'Blonde Revolver EP' / Blonde Revolver (Interview)
Verve gets the opportunity to chat with local legends Blonde Revolver, about their debut EP and the importance of the DIY scene
Melbourne punks rejoice as new band on the block Blond Revolver released their highly anticipated debut EP, featuring fast paced guitar, impressive vocals, tongue in cheek lyrics and whole lot of group chants. With a live show to match, Blonde Revolver’s energy is unmatched and demands your attention. Blonde Revolver’s EP happens to be the first release from brand new label Rack Off Records, which is not only run by the bands guitarists Iso and Grace but focuses on amplifying the voices of gender diverse artists! With a star studded lineup to boot each member playing in at least one other Melbourne band (Blonde Revolver truly is an all star collaboration) you already know that the EP is going to be the answer to your next favourite punk outfit from Naarm. Make sure to catch Blonde Revelover at their EP launch on Friday the 8th of October at the Northcote Social Club.
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The first two singles ‘Red Ruby’ and ‘Power Play’ off the highly anticipated self titled debut Blonde Revolver EP have been nothing but high energy punk hits, how do you as a band translate that energy into the way you record? Take us through the recording process for the EP!
We are honestly each other’s biggest fans and just pump each other up both during gigs and also at band prac. Because of this, when it came to recording we just treated it like any other band prac. The high energy we have when we play was translated into the tracks thanks to the talented Kyle Campbell who recorded the EP (that and holding hands while doing backing vocals). We were incredibly lucky to work with both Kyle Campbell (who also mixed the EP) and Erik Scerba (who mastered the EP) that both did a brilliant job at keeping the energy of the EP high, so that it feels like a live performance.
Blonde Revolver have such an electric stage presence that's truly a force to be reckoned with, Frontwoman Zoe has a way of taking ownership of the stage in her very own way. Are there any specific inspirations Blonde Revolver has in terms of curating your live performance or within the process of recording? Is there anything that stood out that may have found its way onto the EP?
Thank you! It’s an interesting one because we all have very different influences and idols that we look to for inspiration, so this is easily something we could talk about for a long time. From a live performance perspective, when we are on stage we tend to feed off each other’s energies and sometimes we get a little carried away (in the best way). Because we are all so close even outside of the band, we go into playing live shows knowing that we are going to have a good time anyway because we are doing it together.
Personally, this is my first time fronting a band, but I’ve always really admired artists like Siouxsie Sioux and Poly Styrene who just had their own presence and way of controlling a room. So I try my best to leave any anxieties of fuck ups at the door and focus on doing the songs justice and just having fun with it.
We tried to emulate a similar tone to that of our live performance through the EP by recording live and adding vocals in later. Because we cover a lot of themes close to my heart in the songs, and the band works as almost a wall of sound, we really had to amp ourselves up to get it to the point that we did. Pep talks were involved!
How does Blonde Revolver write songs? Do you potentially find it easier to be creative in a collaborative process or do you all work on ideas separately and bring them to life as a band when possible?
Well we started writing songs as a band at the beginning of 2020, it was a very collaborative process and it was surprising how well we all worked together considering there are 6 of us. But when lockdown hit we had to adapt our writing style so we could keep working on music. I managed to write ‘Pocket Rocket' and ‘Red Ruby’ during lockdown by coming up with the skeleton versions of the songs, playing around with bass riffs, drum machines and lyrics. Then when we finally were able to play together again, we all workshopped the songs until they became what they are today.
We are really looking forward to post-lockdown where we can be a little more collaborative in our writing styles – it’s just more fun! It definitely takes us longer because there are so many heads in the room, but we love writing together and combining all our different influences is how we found our sound in the first place.
‘Pocket Rocket’ is such a track! Especially with the opening lyrics being so iconic, it definitely always caught my attention in your live shows which are always a stand out (definitely not one to miss) ! How did the idea for ‘Pocket Rocket’ come about ?
We’ve been so blown away by the response we’ve had to ‘Pocket Rocket’, it’s probably one of our most aggressive (and fun) songs to play. I want to preface that we think it’s an incredible time to be women in music – particularly in the Melbourne scene. I feel very lucky to be supported by my male band mates, friends and peers in the scene. But, in saying that, no scene is perfect and there have been times that I felt underestimated, particularly as a drummer in other projects - which is actually how the song title came about. While that did drive me to work even harder, I wanted to write an anthem or almost a love-letter to my past self, that talks to the importance of backing yourself, because at times I definitely forgot to. But most importantly, remind myself that at the end of the day, we’re all alphas baby ;)
This being the very first release for Rack Off Records also, how important to you as a band is the DIY community in Melbourne? Can you give us an insight into all things Rack Off Records and how this collaboration initially came about?
It's so important! A lot of us probably wouldn't have started the other bands we are in if it weren't for Melbourne's supportive DIY community, which inspired us to get into playing music and giving it a go in the first place, despite no formal training. The DIY community led us all to meet through our varied projects and form Blonde Revolver.
It helps that we (Iso and Grace) from Rack Off Records play in Blonde Revolver, so the collab came together easily over a few vodka sodas at the Lomond Hotel with the band. We had the idea to start a label for a while but were hesitant to take the plunge with so many other amazing local labels in Melbourne, but with the encouragement and support from the band we decided to go for it and are excited to bring the BR EP and future releases to life.
Your Debut EP comes out on Friday the 27th of August, and with your launch set to go ahead on the 8th of October (Fingers crossed!) is there anything special in store for punters and what listeners can expect from this very exciting debut?
Fingers crossed the launch can go ahead, but if it has to be cancelled we will definitely reschedule so stay tuned for that! The EP consists of 5 punchy tracks (and a bonus cover available digitally) full of big riffs and driving synth lines guaranteed to get you hot under the collar! We’re so excited to share it with the world and can’t wait for you to hear it!
Stay up to date with Blonde Revlover here Instagram, Rack Off Records, Bandcamp, Spotify,
Interview by Evie Vlah @cherrygarcon
Photos by Tam Vantage
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