Ugly Bones: Good Ole' Goodlettsville Metal.

When asked how the band wanted to make their listeners feel, Joe, one of the bands current guitarists said: "I want them to feel anxious. I want them to feel it in their chest". A feeling a lot of their songs give, however, not in the way you might think. Ugly Bones is a band full of childhood friends, some introduced to one another by varying members, others from the bands original founding days, but one thing is for sure, whether you're listening to them live, on streaming platforms, or just having a conversation with them, Ugly Bones is an amazing band, and an even better group of guys.

Ugly Bones Perfoming Live at MTSU

The original group was founded by Cody Hatt, and Dylan Shaffer. Ugly Bones is a wonderful enigma, as the entire time I was rewatching their interview, or writing this, erasing, and writing again, putting a single genre on Ugly Bones felt like it would be an insult to their craft. Ugly Bones has music for anyone, whether you like slower, shoegaze style songs with a melancholic draw, something quick, fast, punchy and aggressive, or even some more Nu-Metal esc vibes. Their discography encompasses more vibes and genres than you could ever need, and Joe wasn't lying, some of these, you WILL feel in your chest. (Listen to Sid if you don't believe us!)

"So how has being from the south shaped you guys' music?" I asked, Lucas, the bands bassist followed with "I know I can speak for Brian and myself, we love a lot of Rascal Flatts stuff." Joe going on to say "I secretly love Alan Jackson." Lucas follows, "We all have a soft spot for those country roots, its part of life here." Cody and Dylan are the only members not originally from Tennessee, Cody Hatt hailing from Michigan and Dylan Shaffer coming up from Florida, but have no fear, they still live up to Music City's expectations, never failing to deliver.

Ugly Bones has stated a few times that their music journey has been an interesting one, as the band has a strong emphasis around creative chaos. Dylan stated that the band's best work has come from just starting a jam session and feeling it out from there. "Would you say your writing style is more intentional or chaotic?" I asked, The band members immediately smirked and laughed, "No no- chaotic. Were all ADHD as fuck, probably somewhere on the spectrum" Dylan Shaffer, said. "It normally starts with a guitarist bringing a riff and we work from there" Lucas, the bands bassist added. Each member adds their own prowess and inspiration to their individual sound to paint a more grandiose sound all around, a beautiful talent I got to witness first-hand. Despite being chaotically oriented, the band never fails to release a quality product. Their song Sid even reaching 1000+ plays recently. Ugly Bones has gotten the opportunity to work with people such as Kalen Chase of Vimic, a band he has been with since 2017, jumping on Sid with them, Dylan even mentioning he was a huge part of really making Ugly Bones pursue this. Dylan also mentioned the band even got to work with Joel McKenney, one of Dolly Parton's musical producers.

CJ Of Ugly Bones

While on the topic of Sid, I questioned the band on what song they would want someone who has never seen them perform to hear, "Probably Sid" Lucas said. CJ chimed in with "Persistent Fear, I think Persistent Fear is where we get our heaviest. It's like BOOM BOOM BOOM! throwing punches and shit, Sid? I think its more of an amalgamation, it pulls from different subgenres in metal"

"Oh yeah, I love the way that song builds" Cody Hatt, the bands drummer said "It's really dynamic throughout, starts very soft, it's a song of grief, and you can feel it the whole song, it starts somber, sad toned, you get to a moment of anger, aggressiveness, and then it just breaks, and everything kills at the end." and I would agree, Sid is just that, a wonderful representation of grief in a song, the feeling of expelled anger, followed by the adrenalized comedown.

The question "Have you guys ever had a show go totally wrong?" Proceeded to spark a funny story, Dylan said, "I used to have severe stage fright, I would just hurl. My anxiety just goes through the fuckin' roof before I come out on stage. The first time I played at church camp I went and threw up in the bathroom afterwards, cause I just get so amped up. I'm moving my head around on stage, my stomach is just like, well, what goes in, must come out." Dylan has stated that his stage fright has dimmed down a little, and Sewerbound Threads really wanted to thank him for being vulnerable with us, and we hope that any up and coming artists view this segment not only as a funny, lighthearted story, but also as a reminder, that people who have been on a stage a few times even get stage fright. If you want to hear all of Dylan's vomit chronicles, he goes into full detail within the video interview.

What keeps Ugly Bones going when things get hard? The band all shared similar sentiment, their heroes, their community, and the passion for art. Joe even said "Chuck Shultner from Death is one of mine, he passed from brain cancer, only got to make six albums, that's all he could make, so I wanna make more." Dylan followed, "I think most of us its that we've all grown up looking up to musicians, for me? Tool and Slipknot. When I was a kid, I always had this reoccurring dream of playing on stage, this was before I even had interest in heavy metal. The dream of chasing music, my heroes, that's what keeps me motivated. The other big thing is just having each other."

Brian Going Marvin Mode

"What are some other local artists you guys have seen, or worked with in the past that everyone needs to know about?" "Outpost, Outpost for sure, they're probably one of the tightest bands." "Oh, Fatal Affair, Fatal Affair is great" CJ mentioned, "All girl rock band, I love 'em, I've worked with them on a bunch of stuff, graphic design, video work, all that shit, I've been working with them since April of 2024. Before I even joined Bones, I was working with them, and they've evolved to be one of the best local acts I've ever seen."

I finally asked "So, as of right now what's next for you guys? Where do you wanna be in six months" The band all hesitated, smiled, and proceeded to say "We're essentially taking the summer to write. We have three that are concrete for sure. We're probably going to return to playing live around the fall." Ugly Bones gave me the wonderful privilege of hearing some unreleased stuff. It kicks ass, but unfortunately, that's alllllll I can say for the moment. You guys will just have to see it yourself.

So, with that being said, if you're looking for a group of awesome friends who are silly, heavy, and kick heavy metal ass, look no further than Ugly Bones. These guys absolutely have something for you, and I can assure you, it'll blow your damn socks off every time. Catch them live this fall, and check them out on streaming services today, or pop on over to the LOUD VOICES, SMALL TOWNS hotlist and check them, as well as other small local legends in the making. If you want to see all the conversations, as well as parts we left out, check out the bands live video interview, available on our YouTube channel.

But tomorrow? That's unwritten. Who are you?