Interview: The Blood Arm
The Blood Arm @ Little Pedros, Los Angeles
Zachary Amos – Drums
Zebastian Carlisle – Guitar
Nathaniel Fregoso – Vocals
Dyan Valdés – Piano
www.myspace.com/thebloodarm
www.thebloodarm.com
Reunions can cause a series of emotional reactions, or they can be moments in which time never stopped and you pick up right where you left off. This year, I decided to skip out on my high-school reunion (I wasn’t alone; other friends decided to skip out on theirs too), but oh hell no, I was not going to miss a reunion with The Blood Arm.
For a span of almost two years, a couple of friends and I followed TBA through sold-out gigs, binge drinking feasts, dancing fever, shows in the most awkward hole-in-the-wall venues, party after party after party, road trips, requesting specific songs and best of all, loving the music they played. But it wasn’t just a reunion for me. TBA hasn’t been in Little Pedro’s Restaurant for awhile, and for them, walking into the revamped place brought back a lot of happy memories. That kind of reunion rocks. The Scenestar met with TBA as they prepped to head out to Europe once again for a two-month tour. Along with promoting new album Lie Lover Lie, TBA has a lot on their plate: possibly signing with an American label, more touring and working on more albums.
SS: We haven’t seen each other in awhile. With all of what’s going on with the band, how much have you matured?
Nathaniel: As people, we have become immature. But as a band, I think we’ve matured a lot. Now we are pushing ourselves to do new things. I don’t know, write different songs. Vocally, I think instrumentally also, we are trying to do something new and unexpected.
SS: Has this brought you into a different frame of mind, like you didn’t expect to go this far? Or is it more like back in the day, during Bomb Romantics [TBA’s first full-length album], when you said this is what you were aiming for? With your success in Europe, is this what you expected? Is this what you wanted?
Nathaniel: I think it’s what we wanted, and we want so much more too.
SS: In L.A. or in Europe?
Nathaniel: Everywhere I think.
Dyan: New world domination.
Nathaniel: Japan.
Zeb: Japan.
SS: You want it in Japan?
Zeb: Yeah.
SS: Why?
Zeb: It’s fun. I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.
SS: You just want a billion people to go to your show.
Nathaniel: That’s true. I think just traveling around everywhere and seeing new places and making more albums, we get better.
SS: How has the experience been from when you first went to Europe to now, when you’ve been there almost seven times? Has it changed every time?
Dyan: We get to know people, which is cool. We go to the same cities, and we have friends in Glasglow and Liverpool.
Nathaniel: Because of Ben Lee.
SS: Why Ben Lee? What does he do?
Nathaniel: He coordinates the social. He’s sort of a camp counselor. He’s like, “OK guys, now there’s this party over here,” and we’re like, “OK.”
Zach: He makes sure that people we know get into the shows.
Nathaniel: He sells our merch.
Zeb: He filters the good people out for us. If they pass his test, then we hang out with them. [Laughs]
Nathaniel: Buy him a drink. If you buy him a drink … Ohh, the secret’s out. [More laughs]
SS: Ben Lee’s blog is very essential to the band.
Zeb: You should tell him that. That will make him feel good.
SS: [To Ben Lee] Your blog rocks. It’s like no other. It’s literature, punk literature. Without you, there wouldn’t be a band.
Nathaniel: Let’s just be honest.
SS: I shouldn’t be drinking with you guys. [Laughs]
SS: Tell me about the new album, Lie Lover Lie. How is it different from Bomb Romantics?
Dyan: We spent two days recording Bomb Romantics in somebody’s garage, all done live. On [Lie Lover Lie], we spent a month. We had time to experiment with stuff, and if we wanted to spend a few hours trying out different guitar sounds or whatever, we had the freedom to do that. I think that comes across [on] the album. It has a bigger sound.
Nathaniel: We recorded like 20 songs for it, and then we combed them out.
SS: So why should I buy the album?
Nathaniel: Why? ‘Cause it’s awesome. [Laughs]
SS: When we last talked about two or three years ago, you wanted to promote the album in just the U.S., and you weren’t really looking at Europe.
Nathaniel: Yeah, we never expected the way things turned out, exactly how they turned out, but it has always been our goal to be a successful, serious band.
SS: How have you managed? Because traveling over there, you guys have to change your lives.
Nathaniel: We’ve learned how to pack. We’ve learned how to wear the same clothes a lot.
Dyan: Yeah, our standards for cleanliness have gone down a lot.
SS: I’ve seen some pictures of you guys playing on a rooftop. How is that experience?
Nathaniel: There was a promotional thing for this Web site. It was a lot of fun; we played a couple of songs. It was good.
SS: When you play on rooftops, are fans trying to get up on a certain apartment?
Nathaniel: I don’t think people knew about it. It was just the people who were working, who I suspect didn’t know our songs. We were trying to convince them that we were the best. It was cool to play. There were ambulances going by, and we were playing our songs and ‘WOOOOOOOOOOO’ sounded like another instrument playing.
SS: Where do you go from here? To promote the new album, will you tour the U.S. a lot more? Is that your focus? Or do you want to continue playing in Europe?
Nathaniel: Well, of course we’d like to continue playing in Europe. We are in the process of acquiring an American record deal, and hopefully the album will be out in every store early next year. If things go well, we will be touring more. But our focus is to continue writing songs when we get back and start working on the next album.
SS: To sign with an American label, what would you like for that company to see about you?
Nathaniel: One of the things that helps us stand out is being from L.A. Like “here’s this new L.A. rock ‘n’ roll. Bring it out to everybody in the U.S. and represent.” I think our music sounds like it’s from L.A.
SS: To the L.A. fans who have to adjust to your schedule, what would you say to them?
Nathaniel: Thanks for holding out. I can’t believe you’re still here. [Laughs]
SS: Do you miss playing in L.A.?
Nathaniel: Yeah, a lot. We miss Spaceland, the Echo, Little Pedro’s.
SS: Most memorable moment during the U.K. tours?
Nathaniel: Ummmmmm … Ben Lee died on tour; our record label gave us this weird witch doctor to bring him back to life.
SS: For those who don’t know, can you talk about who Ben Lee is in TBA?
Nathaniel: Ben Lee is our master of ceremonies. He introduces all of our shows. He’s sort of a character that we have; we drew him and he came to life. He’s made of wood, and one day he hopes to be a real boy. He can only become a real boy when we get an American record deal. He’s our MC, he’s got a great blog, he’s fun because he shows another aspect of the band. We like to have fun; we’re not just a piece of loofah.
SS: How do you see yourselves in a couple of years?
Nathaniel: Beards, huge beards. It means you’re a serious artist if you have a beard. Just albums, write more albums, push ourselves into new directions—hip hop, country, everywhere. Popular country like Faith Hill, Dixie Chicks and obscure stuff, guitar feedback.
SS: Now for those who haven’t heard of you, why should they listen to you?
Nathaniel: Why? ‘Cause there’s Beethoven, Mozart and The Blood Arm classical.
How much has The Blood Arm changed? Well, depends on how you look at it. Yes, different hair colors, different perspective on goals, a much higher alcohol tolerance, but overall, one thing that doesn’t change is that this band continues to be one of the best bands to represent the sound of Los Angeles. Lie Lover Lie is available at some music Web sites, but your best option is to visit TheBloodArm.com where you can hear the entire album. And once again, fall in love with the beats that stay with you, your drink and the person you’re going to sleep with tonight.
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