A lot of bands claim to have been influenced by a wide spectrum of musicians and genres. Hell, U2’s Bono is notorious for naming iconic rock figures as guiding forces for his music. But dropping names and genres doesn’t necessarily equate to a striking musical presence. Bob Dylan was a big influence on U2 — but one changed the face of rock (and continues to release dynamic records), while the other contents itself with putzing around. iwrestledabearonce is another band that claims to knit a slew of different genres into their songwriting — but unlike other acts, IWABO actually makes good on that promise. Past tracks have wandered from metal blast beats to salsa breakdowns and everywhere in between. Guitarist Steven Bradley chalks it up to exposure to a range of musical styles when the band’s members were growing up, combined with the desire to do everything and the lack of an ability to stick to just one thing. “We’ve always had the same mentality forever, that ‘no boundaries’ type thing,” Bradley said. “We just try and do anything with the music.” The idea permeates the music, but is really personified in lead singer Krysta Cameron’s voice. A guitarist can easily switch from primordial thrashing to blazing technicality and follow it up with a mellow-melodic breakdown. For a singer to run that gauntlet is another story. Yet Cameron manages to keep up with the band and then some. Her sound ranges from low, guttural screaming to high, soaring singing. “She’s listened to every style of music growing up as a kid,” Bradley said. “Plus she’s from Long Island, so she grew up going to Suffocation shows and stuff like that. She goes out of her way to match it up with the music. Or sometimes the complete opposite way — we’ll go into the heaviest part of the song, and she’ll sing over it.” It seems as though this musical exploration might frighten any record label concerned about marketability, but iwrestledabearonce’s label, Century Media, seems to embrace it. When the band went to record their new album, “Ruining It For Everyone,” Century simply cut them a check and told them to get it done. The band took the money and used it to set up a studio in the California home they all share. Bradley took the reins and produced and engineered the new record. He didn’t see how it could have worked any other way. “We’re such a weird band and all our weird ideas are ours,” Bradley said. “I don’t know what producer we would hire who would be like, ‘Yeah, you know what you guys should do? Throw in a fucking horse neigh and than break down into a country part.” This setup also works well for their writing style. The band does most of their songwriting while on tour using laptops with sound recording software. Most of the guitar parts are originally written as piano parts over drumbeats, said Bradley. When the band sat down to record “Ruining It,” they had around 60 tracks to work from. The new record is a bit more cohesive then previous efforts. Bradley noted that it contains some of the heaviest parts that they have ever written — yet it also contains some of the catchiest. He also thinks it’s way better than their last record, 2009’s “It’s All Happening” — but that goes without saying. “Obviously, if you don’t like your new record as much as the last one, you probably shouldn’t be a band anymore,” he said. Still, Bradley doesn’t take the band’s past success and bright future for granted. According to him, iwrestledabearonce is the “anti-ego” band. “I’m not flying first class, wiping my ass with thousand-dollar bills on my way to my house in the Bahamas,” he said. “But hopefully someday I’ll be flying first class, wiping my ass with thousand-dollar bills on the way to my house in the Bahamas.” IWABO will be at the Agora July 27