Interview: 02.07.2008
Interview with John Graveside and Cruella
by Steve Green
My aim in 2008 is to introduce you to as many (quality) new bands as possible. So here's the first of a series of new format interviews which will see the band/artist focus the discussion on about 3 different subjects. By Blood Alone are a Progressive/Gothic band from Portland, Maine and are a band I felt an instant affinity with, maybe it's the connection with the sea, as I grew up with it too. I hope you enjoy the interview and don't forget to visit their website.
The Music:
As everyone loves to pigeonhole bands these days, are you Progressive Rock, or because you have a female singer, does that make you Goth?
John Graveside: we're both gothic metal and progressive metal at the same time, as well as a few other things to a lesser degree. I realize that most people (as well as the music industry) want their music compartmentalized, but when that happens fans identify themselves as fans of a genre, not a particular artist, and that's the musical equivalent of identifying yourself with an "ist" or an "ism". Not a good thing. I think it's really important that musicians let their creative juices flow without concern for what market they have to sell it to. It is what it is, and if it crosses into multiple genres that's great - more people will find something they like in it. We play shows with a lot of different bands in vaguely related genres (metal, new wave, horror punk, prog, goth & goth metal, death & black metal, doom) and we're usually the standout band of the night, because we're usually the only ones not following a formula. (People tend to comment what a good mix we are with doom bands in particular for some reason.)
Do you have a fascination with the sea? Your music has a certain ebb and flow about it and I’m tying that up with the album title and the ensuing cover artwork.
John Graveside: Interesting you picked up on that. I've always lived on the east coast of the US relatively near the ocean. To me it just seems right, and can't imagine being in a landlocked state - that's just too weird for me! I love dramatic tales of the sea - men going down with the ship and all, in both story and song. "Nantucket Sleighride" by Mountain is a personal favorite of mine, with it's rolling riffs and sad tale of human tragedy. On top of that, the seagoing rhythm is great fun to play on guitar - very natural for me.
Cruella: The Ocean is Life. I have lived in New England most of my whole life and have always felt a strong connection to the sea. I draw inspiration from the ocean and find peace from it when I need it. This connection also stems from my family which includes many fishermen and sailors alike. My grandparents , who were artists, also used the ocean as their subject matter in various paintings and would include elements from the ocean and beaches in their sculpture.
"Seas of Blood" is directly influenced by my personal history. In addition to that, I had watched a nature program on television a while back that stated if you replaced all of the ocean’s water with human blood 90% of sea life would be able to survive in it. I found that to be fascinating. The sea is the Earth’s blood. It is life force for the planet. It is power.
"Serpentarius" is a very bold statement for an opening number. It’s a complicated, yet free-flowing kind of song. Were you afraid that is would alienate the more mainstream reviewers? Or was this album all about what you, as a band, wanted to create?
John Graveside: It's always about what the band wants to create. If you're not true to your own nature the music suffers for it. Plus, the majority of reviewers are already into genres that we fit into (metal, goth, prog, etc.)
That being said, we do get covered by more "mainstream" reviewers in the local newspapers (who are sort of forced to cover us because we are part of the local scene), and they are all very complimentary, and sort of surprised at how much they like us. I guess their pre-conceived notions about us were driven away by our - dare I say - tunefulness? Maybe that goes along with what I said before about fitting in with many styles and yet standing out amongst them. Turning the doubters around to your way of thinking is one of the most rewarding parts of creating.
As for "Serpentarius" itself, thanks for the compliment. As a songwriter, the real challenge for me is not coming up with parts, but making the parts fit together. It's very important to me that everything flows, as opposed to the awkward and jarring transitions that most prog-metal bands use.
Cruella: I don’t concern myself at all with alienating mainstream reviewers. The band creates for itself. I know that so many bands say that, but we really mean it. Otherwise we would just be writing radio friendly cookie cutter crap. I imagine that we will continue to follow this line of thinking and creating for as long as we are together. What is the point of making music for the critics and reviewers? My biggest hope is that other people will "get it".
Little Lady Lillit is a mad song. It sounds like a crazed nursery rhyme, who came up with the idea?
John Graveside: Cruella wrote the entire thing. My only vague involvement was the multiple vocals thing: during the vocal takes, the engineer accidentally played back one vocal take without muting a different one, and what we heard was deliciously creepy and really expanded the sentiment of the song. Cruella and I pretty much simultaneously had the idea of layering in even more vocals to create a group of little girls teasing on the playground. A happy accident, I guess.
Cruella: I am a huge fan of the comic Lenore created by Roman Dirge. Lillit was inspired by the character Lenore. Nursery Rhymes and rounds are also so fun to sing and I really wanted to create my own twisted one, kind of like Grimm’s Fairy tales meets Mister Rogers. I would love to write more. The idea of making a pretty sounding song with twisted lyrics is so appealing to me. The composer, Danny Elfman, is also a huge influence. I would kill to have one of my songs used by Tim Burton. Also the urban legend of “Ring around the Rosey” being about the Black Plague is such a great idea and I was drawing from that as well.
The Promotion:
I’m presuming you are completely hands on with all aspects of the band: How arduous a task have you found it trying to get distribution for your album?
John Graveside: I was lucky that old relationships from my days in an active band in New York City led to our deal with Relapse Distro. It was totally a who-knows-who sort of thing. We also work with CDbaby.com, and while they are not really a distributor, they do make our cds available for retail on a worldwide basis, and that covers a lot of our distribution needs. CDbaby is also very honest and pays on time, and that's a big plus. We could in theory arrange distro with a lot of other distributors, and then expend a lot of time and energy staying on top of them and stopping them from ripping us off. Distro is a notoriously crooked business.
I see that iTunes are carrying your album. How difficult is it for an underground band to get involved in the digital generation? How does illegal downloading hit a band like By Blood Alone and how can you combat it?
John Graveside: Getting digital distro is actually quite easy. Our cd is available on itunes through our relationship with CDBaby. It's available from other download retailers as well, but it seems that nobody uses them. itunes has the market pretty much sewn up.
I don't think illegal downloading affects By Blood Alone much. That's generally a problem for more mainstream artists with fans who are too young to realize the mistake they are making.
The artwork for Seas of Blood is beautifully done. Being from the old-school, I couldn’t download my music as I love the touch and feel of the whole package, especially back in the vinyl days. Do you feel the download generation are missing out on an important part of musical tradition?
John Graveside: Yes, artwork and packaging are very important parts of the experience, so the new-schoolers are definitely missing out, and I think a lack of artwork contributes to the facelessness and lack of distinction in a lot of modern music. I'm a graphic designer by trade, and Cruella is a fine artist, so we both feel strongly about the importance of cover art.
Cruella: The younger generation is definitely missing out. When I was growing up and going thru my parent’s record collection, I would pick albums to listen to because I found the album art to be engaging and interesting. Albums that stick out in my mind from when I was really young are Sticky Fingers by The Rolling Stones (I loved unzipping the zipper), Blondes Have More Fun by Rod Stewart (that spandex leopard outfit on the girl is mesmerizing), Aqualung by Jethro Tull (the creepy man on the cover disturbed me) and For the Roses by Joni Mitchell (her standing naked on the rocks was so beautiful). The visual representations of an album are so important and contribute to its cohesiveness as a whole. The visual arts and music are like lovers. They influence and inspire each other. I don’t want them to be separate.
How does it feel to see your band build up a strong local following, only then to be faced with the task of getting your name around the globe? Where have you received the best overseas response from so far?
John Graveside: Somehow, trying to get a foothold overseas seems less daunting that trying to spread our sound to the rest of America. Maine is fairly isolated geographically speaking, and the US is so huge and so stylistically close-minded, that we've been having better luck in Europe and South America. The Netherlands seems to be a hotbed for Prog metal. Germany, Poland, France, England, Greece, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Peru have been great as well. The cd is even selling in Japan!
The Future:
By Blood Alone singer Cruella has been suffering from Cancer, how is her health these days?
John Graveside: Her health is great! She can answer that better than I can...
Cruella: I wouldn’t say that I have been “suffering” from anything. That is a word that gives the disease too much power. My health is certainly on the mend and my diagnosis has been a huge life changing experience. Fortunately my artistic endeavors, both visual and musical, have not been detrimentally effected by it. I continued to create all thru my treatments. The time I was forced to take off from the outside world gave me focus and direction towards my creative goals. Now that I am closing in on the end of my active treatment, I am ready to pick up where I left off with the band. I hope to bring more clarity and purpose to the whole experience. I am certainly more healthy now than I was 6 months ago and I really have my diagnosis to thank for that. Tragedy turned into progress.
Is she well enough to perform live and if so, when are you getting back on the road?
John Graveside: We will be back on the road this Spring. This whole cancer ordeal had one upside - it forced us to take some time off from performing, and gave us the chance to write our next cd, which was something we desperately needed to do. The writing is going great and our new material will really knock people's socks off when we debut it in the spring.
Cruella: I am ready to go! I feel like a horse that has been kept at the gate. Let me loose! Our new material is going to kill.
I’m sure you’d kill to perform with Judas Priest, but who else would you love to share a stage with?
John Graveside: Nightwish, the Damned, Dresden Dolls, Everygrey, Kamelot, Iced Earth, Dio-fronted Black Sabbath, Bjork, Peter Gabriel fronted Genesis.
I love early Priest to death, but we would not be a good match with them for a show. Here in America, Priest attracts real morons to their shows. We would no doubt be pelted with beer cans and sexist remarks. Hopefully England and Europe are not like this!
Cruella: I would love to share the stage with Bjork, The Gathering, Lacuna coil… and so much more. Honestly… any band with rocking ladies in it. I think that we certainly would share fans.
What other ambitions do you have for By Blood Alone? How far do you think the band can go?
John Graveside: In terms of gigging, we're looking to play more festivals. Due to the US being so huge and our time and resources being fairly limited, a full blown US club tour where the main concern is selling drinks instead of expanding minds is not realistic for us. Festivals, though, are gatherings of people who are there specifically there to listen to groundbreaking music (or at least, the right festivals are.) Since we span a few genres, we can play different kinds of festivals and pique a lot of people's interest.
As for "career", our style will keep us limited to a niche, but there's nothing wrong with that. So far, DIY is working pretty good for us, but we're hoping to make the next step up, ie, hiring people to further the band, like a publicist. If that leads to a deal with a bigger label, that great, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The important part is to keep creating and keep spreading the word about By Blood Alone.
Cruella: I would love to be able to travel abroad with the band. Seeing new lands and performing for their people seems so great to me. Maybe I am too much of a romantic… but it is nice to dream.
Thanks for your time, feel free to plug away…
John Graveside: Please - Buy our CD! Visit www.bybloodalone.com! Tell your friends how great we are!