Taking a Bite Out of Metal: A Deep Dive with Nail Bite

The Red Rose City, or Lancaster, Pennsylvania has a metal scene known for its grit, resilience, and relentless passion—qualities Nail Bite embodies to the core. Nail Bite has been steadily making a name for themselves since 2020 with their unique take on metal and intense live performances. With their odd, but fitting blend of influences and an unmistakable energy, Nail Bite stands out amongst the rest. Today, we dive deep with the band, exploring their origins, creative process, and what drives them to carve their path in the heavy music world.

Band Origins & Influences

Can you tell us a bit about how Nail Bite came together? How did you all meet and decide to form the band?
The members of Nail Bite are made up of 2 families, John and Johnnie (Father/Son) and Lonna and Caiden (Sister/Brother). The 4 members all met at the Bitting family’s mixed martial arts studio at the time, Dragon MMA Academy, which was a nationally-winning competitive studio in which Johnnie won 21 international and 38 national championships. As the COVID-19 Pandemic went into full force, martial arts competitions came to a halt and Johnnie decided to turn his attention from the martial arts stage to music instead, and in January 2020 Nail Bite was formed. After creating the first two singles “Anxious” and “Free Your Mind”, Lonna, Caiden, and John, were introduced into the band.

What bands or artists had the biggest impact on Nail Bite's sound? Are there any unexpected influences that have shaped your music?
- We constantly are searching for any and all artists that are not metal as an influence, for each song we pick a different genre and or style to mix in with our metal sound, some of the more unexpected answers would be artists like, The Weeknd, black pink, Kinneret, Sitcom, Suicide Boys, and the list goes on, recently we even used C418 the creator of the original Minecraft soundtrack.
How did you land on the name “Nail Bite,” and what does it mean to you?
- We all bite our nails a lot and it was a really bad habit for some of us, so we just went with the name Nail Bite.

Music & Creative Process

When you start writing a new track, where do you usually begin—riffs, lyrics, a theme?
- Normally its a general idea, we don't try to write songs in the traditional way anymore, now we think, what hasn't been done before, and when something clicks with an idea or a premise, the song just naturally gets written, sometimes in just one day.
Your music has a powerful energy and unique sound; how would you describe your creative process when developing new songs?
- We try to make the songs a mix between a few different styles, we want to make sure the music itself can take you on a journey without listening to the words or lyrics, just the atmosphere around the song should be enough to bring you to some memory or place. Usually we will rewrite a song a few times, just to make sure the vibe we are going for comes across right.
Are there any themes or messages you aim to convey through your lyrics? Do any particular life experiences shape your writing?
- Many life experiences do contribute to the music yes, we have had our fair share of sour relationships, people betraying us in multiple ways, setbacks, disappointments, and getting better after something traumatic, and the usual life experiences, however, all of our songs are written to be interpreted by the listener, without one specific meaning or message we are trying to convey to the listener, we simply want our audience to be able to relate to our music, in their own unique and personal way.
What are some of your favorite songs you've written so far, and why?
- Most of our songs are our favorites simply because they are all so different from one another, its hard personally to pick one just because they aren’t written in a way thats trying to better themselves, our favorite heavy nail bite song would be one of our newer songs, “you know who you are”, where our favorite lighter song would have to be “endless” or “shimmer” or “the heart”.

Albums & Future Projects

Are there any current projects or upcoming releases that fans should be excited about? Could you give us a sneak peek of what’s to come?
- We're working on finishing our 3rd album by the end of the year, with some sneak peaks on our Facebook page.(Nail Bite Facebook).
How has your sound evolved from when you first started? Are there any musical directions you’re hoping to explore in the future?
- Our sound has evolved a lot since we started, we've realized we love mixing every type of genre with our metal sound, while also further exploring different metal genres as well, we would love to continue that trend and explore even more genres of music in the future.

Touring & Performing

What are some of the most memorable shows you’ve played, and what made them special?
- We all agree Blue Ridge rock fest 2021 was the most memorable because it was our first big festival and only one of our first few shows we ever played. They treated the bands very well and we got to eat alongside big bands like P.O.D and Steve-O.
How do you prepare for a live show to make sure fans get the best experience possible?
- We practice multiple times before every show, and try to come up with new things to do during our set including games, giveaways and more.

The Fans & Community

How does fan interaction influence your music or performances? Any memorable moments with fans?
- All of our fans are important to us and their support drives us to keep making music. We always enjoy when our fans come say hi and share their experiences with us.
What does the metal community mean to you, and how does it influence what you do as a band?
- The metal community is one of the few musical communities that embrace all types of music, we have tried mixing every single genre we can in with metal and we are still embraced by the community we have made, and the metal community as a whole. the metal community is a very welcoming and accepting community and i think we all connect through our experiences and how the music heals and brings us all together.
Your fans are really passionate—how does it feel to see that kind of support, and what do you want to give back to them?
- It feels amazing to see the support and kindness our fans offer and we are so grateful for our fans, without their support we wouldn’t be where we are and they drive us to keep making music that they will enjoy.

Fun & Miscellaneous

What’s something about Nail Bite that fans might not know?
- Johnnies little brother Jax is in 5 songs and has even played instruments on stage with us.
Are there any artists or bands that you dream of collaborating with?
- We enjoy all music and would love to collaborate with all styles of music.
When you're not making music, what are some hobbies or interests that keep you inspired?
- Nail Bite is basically our full time job but we all enjoy things like art, cooking and staying active with things like martial arts and parkour.

Looking Forward

What are your ultimate goals as a band? Where do you hope Nail Bite will be in the next few years?
- Our goal is to be able to support ourselves with our music, so that we can keep creating and providing music for our fans.

Personal Note:

For such a young talented band, Nail Bite possesses a natural ability to captivate their audience with their energetic and unpredictable stage presence mixed with unique powerful instrumentals. Lets not forget to mention Lonna's incredible vocal power. From breathtaking cleans to the darkest of gutturals, she's on a path to solidify her name in the metal community. Yes, on stage they are awesome, but offstage they are just as amazing. I've had the pleasure of working with Nail Bite on multiple occasions, each time they've been nothing short of professional and a pleasure to work with. Nail Bite is a metal band from Lancaster, Pennsylvania created by founding member Johnnie Bitting in early 2021. Members include Johnnie Bitting (Vocals/Guitar), Lonna Nelson (Vocals), Caiden Nelson (Keyboard) and John Bitting (Bass). Read their biography here Recognition & Awards