Blonde Roses - Sound In The Signals Interview
The band is made up of lifelong friends who were originally known as The Wooden Wings. Tell us more about your background and music for those who may be unfamiliar.
We've been together as a band for about 7 years now. Until very recently, we called ourselves The Wooden Wings and only switched over to Blonde Roses a few months ago. We went through a drastic lineup change and felt it was time for us to press the restart button and move forward under a new name. It was at that time that we truly realized how special and important this band was to us and that we wanted to legitimately pursue this. Big changes can be tough, but can also make you see more clearly sometimes. We're creating more and diving into new territory musically. It's been such a rewarding time for us, so we want to continue looking forward into the future and not live in the past.
The band is heavily influenced by music from the '60s and '70s. How does that impact your songwriting? Which artists from that time most inspired your love of music and/or your songwriting?
It's an era of music that we all grew up listening to, so we pull a lot of inspiration from it. Something that is really important for us is making sure our music has a message. I think music as a whole was a lot more emotionally driven during that time - lyrically and musically. To name just a few artists we are inspired by are Joni Mitchell, Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
What about being based in Louisiana has influenced your sound and/or songwriting? It's widely known for music, but what is something about the music scene that only the locals would know?
Louisiana has a really vibrant, diverse music scene. Living here and being surrounded by the constantly growing family of musicians is extremely inspiring. It's difficult not to be influenced by the rich music culture we have down here. Our new sound dabbles in the Southern Rock territory - pulling from our Southern roots.
I think a lot of people don't realize that Louisiana isn't just filled with Brass and Jazz musicians. We have a really strong Pop and Rock scene down here. To name just a few local favorites: Kristin Diable, The Rayo Brothers, Social Circle and Paper Bison. Check em out!
You released your single "Bullet" which shows the fragility and beauty of life – the circle of life, death, renewal, and birth. Tell us more about this concept and how you came together to write this song.
'Bullet' is about riding yourself of anything toxic that may be in your life. It's about overcoming that feeling of being stuck in one place. It's about forcing yourself to move forward and being your The higher you climb that cherry tree, the more clearly you can see what's around you. You can see what's healthy and what's not. You can better see where you need to go in order to escape that monotonous pull.
When discussing "Bullet" lead singer Molly Portier said "I want our fans to feel like they aren't alone in feeling alone at times. But I want to them to also know that it's going to be ok even if it doesn't feel like it at the time. That there's something bigger and better waiting for you if you look hard enough. Life isn't always going to be easy, but it's a blessing". How can music help those who feel alone? Can it offer a sense of community and how can we improve on that community?
Music for so many is a source of companionship. When I'm happy, I put on upbeat music. When I'm said, I put on music I can let out a good cry to. It's a universal language, and because of that, music lovers have created such a strong community. I think it's beautiful how it brings people together. How, for a moment, we can all stand in one place and watch a band we all collectively love as strangers and feel like we're a unit. We're there together, listening to the same music - and maybe we are feeling different things and relating it to different parts of our lives, but we're feeling together.
You recently debuted the video for "Bullet" via Huffington Post. It was filmed in the heart of Lafayette, Louisiana by John Paul Summers of Infinite Focus. Tell us more about working with Summers and about filming the video. Were there things that you didn't expect? Are there any fun stories?
John is such a visionary. He directed a music video for our good friends in The Rayo Brothers for their song "Gunslinger" and I immediately fell in love with his work. We met up over a few drinks at a local bar in Lafayette and threw around some ideas as a group. We decided that we wanted to stray away from doing a live-performance music video and create more of a mini-film around the song. From there, we put the video concept in his hands and we couldn't be more happy with the result.
With zero acting experience before this, John really pushed me out of my comfort zone for this project and I am so incredibly thankful for that. With all of our recent changes as a band, I've made it a point to take more risks and push myself as an artist. So, having the opportunity to work with such an incredible director and film crew to turn our music into this beautiful piece of work was so rewarding. There is no better feeling watching two art forms collide.
You have plans to release an upcoming EP, but the details haven't been announced yet. Can you tease anything about what fans can expect on the upcoming release? What else is coming while they wait for the announcement and release?
It's a 5 song EP that, in my opinion, is filled with some of the most honest and personal material we have ever put out. It's grittier - a bit more raw. We have some fun things in the works for the next few months we can't wait to share with you guys.
Thanks for the interview. Do you have anything else you would like to add?
Just a reminder to always love yourself. Live a life of love, not hate.
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-L.Burden
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