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 bandâs 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 â who were en route to ârelax a littleâ at a special hot springs hideaway in Texas â 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. Thatâs 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 havenât been.
Micayla: I love going down to the beach and renting a bike. Â
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 wouldnât know what to say, and it wasnât 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. Itâs influenced who I am.
Micayla: Itâs really cool for me to be around Jen and Jessie because they are authentic L.A. insiders, whereas Iâm still figuring it out⊠Iâve been here for the last two years, but itâs still sort of new to me. Iâve 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 itâs changed everything so much in the last few yearsâŠas 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⊠Thatâs how people came to like you. But now you have to have this whole Internet persona, like youâre selling yourself on the Internet. It just feels so much less rock nâ roll.  But I think you kind of have to give in to it and find it fun.
Jessie: I feel like itâs 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 thatâs 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. Â This new record feels like a whole other book â 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. Iâm so proud of that record, but I think Iâm even more proud of Welcome the Worms, and I felt more confident making this record. I didn’t give a fuck â I just did what I wanted to do. I loved it.
