Despite their age — and with no full-length recorded output to speak of — progressive metal newbies Bibeau (pronounced Bebo), is starting to create quite a buzz within the metal community. 

With the release of its new single and well-received video, “Mark This,” (watch below) the Texas teenagers have garnered some social media accolades by having spent the past several years at the #1 spot on ReverbNation’s rock and metal charts in the East Texas area. The band has also developed a large following due to their performance videos on YouTube and Facebook. 

Comprised of brothers Robin Bibeau (guitars) and Peyton Bibeau (drums), Drew Theiring (vocals), Chris Ray (bass) and Alan Benek Hernández (guitar), the quintet successfully blends the old and new school metal with a modern, progressive twist. 

Dubbed by the press as "Prog Metal's New Breed,” the youngsters are taking calculated steps to launch their career. Sometimes nepotism in the music world gets thrown around like a dirty word, but there’s nothing wrong with a little help from your friends, or in Bibeau’s case… father, who happens to own the record label, Fade To Silence Records, which Bibeau is signed to. Robin Bibeau explained the advantages of having his father act as manager.

“It’s great because a lot of parents don’t encourage their kids to do music,” Bibeau said. “I’m very grateful that my parents are very encouraging. My dad is very helpful, he handles a lot of the booking for the shows. He’s helping us with press and giving us the advice that we need.”

Formed in 2009 by Robin (19) and Peyton (16), the Bibeau brothers decided on their family name as their band name as an homage to Van Halen. However, there are pros and cons of playing in a band with your brother, as Bibeau explains. 

“A lot of people on the outside would assume that we would agree on everything,” he said. “But out of everyone in the band, we disagree the most a lot of times. But it’s never usually that bad of a conflict. We don’t see eye to eye all the time on the music but that’s what helps our sound become more unique. We get along really well. With the music we’re both very passionate about it, but we have a lot of different views. I think the different views of the band make us stronger and keep us from sounding too sterile and repetitive.”

The aforementioned, post-apocalyptic video, “Mark This”, is conceptually-captivating. Directed by Justin Mosley (The Devil's Deal) and featuring actress Courtney Bridges as the protagonist, the video’s conceptual storyline is interspersed with performance segments of the band. The song itself is dynamic and vibrant, warranting repeat listens. Bibeau explains what the experience was like shooting the video.

“Shooting the video was really fun because it was the first time we ever did something like that,” Bibeau said. “Justin was one of the most professional people I’ve ever worked with. As for the concept, you can look at it in two ways. On the surface, she (Bridges) gets the skull and these figures are chasing after her and they’re trying to get it back she thinks it’s this evil thing but it’s really not and she ends up joining the group. The way I see it is a little metaphorical, that the skull is like metal music and how it is taboo to a lot of people. It looks kind of dangerous on the outside but really once you come to know it, it’s really good and not bad.”

Bibeau’s influences are well-known and duly noted. From Rush to Avenged Sevenfold, Pantera to Dream Theater, Opeth to TesseracT and early Fates Warning, the Bibeau sound is a good mix of older prog bands and newer modern prog bands. 

“I would say there’s an equal amount of influences between old and new for me personally,” Bibeau said. “I love Rush, Iron Maiden and that type of stuff that got me into metal. There’s tons of other bands that I could go on all day. Some of the newer bands that I’m loving are TessaracT and Opeth, even though they’ve been around since the ’90s; Dream Theater and Tool. I like super new stuff like The Contortionist and Skyharbor. We want our sound to be unique and take the best of the old school and the best of the modern and put it together into something that when people hear it and relate it, it’s not dated, but fresh.”

The band is well aware of their target audience and have worked hard for the past five years to develop a large following via performance videos on YouTube, ReverbNation and Facebook. Social media has worked really well for Bibeau and the global importance of the Internet is vital to the band’s survival. 

“I think it’s really important considering all the people today on Facebook,” Bibeau said. “A lot of radio doesn’t play local bands so you have to do something to get your name out there. With the media, the Internet is the big thing now. All the people I know are on social media all the time. We use that to our advantage and to promote ourselves because that’s what’s big today.”

Drummer Peyton just turned 16 and is still in high school while Robin recently graduated. Plans for the band’s future is clearly in effect, as they plan to take it one step at a time. 

“We’re just going to keep at it,” Bibeau concluded. “Hopefully we’ll get a record out before the end of the year and we’re just going to keep playing and make a name for ourselves. “We’re definitely looking towards doing a full-length album and we’re about halfway done with the writing process. Hopefully people will like it and it’ll catch on, and we’ll go from there. We’re still planning for the future. We’re still planning shows just so people can hear us and judge our music, and hopefully they’ll like it.”