Caleb Shomo Responds to Beartooth's 'Free' Backlash

Beartooth frontman Caleb Shomo is not letting the mixed reaction to the band's new single "Free" get him down.

"To be completely honest, that's totally up to them and that's their choice," Shomo said on last week's episode of 95.5 KLOS' Whiplash With Full Metal Jackie (via Blabbermouth). "I don't make this art solely to be gaining fans and solely [for] monetary success and critical success and all those things."

He continued: "Truth be told, especially with 'Free,' I'm really doing this for myself. I'm doing this just so I can really be putting out the most honest art that I can be putting out and be the most true depiction of myself through my art that I can give, because that's the point of Beartooth. And I really don't wanna shy away from that."

READ MORE: What's the Big Deal With Beartooth's New Song + Video?

Why Was Beartooth's 'Free' So Polarizing?

"Free," which was released earlier this month, found Beartooth continuing to pursue a radio-friendly rock sound with its poppy vocal melodies, clean guitars and anthemic choruses. Meanwhile, the accompanying music video polarized viewers, with Shomo sporting a variety of flashy outfits, including a glittery crop top and a fur coat that looked like it was swiped from Yungblud's closet.

Some fans and fellow musicians mocked Shomo for his outfits and dancing in "Free," including Attila frontman Chris Fronzak, who wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Looks like Caleb Shomo dropped the 'S.'" He later deleted the post and issued an apology — but not before Shomo deleted his personal Instagram account for unspecified reasons.

Other musicians commended Shomo for his bold self-expression. Disturbed frontman David Draiman compared Shomo to Freddie Mercury and David Bowie and noted that "some of the greatest frontmen of all time have never held anything back, fully embracing their own aspects of flamboyance and expressing themselves as powerfully as they knew how."

Caleb Shomo Is 'Trying Not to Focus' on 'Free' Critical Reception

Shomo told Full Metal Jackie that he's trying to avoid the critical discourse surrounding "Free" and instead focus on the privilege of making music.

"I, at least currently, am really trying not to focus at all and I'm really actively trying to stay away from hearing any of the critical reception," he said. "Obviously, on a broader scale, I see if people are listening to it, I see if people are coming to our shows, so on and so forth. But I think everybody is entitled to their opinion, and there are just inevitably going to be a lot of people that don't like the way this sounds or maybe don't like the way I look or the way I'm dancing or what I'm wearing, or whatever that may be.

"And again, that's up to them," he continued. "And all I'm trying to do is just be as honest as I can and enjoy this very, very amazing gift that I have of being able to be in a band and that be my job, and make the art that I wanna make. I understand how rare it is. I understand how blessed I am to be able to do this, so I just wanna make the most of it. And I know if I kind of get wrapped up in how people are reacting or get wrapped up in the people who don't resonate with it, then maybe I'll lose sight of all the people who do resonate with it. And more importantly, I'll lose sight of the only person who truly resonates with it and that is me. And I just wanna be happy doing what I'm doing. So, that's all I'm trying to focus on at the moment."

Watch Beartooth's 'Free' Video

What's Next for Beartooth?

Beartooth are about to wrap up a North American arena tour supporting Bad Omens. Shomo confirmed the band has completed a new album, their first since 2023's The Surface and first on Fearless Records after more than a decade on Red Bull Records.

"We're currently in the stages of figuring out how we wanna roll it out to the people and all of the crazy logistics that come along with it," the singer said. "And I am so proud of this album. To me, it's just simply the best Beartooth album I could make. There's a lot of heavy stuff, there's a lot of the choruses, there's a lot of the pop, there's a lot of the screaming there. There's all the things that I love when it comes to writing Beartooth songs and they [Fearless Records] provided a great avenue for that."

See Caleb Shomo on our list of the best clean singers in metalcore: