OK readers, it’s time for a mental exercise. Rank these things in your mind from most favorite to least favorite:
- Metal
- Whiskey
- Cola
- Tacos
If you’re anything like me, this exercise did not prove to be an easy one. What if I were to tell you that there is a group of people working hard on putting the essences of all of these wonderful things into one musical package? These modern-day alchemists exist. They are Lincoln’s BloodRail.
BloodRail has been working with “Metal” Sean “The Wizard” Joyce on their first EP. And if their live show is any indication, this release is going to be a good one. If you haven’t had a chance to catch BR live, you need to. Their music is diverse, dynamic, skillfully executed, and most of all, FUN. You’ll have a few chances before the new EP comes out, check the band’s Facebook for updated info.
Read what the band had to say about the new release:
Damascus Wootz: It looks like you guys are just finishing up tracking. When did you head into the studio?
BloodRail: Well we started pre-production on February 9th. It’s been a long time coming. We started with Lee, Joey, and Ron, went through a couple of bass players, and added on Cameron ‘guitarist’ shortly afterwards. Just when we thought we were about ready to record, band drama occurred, and we realized we had to trim some fat….lol….. We went through a couple more guitarists, got them all caught up, then something else would happen. So a lot of restarting happened. Then we found Tim, drunk in a gutter, playing air bass to a Queen song, and we knew we found the last bass player we will ever need.
DW: Have you guys been waiting for a while to go into the studio, or did something make that a particularly good time to go?
BR: Oh hell yeah! We thought we had been ready numerous times. But as we stated earlier, we had a lot of ups and downs trying to find the right members to fit with everyone. We work hard for what we have, so all the money we get from shows or now merch goes right back into the band. Everything that everyone contributes goes right back to the fans.
DW: How many tracks are there going to be on the EP? Do you have a title chosen?
BR: There will be five tracks. We chose a select few of our songs and scrapped a lot of the ones we had because, with the new members, we slowly began to take a different approach to our writing process and defining the sound of “BloodRail.” And we are not picking a title, we just want to keep it simple.
DW: What’s the process for writing BloodRail songs?
BR: Well, it starts with tacos and beer for the band. But the singer has other “tastes.” He needs a bottle of whiskey and and a bag of weed before he gets his creative juices flowing.
Tim, well… to keep it simple like the album cover he is just drunk, but he has a good recorder on his phone so he keeps up. Hahaha.
Kasten is new and trying to stay professional. He is going to college at the moment for music, so he tries to push himself as well as everyone else, and that’s what keeps us growing.
Cameron has been with us basically from the beginning and always has a lot of ideas to throw into the pot due to the fact he is a highly educated ginger.
Everyone will come up with a guitar riff, a bass line, or a keyboard part, and Lee will accommodate the riff. Lee has an ability for hearing the timing and structure in the song, and at that point everyone builds off the beat.
Every song we write has a little something different to offer. We are so open to really doing anything. Everyone in the band has different tastes, but we are all open to something off the beaten path. We try not to lessen our creative abilities by singling ourselves to one particular idea of metal. “Place devil horns here” haha.
The songs don’t start with just one person; we have written full songs just starting off with a keyboard part like “Gasoline Grunt” or a simple guitar riff like “Last Straw.” And sometimes, we just keep it goofy and fun, jamming things out and seeing where it goes from there. Sometimes we sit down and are serious and write. Other times we f*ck off and write. They both seem to work. That is the BloodRail way.
DW: Did you guys have everything figured out before you went in to record, or did you do some writing in the studio?
BR: There is a huge difference between a written song and a recorded song. Most of us are new to the studio, so it was a big learning experience for us all. We had our songs written out to how we wanted them to sound, but the studio opened us up to a new way of getting it out to give a more full experience.
DW: Why did you guys decide to go with Sean Joyce? Has he contributed to the record outside of being an engineer?
BR: Well, for starters, he is a good friend, he is local, and he has a great ear for music in general, but his passion seems to be for heavy music. So we knew he would be a good fit for us. He does sound here in Lincoln, so he has heard us before and has done our sound. He has a past in metal music as a performer and as an engineer and has now evolved into doing recordings. He is always learning.
Just spending time with him in the studio, we believe he will produce the best from what we have to offer. Hearing him talk about mic placement and why he does certain things, you can tell recording is what he loves to do. He is open-minded with music as we are with recording. As far as contributing to the record outside of being an engineer, he has helped refine a couple of keyboard parts with Joey. He helped in general with a whole idea of getting it to sound better. He had individual input for everybody and has given us the knowledge and confidence the next time we get in the studio.
DW: What are your plans for releasing the EP?
BR: Well, we are gonna set up a show in our hometown with bands we are friends with and familiar with. But we always try to play with new people in all genres, so we always reach out for someone we haven’t played with and new bands. Hopefully we’ll have a small release later in the summer in Omaha, Kansas, and the small towns around Lincoln.
Keep in mind cola whisky tacos that is all. BloodRail out.
I don’t know if I can do a better tagline than that…
…but when BloodRail comes to town, you’d better get out and pay some cover charges!
