What is Blöd’s hometown?
We were formed by our guitarist, Dallas Sheppard, who lives in upstate New York, but our members come from Louisiana, Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio (so far). There are many musicians adapting to covid lockdowns by forming bands online, but this wasn’t the case with us. We started the process back in early 2018...maybe even late 2017. I guess, technically, our home is the internet.
How and when did Blöd form?
Alex Bergeron (bass), Dallas Sheppard (guitar), and myself (Douglas-Vocals), toured as the backing band for Chuck Mosley (Faith No More, Bad Brains, Indoria). When he passed away unexpectedly in November of 2017, there was talk of a memorial concert and possibly a tribute album. We talked about playing some of his songs and then that evolved into Dallas wanting to write a song with Chuck in mind/in his memory. Dallas recruited Bobby Youngblood (vocals), a musician we had met on tour. His band, Ask An Adult, played with us in Kansas City. That had been a fun, memorable night on the road and not simply because the promoter stiffed us and put us in a really, really bad spot.
Bobby and Dallas then recruited Alex, I believe, though I wasn’t really in the loop at this point. Chuck’s death hit me hard. I had known him for 20 years and thought I would be there to see his comeback continue while he released his first solo album. Dallas sent me a short audio clip and mentioned playing conga on the song as that’s what I had played on tour. I immediately got hooked by the song, but I wasn’t sure conga had a place in it. I was bummed because I wanted to help with the song and be a part of it.
I was at the studio working on songs for Indoria and I decided to mumble a few vocal ideas for this song Dallas had sent. I passed it along in case the guys needed vocal patterns. As time went on the song really got stuck in my head and I wrote lyrics to it, knowing they would probably never get used. Bobby and Dallas asked me about singing the choruses and I agreed right away. Dallas also recruited a keyboardist, Lisa Hurt, who had joined Chuck onstage in Detroit for a couple songs. That song, “Ghost Therapy”, will appear in the movie Dwellers, which is due for release in 2021. It’s a found footage film written and directed by Drew Fortier (bang tango, flipp) and produced by David Ellefson (Megadeth, Ellefson)
We wrote, recorded, and released a song called “LadyCat” that was originally written by Dallas. We each recorded ourselves and passed the files back and forth. Dallas recruited Mike Heller (fear factory, raven) to play drums on the song. He brought some speed and edge to the mix that really fits the vibe of the song.
The lyrics are dark and creepy, but also maybe tongue in cheek funny...if you are dark and creepy.
What are some genres you feel this song touches on?
I am the worst guy to ask about this stuff, so I'm hoping another band member will chime in. We are sort of a thrash band, but with a strong focus on melody and layering and dynamics as well. I think we’re most comfortable when we get input from many members who can see the songs from different angles and bring their own flavoring to it. With this first song, LadyCat, we certainly get thrashy, bordering on hard rock/metal. I’m sure there are some subgenres that could be applied to incorporate the spooky, circus-like keys and horror movie-themed lyrics, but we’re not like an Alice Cooper or Marilyn Manson or Rob Zombie or shock-rock band. Oddly enough, however, the song LadyCat replaced an Alice Cooper song on the credit roll of the movie, Brimstone Incorporated, which is due out in the Spring of 2021.
What are all the names and roles of all the musicians on the single?
I don’t know...well, I might...let me try:
Dallas Sheppard: guitar
Alex Bergeron: bass
Lisa Hurt: Keys
Mike Heller: Drums
Bobby Youngblood: Vocals
Douglas Esper: Vocals
Is that everyone? I think so.
Was the album artwork chosen for a specific reason? If yes, please explain.
Yes...sort of. Our original plan was to release Ghost Therapy as our first song. We were going to put it out when Dwellers got released, which was set for April of 2020, but the world shut down and canceled that plan. When Dwellers got pushed back we decided to wait on releasing the song, but then figured why not release “LadyCat” instead? We didn’t have any band photos or live videos or anything to help promote, so Bobby started taping himself singing with various filters and it inspired the rest of us to throw in enough footage until we had a video.
None of us, outside of Bobby, had any experience in filming stuff, let alone taping ourselves, but we found ways to add our personalities without a plan or budget. I cobbled the footage together and layered random clips from friends and smeared it all together with cheesy effects.
Bobby had filmed himself with a filter that created the effect of his face expanding in many layers toward the screen every time he opened his mouth. I applied more effects on top of that and soon enough my computer screen was full of Bobby’s screaming face. I really liked the creepiness of it. I played around with color filters and sent a bunch of different options to the guys. My original intent was to use the image on a promo ad for the song, but the band seemed to connect with the image and it made sense to use it now that it was a part of our song’s video.
If there were any artists whose work influenced this, who are they?
Dallas might need to weigh in, but I’d imagine there’s bits of Megadeth, Mr. Bungle, Primus, Faith No More, and whatever weird stuff Bobby is into.
As a vocalist I'm certainly influenced by Chuck Mosley, Pete Murray from ultraspank, Jeffrey Hatrix, and Irene Cara.
What are all the social media and streaming platforms that fans can find your content on?
We’re working on growing our channels now, but you can find us at blodtheband.bandcamp.com, facebook.com/blodtheband, spotify, apple music, and many others.
Do you have any memorable moments (scary, humorous, devastating, etc.) from the writing, practicing, recording or release of this song?
Every conversation with Dallas, Bobby, and Alex is a scary experience. Since the songs were written and recorded remotely, the only interactions we have are on the phone or in a group chat, which usually is more focused on bad jokes, movie quotes, and busting each other’s chops. I will say that I did my vocals in about an hour and I was writing some of the lyrics as I recorded, so it was nerve-wracking. There was a part of me reminding myself there was no pressure because, again, I wasn’t even supposed to be on the song so if my stuff didn’t work the song would be fine without me,, but the other side of me is freaking out because I wanted to be on it.
Bobby wrote the majority of the lyrics and patterns for LadyCat, originally doing a solid demo on his phone. Dallas suggested I add in a talking part at the start of the song, which we ended up incorporating again later in the song. Then Bobby asked me to sing back up on some lines. While in the studio I added a few ad-libs/vocal layers that were completely unplanned. Most of that ended up in the song, which I'm glad they worked out.
Dallas can riff, man. I got to see him onstage and at practice, but I look forward to a world without pandemics so we can get into a studio and get a more live/cohesive feel. Bobby loves to experiment with effects and layers. He sent many, many ideas for this song. Alex brings a cool energy and humor and knows how to give his bass lines character and purpose even with all the layers of chaos swirling around. I am not sure if Lisa wants to put up with us for future music, but I enjoy what she added to our first two songs.
Do you have any future plans, upcoming shows, etc? What are they?
Are people allowed to plan right now? Do people still have dreams? Honestly, I want to get together with these guys in a room and jam. I want to go see a concert with them. I want to walk around Toledo, OH looking for “that famous hot dog place”, but seeing the ghostbuster’s car instead.
As a band, we need a permanent drummer. Having guest drummers has been great, a learning experience, but finding someone passionate and driven would help move us forward. If we found a good pairing for Alex we could really expand and explore the boundaries of our sound. We could also get songs done quicker, which has been our biggest obstacle thus far.
We are starting to discuss a video for “Ghost Therapy”, which we still plan to release in conjunction with Dwellers (now planned to come out in 2021), and we’re moving forward with more tunes. We haven’t discussed it yet, but I’d love to see an EP release along with more digital singles. So far we have two songs done and both are on movie soundtracks, so we’d also love to get more involved in movies/tv/webseries and whatever visual project folks need music for.
We are serious about songwriting and performing, but I don’t think we want our audience to take us too seriously. We are out there looking for connections just like everyone else and this is our way of saying hi. When the world reopens we’ll be happy to get back out there, but for now, as a band we’re navigating our basement studios to create a snapshot of the world as we see it...or that might be a line from Breakfast Club…
Interviewer- Nick Evans