Twisted and elegant, California’s Bloodboy is putting a new spin on electro-pop. Dropping huge beats over dynamic vocals. Bloodboy is spacey, intimate and looking to make a splash.
Current Single: “Human Female”
What would you like to see Bloodboy accomplish within the next three years?
What an interesting time frame. Given the fact that it took me two years to finish an EP, I’m going to revise my initial answer from “Finishing a double LP, doing a world tour, collaborating with James Murphy, traveling across the United States by foot, co-writing Taylor Swift’s next record, moving to South America, learning to play the theremin, taking a hiatus, doing a reunion tour, and raising a dozen chickens” down to simply finishing a full-length record, doing some touring, and continuing to evolve as a songwriter and performer.
Talk to us about your writing process and environment, what are some of the factors and influences behind your instrumental and lyrical content?
I hate to be the quote person, but Lou Reed really did articulate it best when he said “I write whatever shows up.” Lyrically, I like to be as transparent as possible and write from a conversational, experiential place. It seems to me that a lot of popular music today is lacking in lyrical creativity so I try to look for concepts that I find interesting and provocative. My best friend jokes that it is sort of a gonzo journalistic approach to songwriting- there a lot of questionable decisions made in questionable situations at questionable times ending in questionable stories that I tend to exaggerate the hell out of.
Sonically, I prefer music that is highly energetic and uncontained but still melodic. The Clash was the first band of which I remember thinking “this is the best shit I’ve ever heard in my life” because of their ability to combine more traditional punk elements like heavy guitars, speed, and anthemic choruses with beautiful melodies and tones and complex, interesting arrangements. They’ve had an immeasurable influence on me and I try to incorporate many of those components into my own music.
If you could collaborate with any artist or group, living or dead, who would it be and why?
This is a terribly difficult question but I’d have to say Bowie. All the way up until Blackstar, he was pushing boundaries- musically, conceptually, aesthetically. I’ve learned so much from him but I would have loved the opportunity to learn from him in a more intimate fashion.
Tell us about your day-to-day life, discuss the role of music either as a full time job or the time it shares with your other obligations in life.
The last couple of years, music has been pretty much all-consuming in my day-to-day life. I spent most of 2014 and the first half of 2015 holed up in my room writing and recording and writing and recording, trying to figure out what the hell I was going for. After I wrote “Human Female” I had sort of a lightbulb moment and finally understood the direction I wanted to take the project in, but I felt like I needed a producer to help bring it to life so I spent a lot of time after that trying to find the right person. After Justin and I finished “Human Female” late last year, I started working with Thom Monahan and he was the first producer who really encouraged me to start taking myself seriously as a producer, so that’s something that I’ve been doing more recently as well. I’ve grown to really love the production side of the process and Thom has been a tremendous teacher.
With that said, I’ve realized that it’s very important for me to make time for a life outside of music. If I isolate myself from my friends and family in the name of writing as I’ve done in the past, my music becomes very dull lyrically. No one wants to hear about how profoundly bored I am in my room and it’s equally boring to sing about, so I have to get out now and then and do some weird shit. You know, get some perspective.
What has been the Highlight of your musical journey so far?
Releasing “Human Female.” Not because it’s that song in particular, but to finally have a song out after all this time feels pretty great. There were a lot of nights I stayed up doubting that it would actually happen. The night before it went live I was down in San Clemente visiting my mom and I was too nervous to sleep so I went out on the balcony to listen to music and reflect on the last couple of years a bit. My mom couldn’t sleep either, so she came out on the balcony with me and at one point said something to the effect of this being my “destiny” which was nice to hear, even if it was coming from my mom…
Describe your gear/live setup.
I play keys on most of the recordings and my shitty demo guitar parts will occasionally make the cut, but I primarily sing live. I have a five piece band that consists of my friends Zach Bilson on bass, Eli Hirsch on guitar, Ben Darwish on keys, and Bryan DeLeon on drums. They are all amazing musicians and so much fun to play with. I got very lucky.
Tell us what artists/bands you’re listening to at this moment in time and why they appeal to you.
I always freeze up when people ask me this. I don’t know why it makes me so nervous. As I write this, I’m listening to Richard Hell & The Voidoid’s Blank Generation. I love Richard Hell’s voice so much. The way he moans “Oh no, it hurts!” on “Love Comes In Spurts” does something very weird to my body. It also sort of sounds like the kid’s voice from the “Charlie Bit My Finger” YouTube video.
Thom recently put me onto a British post-punk band from the ‘80s called Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. The production on their first LP, “Talk About The Weather,” is fucking nuts. I hate giving quintessential music-douche descriptors like “throbbing drum machines” and “droney guitars” but… it does have those, in addition to Chris Reed’s creepy vocals. It sounds huge. I’ve also been listening to Alex G per my bassist, Zach’s, recommendation. I like that his music has a nostalgic, ‘90s feel but it still sounds modern. Oh and I recently revisited Black Moth Super Rainbow after seeing them play the Burger 5th Anniversary show a few weeks ago. I listened to their new record which is cool, but “Dandelion Gum” still takes the cake for me. The eery synth textures and vocoder-affected vocals over electronic drums make me feel like I’m on acid.
