BREED

Raymond Breed is a Minneapolis based song writer, producer and lead singer of the rock band BREED. BREED provides riff and melody laden rock akin to bands like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Queens of the Stone Age and The Black Keys. He has carefully honed his song writing and performance skills into a mix of hooky melodies and intense, sometimes wild, stage performances. Raymond's solo acoustic sets of soul drenched folk rock have lyric and melody structures that are instantly stuck in your head for days. BREED is a 12 year veteran to the Minneapolis music scene with many bands and accolades to his credit. Equally talented onstage and in studio, there is never a moment when Raymond isn't indulging in the craft that is his life blood. His is a simple musical elegance that even the most hardened rock purist can enjoy.

Born and raised near Gary, Indiana and Chicago's South Side, blues, R&B and soul music took hold of Raymond at a very early age. When he was 5 he found a moldy warped guitar in a garbage can and brought it home to play. "That guitar had 3 broken strings and stank so bad my mom kept throwing it out. We came to the compromise that I could keep it but it had to stay outside." Eventually his sister took pity on him and let him learn to play on a 6 string their uncle had given her. "There was always music playing in the back ground at our house growing up. My entire family seemed to love Blues and old country music." Raymond's childhood Chicago influences shine through in the soulful, blues tinged rock songs that BREED is so well known for.

Raymond moved to Minneapolis in 1999 and immersed himself in the metal and hard rock scenes. He started refining his talents playing in and doing tech work for various local bands. In 2002 Raymond joined the metal band Black Flood Diesel, playing local and regional venues such as First Avenue in Minneapolis, The Rave in Milwaukee and the iconic House of Blues in Chicago. Raymond quickly became well known for his high energy stage antics and ability to totally engage the crowd. He cut one full length album with BFD, produced by Todd Fitzgerald at then famous Oar Fin Studio in Minneapolis.

In 2005 Raymond joined the national goth/industrial/metal band Apocalypse Theater where regional and national touring became his main stay. In 2007 he joined world renowned transgender star Venus Demars to play lead guitar for her band All the Pretty Horses. "All this time I was spending playing other people's music, which was fun and I loved it but I decided it was time to step into the spotlight." The first BREED songs debuted on the first night of the spring 2012 Revolution Circus tour with Apocalypse Theater and Mercury Mad. "This was the first time outside of parties and a couple of one off nights that anyone had heard me actually sing, it was crazy, my band members were stunned." The fans were equally entertained and BREED was an instant hit from Chicago to Houston. Once off tour Raymond recruited Derek Abrams on drums and Jordan Swanson on bass to form the first version of BREED. They quickly hit their rhythm and began churning out music that swings from roof shaking rock songs to heart breaking ballads with contagious melodies all around.

Soulful blues rock song "Rest of Me" flaunts it's mix of punchy guitar lines and bittersweet lyrics of bad love lost. "Woman" is a hard hitting dirty rock song that pokes at influences who take what they want with no interest in consequences. Ballad "No Home to Run to" was written on tour and is about losing everything while trying to achieve everything. "I was sitting on the front porch of the house we were staying at in Tulsa. I was strumming my guitar and the lyrics just started coming to me. Tour gets very emotional and lonely and I started thinking about all the things that I, and everybody else out there with me, were missing while we were chasing our dreams. The song took me about an hour to write and is one of my favorites."