BLEACHED

story / Augusta Gail
photos / Kristy Benjamin

Chatting with the band Bleached is like spending a sunny L.A. afternoon with three of your good girlfriends; Jennifer Clavin, Jessie Clavin, and Micayla Grace radiate with warmth and openness, even over the phone. It makes sense, then, that each song on the band’s sophomore album, Welcome the Worms, serves as a testament to the talent, the heart, and the rawness that of the trio. To celebrate its April release, we caught up with the California girls — who were en route to “relax a little” at a special hot springs hideaway in Texas — to chat about their favorite Hollywood hangouts, how they feel about social media, and what they think has changed since their first album debuted three years ago.
What are your favorite things to do and places to go in Los Angeles?
Jennifer: I feel like my ideal day would be to go on the back of a motorcycle up Angeles Crest. That’s actually what I did the day before we left on tour. It’s so beautiful! There are so many places to go in Los Angeles, and all these places I still haven’t been.
Micayla: I love going down to the beach and renting a bike.  
How do you think Los Angeles, or California in general, has influenced your music?
Jennifer: I feel like we used to get this question, and I wouldn’t know what to say, and it wasn’t until this album that I realized how much Los Angeles has influenced me and how I have a relationship with this city. I love the dark side of L.A., but also how beautiful it is. It’s influenced who I am.
Micayla: It’s really cool for me to be around Jen and Jessie because they are authentic L.A. insiders, whereas I’m still figuring it out… I’ve been here for the last two years, but it’s still sort of new to me. I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with it, like, I knew I needed to be there, but it was also very overwhelming.

How do you all feel about social media?  I feel like it’s changed everything so much in the last few years…as musicians how do you feel about it?
Jennifer: I have a lot of feelings about it. When we were in our punk band there was no social media. Back then, it used to be about being your best at your live show… That’s how people came to like you. But now you have to have this whole Internet persona, like you’re selling yourself on the Internet. It just feels so much less rock n’ roll.  But I think you kind of have to give in to it and find it fun.
Jessie: I feel like it’s really hard for me to get a grasp on it and work it. This is going to sound crazy, but I just recently got an iPhone and had to figure it out! But that’s just how it is these days, you have to make it work.
Your debut album, Ride Your Heart, released back in 2013. How would you describe the transition to this album?
Jennifer: I feel like Ride Your Heart was very much of that time, and what I was going through.  This new record feels like a whole other book — not even another chapter, but another book. I feel very connected to Ride Your Heart, especially when we play those songs at shows and kids know all the words, so I still feel connected to that. I’m so proud of that record, but I think I’m even more proud of Welcome the Worms, and I felt more confident making this record. I didn’t give a fuck – I just did what I wanted to do. I loved it.