Band: Circle Five
From: Raleigh, North Carolina
Their formation story:
(Kevin, guitar): "Circle Five was born out of friendship between my old band Ratcatcher and the members of Lucky Feeling. Andrew Greene (who sings in Circle Five, drums in Lucky Feeling) and I bonded over our backgrounds being rooted in early punk music more than metallic hardcore.
"He wanted to start a band where he wasn’t behind the drum kit and I wanted to give him a platform to speak his mind. Ken Smith of Lucky Feeling joined in on bass and I recruited Graham Mitchell from my other band, Pipelayer, to play drums.
"Circle Five works because we are all close friends who would be hanging out and making music together in some form or another anyway. It’s a real brotherhood situation."
Their sound in their own words:
"It’s our interpretation of the first wave of raw American hardcore. Bands like Germs, SSD, Negative Approach, and Black Flag are the inspirations we look to for our music."
Latest release info:
"On the surface, (NC) is a tribute to Germs. We ripped off the title and art of their classic LP, GI, and covered 'Lexicon Devil.' Our two original tracks on this release were written and recorded in our space in a single day with no outside involvement from anyone.
"I wrote the lyrics for 'American Epidemic' one day after my son described an active shooter drill at his elementary school. I was overwhelmed with anger and fear and I think that comes across in the song. It’s probably the most impactful thing I’ll ever write."
Future plans:
"We are going to be taking it easy for the winter and focusing on our other creative projects but will hopefully be back in early 2026 with another batch of new songs and a few trips around the East Coast."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
"Demonize, One By One, Fading Signal, Super Reg, and Ken and Andrew’s other band, Lucky Feeling, are just a small list of bands that are some of hardcore’s current best and that’s not to even speak of the amazing bands our friends play in that fall outside of the hardcore and punk worlds. North Carolina is the best."
Circle Five on social media: Instagram
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