All eyes on Biiiuh - a hardcore interview & an album release!
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
When I was in high school in 1990, I snuck out to drive down to Detroit for a rave. It was in the basement of an old abandoned hotel the event rented (perfectly legally I’m sure, all codes and contracts def official …to the best of my 17 yr old knowledge)
The dancing floor was the unused, drained swimming pool. Everything was neon in mostly darkness. I avoided the older kids with pacifiers and free candy or weird looking stickers. Everyone was covered in sweat, moshing and dancing like crazy to local punk and pre grunge heavy alt bands. There was a rumor running wild that The White Stripes were coming to the rave after their concert at Saint Andrews Hall, I never saw them. It smelled disgusting and obviously it’s one of the most exciting memories of my life.
I tell that story because that was the same energy in the basement at the extremelly popular Nile Underground in Mesa, Az on Feb 13th, the same day Biiiuh’s album Noisy House came out. It totally smelled better though and no pacifiers so yay that! The Underground was absolutely packed to the gills and vibrations from the amps were working up your feet to your heartbeat adding to the thrill. The only difference was that the age range was truly all ages in the best way! Preteens with parents, mostly high school kids and young adults, a cat girl as required at every event, crust pants and patch covered jean jacket dudes in maybe their 40’s, gutter punks and riot grrrrrs. Plus a couple who were certainly in their 80’s-ish smiling and dancing at the front left of the stage. I don’ t know whose cool ass granny that was , but please bring her back to every show.
So the environment was charged with excited people quite literally bouncing up and down as Biiiuh started to play, and that was BEFORE drummer Evan Irani blindfolded himself to tear up his kit and David Hunt jumped in the mosh pit with his bass! So much energy and expression makes taking actions photos of Biiiuh FUN.
Biiiuh (bee- uh) have been playing shows a little over a year and already have a large fan base in Phoenix, Arizona. From their performance you’d never know they haven’t been playing together for years. When I think about Biiiuh’s sound what I hear is serious range, an alt rock base with a 70s post punk hardcore feel and great lyrics. Some almost trap vibes on their most popular song on Soundcloud “Sleep Deprived”. Their newest album Noisy House is perfectly described as ‘noisy shoegaze with a high energy twist.’ A few days later, I followed them over to the iconic and historical Rebel Lounge in Phoenix for the albumrelease show on February 28th. I chatted with the guys outside before the doors opened about everything from how lit the Nile show was to Anime. They are all so chill and unassuming, cool guys who don’t realize how cool they are. They celebrated the Rebel release with exclusive merchandise & a merch giveaway, but mostly with their incredible set of heavy & melancholic songs.
Lead singer and guitarist Vincent Leibert’s earliest memory around music is listening to a country radio station in the back of his mom’s car when she would take hime into town, 15 minutes from civilization. Vinny has been creating music under the name Biiiuh since 2021, with hopes of making it a live performance band. Vinny says the name it’s mostly a made up word. He was looking for a name one day while his mom was trying to teach his baby brother to say Vinny. He was able to pronounce everyone else in the family’s name, but called Vinny by-yuh. “Which was incredibly incorrect, but I thought it would be a cool name. So I messed with the spelling and that’s how the name came about. “
He met David, the bassist, in his home town in Nebraska at a local skatepark while David was visiting.
Vinny explained how that creative urge to give up everything to run down his dream hit “I quit my job and moved everything I could fit into my friend's car from Nebraska to Arizona about two years after meeting David. David later introduced me to Rhythm Guitarist Ben Bongard and about a year later I had them both on board. Thankfully David knew Evan and they both agreed they wanted to be in a project together. So luckily Biiiuh was David’s next project with an opening for a drummer.”
Their songwriting process is never really the same. Different approaches result in different outcomes so they have fun to experimenting.Vinny usually gets lyrics from random occult/religious texts, movies, real life experiences. Anything can be good lyrical inspiration to him. He describes his lyrics as random metaphors, and some nonsense. I asked if he writes out the lyrics or if they ever change a song’s lyrics in live sets and he answered that he writes them out mostly, if he has an undecided verse or a part come up he’ll make up something relatable on the spot when performing it live.
They are working on new stuff currently, with multiple live performances around Phoenix the next few months. I asked what the listening to right now to chill or feel inspired:
David: “Right now I’m listening to a lot of Smashing Pumpkins and Holywatr “Vinny: “Reading Writing and Arithmetic by The Sundays is on repeat”Evan: “I just got put on Lana del Ray most recently… Wait can i change mine? Kevin G”Ben: “The Pixies”
"Even when our eyes are closed, there's a whole world out there that lives outside ourselves and our dreams." - Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist.
Photos and article by Anjeanette Ridner Hoer, Anjeanette Photography for Offstage Exposure.
Biiiuh is a four-piece noisy shoegaze band based in Tempe, AZ, known for blending high-energy post-hardcore with dreamlike, atmospheric soundscapes. Their newest album Noisy House combines heavydistortion, melancholic melodies, and eerie textures, moving between peaceful moments and disorienting heaviness to create an immersive, emotionally dense album.
Connect with Biiiuh here!
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/biiiuh/1597191683
Management: Alex Schroeder, Resonant Ventures email: contact@biiiuh.com
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