Bethlehem Steel (band)

Bethlehem Steel
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres	Indie rock, shoegaze
Years active	2012–present
Labels	Miscreant Records Exploding in Sound Records
Members	Rebecca Ryskalczyk Jon Gernhart Patrick Ronayne Christina Puerto
Past members	Zephyr Prusinski Peter Katz

Bethlehem Steel is an indie rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2012.^[1] The band is composed of singer-guitarist Rebecca Ryskalczyk, bassist Patrick Ronayne, singer-guitarist Christina Puerto and drummer Jon Gernhart. Bethlehem Steel has described their band as at first "our sound was a lot softer, through the anger of everything, we were able to transform the sound of the band.”^[1] In 2016 they were named as one of 14 bands that impressed at South by Southwest.^[2] Bethlehem Steel has been known for playing the party game Ninja, which was the basis of one of their singles music videos.^[3] They have previously toured with Cold Sweats, Pleistoscene, Haybaby, Baked and Painted Zeros.

History

Becca Ryskalczyk, Jon Gernhart, and Zephyr Prusinski were part of a closely knit music community while students at SUNY Fredonia,^[4] and SUNY Purchase (Zephyr Prusinski). They had played in separate bands, but knew each other well just from spending time in similar circles. Through performances at house shows and the bar and club scene of Buffalo, there were enough places for developing musicians to flourish in Western New York.^[1]

Gernhart and Ryskalczyk established a friendship that lead them to Brooklyn upon graduation of their Fredonia music community, they were the only two from their group of friends who ended up relocating southern to Brooklyn: where they continued to become close-knit while working on their musical ambitions. Gernhart ended up working in sound engineering, while Buffalo native Ryskalczyk took her time finding her place in the city; she was a nanny before fully immersing herself in the Brooklyn DIY music scene.

The original trio decided to call themselves Bethlehem Steel. In explaining why, Ryskalczyk stated "It's a good way to stay connected to the industrial cities from which they all hail originally." Additionally, paying tribute to her hometown prevented Ryskalczyk from feeling as though she was abandoning her past.^[1]

Ryskalczyk added Ronayne on Bass in 2016 after a friendship formed at Brooklyns now defunct DIY venue Shea Stadium, where both worked. After releasing their album Party Naked Forever, Bethlehem Steel added a second guitarist, Christina Puerto, to the band.^[5]

Style

After seeing them at SXSW, Robin Hilton of NPR's All Songs Considered described their sound as "gloriously loud fuzzy rock." All Songs Considered featured the band's song “Yeah, I’m Okay With My Shit Life.”^[6] Hilton went on saying that there's been lot of comparisons between Generation X and the Millennials over the years, they're exactly the same, nothing's changed. He expanded, "The complaint about Gen Xer's were they’re lazy and don’t care. They’re the whatever generation. And I felt like when I was watching a lot of the younger bands at South by this year I really felt like that vibe is coming back. The whatever rock, and I loved it." Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton coined the genre name of 'Whatever Rock'/Shrug Rock, naming Bethlehem Steel as their source.^[6]

In 2016, Bethlehem Steel was also named by USA Today's FTW!Culture writer Nate Scott as one of 14 bands that impressed at SXSW. Scott labeled their sound as moody and ethereal.^[2]Stereogum writers awarded the band with the yearbook style superlative of "Most Likely to Tell it How it Is."^[7] The Village Voice wrote: "Even though Bethlehem Steel's music retains some lo-fi elements and a punk ethos, the foundation built for a bigger, more accessible sound is a sturdy one."^[1]

Nick Sessanna of Buffalo-based music source, Buffablog, explained Bethlehem Steel: "Try to imagine Waxahatchee fronting Pinkerton-era Weezer for a second… If that’s too obscure, other comparisons could be drawn to buzzing indie queens Courtney Barnett, Colleen Green, or even Rochester’s Pleistocene."^[8]

With the release of their first studio album, BrooklynVegan's Andrew Sacher describes the record's sound as "It’s kinda got a Waxahatchee vibe in the way it combines singer/songwriter type stuff with loud, crunchy indie rock, and singer Rebecca Ryskalczyk’s truly soaring voice makes Bethlehem Steel really stand out."^[9]

Members

Current Rebecca Ryskalczyk – guitar, vocals (2012–present) Jon Gernhart – drums (2012–present) Patrick Ronayne – bass (2016–present) Christina Puerto – guitar, vocals (2018–present)

Former Zephyr Prusinski – bass (2013-2016) Peter Katz – bass (2016)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details
Party Naked Forever	Released: November 10, 2017[10] Label: Exploding In Sound Formats: LP, MC, Digital download

Extended plays

Title	Album details
Grow Up	Released: June 12, 2013 Label: Miscreant Records (re-issued MCT 010) Formats: LP, Digital download
Docking	Released: November 6, 2015[11] Label: Miscreant Records Formats: MC, Digital download

Singles

Title	Details
"Fake Sweater"	Released: November 30, 2018[12] Label: Exploding In Sound Part of Split EP with Washer Formats: 7" Single, Digital download
"Bad Girl"	Released: July 24, 2019[13] Label: Exploding In Sound Formats: Digital download

Music videos

Title	Year	Director(s)
"Guts"	2014	Bethlehem Steel
"87s"	2015	Adam Kolodny[3]
"Florida 2"	2018	Uncredited Director[5]
"Fake Sweater"		Becca Ryskalczyk[12] Adam Kolodny (DP)
"Bad Girl"	2019	Becca Ryskalczyk[13]

References

1. Kohn, Daniel "The Leap from Buffalo to Brooklyn Brought Bethlehem Steel to Their Solid Sound". Village Voice. Retrieved December 15, 2015
2. Scott, Nate (March 21, 2016). "Fourteen Bands that Impressed at SXSW". USA Today. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
3. Rettig, James (November 10, 2015). "Bethlehem Steel – "87s" Video". Stereogum. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
4. McGuire, Mac (July 20, 2015). "Interview: Rebecca Ryskalczyk of Bethlehem Steel". BuffaBlog. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
5. Janes, Steve (August 10, 2018). "Bethlehem Steel Share "Florida 2" Video + Touring with Lemuria". WithGuitars. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
6. Hilton, Robin; Boilen, Bob (March 23, 2016). "All Songs Considered: SXSW 2016 Wrap-Up: Our Favorite Discoveries And Memorable Moments". NPR. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
7. Claymore, Gabriella Tully; Rettig, James (March 21, 2016). "Stereogum x Exploding In Sound's Austin Invasion 2016 Yearbook". Stereogum. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
8. Sessanna, Nick (July 20, 2015). "Album of the Week: Bethlehem Steel – Docking". BuffaBlog. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
9. Sacher, Andrew (August 10, 2018). "Bethlehem Steel – new video & upcoming shows w/ Sparta, Pile, Lemuria, more". BrooklynVegan. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
10. Goldin, Dan; Spak, Dave (October 5, 2017). "Bethlehem Steel, "Party Naked Forever"". Exploding In Sound. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
11. Evers, Derek (September 21, 2015). "Bethlehem Steel, "87s"". Impose Magazine. Retrieved May 26, 2016.
12. Guilbault, Kristy (November 27, 2018). "Weather The Winter With Bethlehem Steel's 'Fake Sweater'". All Songs Considered. NPR. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
13. Rettig, James (July 24, 2019). "Bethlehem Steel – 'Bad Girl' Video". Stereogum. Stereogum. Retrieved August 3, 2019.

External links

• Exploding In Sound Records