Band: Price of Pain
From: San Antonio, Texas
Their formation story:
(Kyuss, vocals): "PoP was an idea between our guitarists, Jack and Gunnar, for a few months before we brought everyone together for an official formation around May of 2025. They would collaborate and work out strings together in order to write what ended up being 'Forever Constrained' and 'My Own Affliction.' They already had the band name decided- partially thanks to our buddy Greyson, who heavily encouraged it. Since the band didn’t have an official lineup, the songs weren’t fleshed out with drums or vocals yet.
"I had never met any of them, except for Ralph, up until the Joust Born Into This World release show at Paper Tiger. I had seen Ralph perform with Self Inflicted a few times and would dap him up and all, but we didn’t talk too much. Besides usually being at the same shows and moshing together, we didn’t have too much in common. I had known Jack since we had followed each other on Instagram for a bit prior- I hadn’t met Gunnar or Claire until the day of the previously mentioned release show.
"We were kind of just chilling at the tables outside the venue between sets, and the idea of forming a band was brought up in passing- I said I was down to do drums cause I didn’t wanna be that guy to volunteer myself as a vocalist without any kind of musical skill. I’m not the worst drummer, but I’m glad they ended up asking Ralph if he was down to do the drums that same night instead.
"It was all very spontaneous- we ended up practicing for the first time a few weeks later, and had our first show at a venue called Fermenteria in September. It was with Funeral Service, Duendes, Self Inflicted, a robot walks into a bar, and Swiss from Austin. All the others are San Antonio-based. Check out all these bands when you can!"
Their sound in their own words:
(Rj, drums): "Our sound definitely weighs heavily on the 2000s-era of hardcore. We take after bands like Backtrack, The Mongoloids, Downpresser, and a good bit of Trapped Under Ice. The idea early on was definitely to hone in on that particular sound- fast, stylish, while also having solid mosh parts. We delivered on that aspect."
Latest release info:
(Kyuss): "Our release is something that’s been in the works since our full formation as a band back in August. The songs we started off playing were essentially half-written versions of Forever Constrained and My Own Affliction, but we really sauced them up as much as we could for the release. Serpentine Eyes was written as we were playing shows almost every other weekend. We decided on those three for a demo.
"The recording process took about two months due to scheduling conflicts. Nathan did a good job on it, especially for someone who’d never recorded for a hardcore release before. Check out his other work, @smithlorrain on Instagram. We had Sock from Katywentmissing knock out the mixing/mastering portion, and he did a great job. We’re all pretty happy with how it came out."
Future plans:
(Kyuss): "We want to spend the next few months conquering Texas, so to speak. We want to play as many shows as we can in neighboring cities in order to build enough of a following to justify touring out of state sometime before the end of the year. We also have another release cooking up behind the scenes, which we’re pretty stoked for- ETA June/July timeframe, and I’ll just say we’re working closely with another band on it. Stay tuned.
"The idea of playing out of state is being tossed around, but it’s hard since Texas is so isolated from the rest of the country. It’s an eight-hour drive to any given Texas border from San Antonio. In spite of that, we have something in the works for the West Coast coming around in the next few months. Can’t drop the details yet, but if all goes as planned, you’ll be hearing more about it soon."
What other bands from their region should we check out?
(Rj): There’s loads of talent down here in Texas- definitely check out our homies in Mind Your Own, Voracious Contempt, Funeral Service (Bandcamp only), Upsurge, Dawn of Ash, Weak Spot, and Say What You Want (solo pop-punk project, something different). Also, check out our brothers in Artery (R.I.P)."
Price of Pain on social media: Instagram
Tagged: price of pain
