Hi Blonder, welcome to VENTS! How have you been? Hi! I ' m doing well thank you. Just got off my tour with Day Wave and am currently chilling in Minneapolis.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single " Just Because "? Sure, this was made in the same batch of songs that my ep was culled from, recorded at Sound City in Los Angeles. It ' s about that point in a relationship when the love is fading, or gone already, but something keeps it going, whether it ' s a platonic love or lust or whatever. It ' s actually a super sad break up song about staying together even though the relationship should end.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song? My whole ep was inspired by this illfated relationship I was in with someone who was really special to me, a relationship of 3 years that was falling apart in a really complicated way.
Any plans to release a video for the single? Yea! Well, the video for In and Out came out a little while ago, which was about the whole idea of introducing a brand new act to an audience. It doesn ' t really relate to the content of the song but is more about the idea of who listens to your music, why, when and how someone discovers it, etc. etc.
The single comes off your new EP $ 5- what ' s the story behind the title? $ 5 is at once a reference to the historical aspect of New York City as rock and roll city, a reference to the days when shows costs $ 5, shows of classic bands, anyone from velvet underground to the strokes- and it ' s also a sarcastic, tongue in cheek reference to the way in which we all actually consume music these days, that it ' s basically free, that we stream it, rip it or play it off youtube. Even if we buy it, it ' s a nominal price of $ 0. 99 a song. I liked how it was about looking back at the past and also very contemporary.
How was the recording and writing process?
My writing process is very cumulative, and collaborative. I write either with myself or someone else, or multiple people on a song and I kind of store it, like a collage artist would store cut-outs, along the way pieces different sections together, or swapping melodies out for new ones, and so on and so forth. And it kind of just slowly comes to fruition, takes on an identity. recording is more systematic but also magical but thats where I choose the provenance ofa sound, a reference point for the sonic dimension of a composition. That ' s kind of like a factory as well, like okay today we do guitars drums and bass, tomorrow vocals, etc etc. I go back on all the stuff but most of the time what I lay down is for keeps in the the proper recording stage.
You’ re currently on tour with Day Wave- how has that been so far? The shows were actually better than expected, you know I try and maintain some kind of healthy expectation going into a tour, especially as a new band, but they all save for like 2 turned out to be beautiful shows where we really connected w our audience. Really enjoyed supporting Day Wave who became our friends and were so cool to have us on the road with them, Jackson basically hand picked us from a list of about 30 bands that had been suggested to him.
What else is happening next in BLONDER ' s world? Well, I ' m currently really excited bc i ' ve been waiting new material for the next ep. I have about 8 solid demos written and feeling super happy about the most recent additions I made in Los Angeles. It ' s about continuing to mine new influences and grow the sound, continue to develop the perception of what Blonder sounds like. Definitely looking at the next tour in the late summer or fall, working on that and getting ready for it, adding new songs to the set that we didn ' t play in this one. Also getting deeper, or just continuing to be interested in fashion, just staying inspired. I also like to cook, so I ' m looking to make some crazy meals this summer.