month for a year. We’re really excited about the next few years, the ideas running around our heads, and looking forward to new friends and listeners joining us as we explore our developing sound.