Today we’d like to introduce you to Right Behind You.
Hi Right Behind You, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Right Behind You started back in 2022 as the Guitar Club at Plano Senior High School. I (Bradley Blackwell, the vocalist/lead guitarist) was the president of the club, and our bassist Blake Valenta was a club member. We played shows in front of the highschool at school festival days, and after graduating we began writing original songs and played a show at Six Springs Tavern in Richardson under the name “Stayday”. At this point in time we were an indie rock band, but after the end of the summer saw most of our members move away for college, we began to move in a heavier direction inspired by Saosin and Deftones, my favorite bands at the time. After recruiting a new drummer, we changed our name to “Right Behind You” – a reference to a line spoken at the end of the Team Fortress 2 “Meet The Spy” cinematic.
In March of 2023 we played our first official gig under this name at our old highschool, and in November we recorded a 4 song EP at Rock Out Loud Studio in downtown Plano, owned by the very founder of the guitar club that we started from.
After the summer of 2023, our drummer and guitarist moved away for college and our backing vocalist stepped away to pursue her work, leaving Valenta and I as the only remaining members. Thankfully, I was able to recruit Gian Sanchez on rhythm guitar and Xavier Parker on drums, friends of mine from my audio engineering classes at Collin College. Under this lineup the band would finally find its footing in the post-hardcore genre, with our first show at Rubber Gloves in February of 2024 being our first real step into the DFW music scene. I learned how to do scream vocals, we printed a line of tshirts, and we wrote over a dozen original songs that became mainstays at our shows, which had become weekly and DFW-wide.
We decided that the time had come to put together a debut album. We were granted access to the recording studio at our college to record drums, and used a DIY setup in my bedroom closet to record bass, guitar, and vocals. We released our first single “The Captain” in July of 2024. Over the next two years we recorded the rest of the songs in our catalogue, and I used the skills acquired from my Commercial Music degree at Collin College to produce, mix, and master the album myself while we continued to gig across DFW and Gian and I pursued Bachelor’s degrees at the University of North Texas.
It took 2 years, but in May of 2026, we released our 13 track debut album “I Must Be In Love”, which we feel finally represents our sound as a band. We have added another guitarist, Ari from The Shed (another post-hardcore scene), and are already writing new material to move us in a heavier direction. After June 13th (this weekend), we will have played our first ever show outside of the DFW metroplex at a venue in Austin, TX, and we plan to continue expanding our audience as we navigate our third year under the name “Right Behind You”.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Our early days as a band were characterized by many lineup changes as members left for college, and for a while we were in an awkward stage where we played music too heavy for the indie scene we were in, but weren’t heavy enough for the punk scene we were trying to branch into (although these days we have finally found our sound and our people). Perhaps our most persistent challenge these days has been in trying to schedule shows and practices when the four of us all live in different parts of DFW and have such different lines of work. We lack a dedicated practice space, so we are often forced to quietly rehearse in my apartment without drums, or else practice individually and use our frequent shows as a way to stay tight as a band.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My own personal career as an Audio Engineer has become tied to the band in many ways. Because of my training in music production from Collin College, I have been able to record, mix, and master our music without the need to pay an expensive music studio, which has been how we have been able to release a full album without having the resources available to artists under a record label or those who are older and have a more solid career to help finance things. I did my best to leverage my skills to produce an album that captures our style and sounds professional.
As far as what makes our band unique, we try to make music that is both enjoyable for those in the post-hardcore scene and accessible to newcomers. We combine catchy melodies and guitar riffs with screams and chaotic stage energy that never fails to get an audience moving, and seek to make each song showcase something different about our band. We are also one of the few bands in the scene whose lead vocalist is also on lead guitar, so I try to craft guitar parts that make for an engaging spectacle for people to see me play while I sing and scream at the same time.
Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
There is something truly special about being able to be the reason that friends and strangers alike are moving and having fun. Our greatest gigs as a band come from the nights where we see the crowd fully immersed in the moment, and in those moments we get to feel as though we are orbiting each and every one of them. We are not the focus, but rather the setting for what may be a night someone in the crowd remembers for the rest of their lives. We continue to play shows because we have had those nights in the audience of our favorite bands too, and we want to keep providing people with the occasion to meet new people, forget about their stresses in life, and just be themselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/rightbehindyou?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rightbehindyoutx/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4pjFYwe1WiIYUkPBtCwNtG
