Tag Archives: BLAJK

BLAJK – Lethal

BLAJK by Jeffrey Ayres

BLAJK by Jeffrey Ayres

Toronto band BLAJK, return with ‘Lethal’, another well put together offering from the four piece.

Of the track, the band say,

“Lethal is a song about a tarnished yet lustful relationship that has kept you going back and forth over time. Constantly yearning for the person while fully aware that reconnecting only leads to trouble and unhappiness. It’s about indulging in the guilty pleasure that is this person and living with the consequences.”

Sounds like: The Neighbourhood, Phantogram, The 1975, MOTHXR, LANY, Young Empires, Banners, KAPTAN

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Tradiio Exclusive: Interview with Tourists

Tourists

Tourists

We are loving this month’s Tradiio band, and we recon you will too.

Meet Tourists; a five-piece gem from Torquay, Devon, who effortlessly combine indie pop with elements of electronica and folk.

We had a chat with the band about Torquay, support from the BBC, and what new music they are listening to at the moment.

For those who don’t know you, tell us a bit more about Tourists and how you all got into music.

The writing process actually began a few years ago when Scott (drums) was actively seeking out people to start a new band with. He stumbled on Jamie’s (vocals / guitar) Myspace page and connected with his songs immediately. Then by chance, they met in a local club and got things started. Tom (synth), Matt (bass) and Lloyd (guitar) were in other bands at the time which since split – Tom a psych-rock band, and Matt and Lloyd post-punk revival outfits.

The amalgamation of our styles and influences since coming together as a five-piece last year has been fantastic. It feels like we are a new band, yet we have loads of material in the bag and our sound is now richer and more expansive than ever. It’s exciting.

Describe your sound in three words.

“Dreamy, melodic bliss”.

That’s what BBC Introducing said about us recently. We’ll take it.

Your new single Quiet Room follows the popular release of previous single Cut and Run and is released on 17th June – Tell us more about it.

I think Quiet Room is a sign of where we’re at currently, showing how we’ve developed as a band in the last year. With Cut and Run we wanted to put something out that was going to be an instant hit, something catchy and infectious to engage people and get their attention – It had been over 6 months since our last release. Quiet Room has more depth. It has this weird contrast where the verse – and also lyrically – it has this solemn, melancholy tone, yet at the same time has this big, anthemic, feel-good chorus which people just love when we play it live. We actually had one guy in London come up to Jamie singing the lyrics to him after a gig – There’s no way he could have known them. It really resonates with people.

What is the music scene like in Torquay?

I personally think Devon is thriving with exciting young artists and bands (see Skeleton Frames, Peacock Affect, Sam Piper, Pattern Pusher, Martyn Crocker…).

Torquay itself is struggling to be honest – As I think are a lot of small towns. Sometimes I blame the venues for being short-sighted and not paying bands enough. Young bands need money to develop, buy better equipment, improve their sound. Then they get better, attract bigger crowds, inspire others, and before you know it you’ve started a bit of a scene. But then the venues have to make the money too… And if people aren’t turning up, its not worth them putting the bands on. It’s a vicious circle. I’m not sure what the answer is.

Do you consider yourself Tourists in Torquay?

Haha.. Definitely not. We all grew up here and have been here most of our lives. It’s a beautiful place to be (when the sun is out).

We discovered you on Tradiio. Do you think Tradiio has contributed to the immense response to your music from radio and blog tastemakers, as well as fans?

We like Tradiio a lot. It’s changing the way people discover and appreciate unsigned artists, which is important. The response to our music on Tradiio has been overwhelming from day one. Most of our tracks have reached the top 10 in their global charts which is cool. We actually got our first ever BBC Radio 1 play because of someone hearing our track All We Do Is Pretend on Tradiio. A few weeks ago we launched our Tradiio Circle, which allows our fans to directly support us each month as we try to fund our debut album. For example, if you subscribe for $5/month, you get exclusive access to new unreleased tracks prior to their release, old demos and ideas, and behind-the- scenes photos and videos of what we’re doing, new song ideas, etc. It’s allowing us to be more interactive with our fans, which is a good thing for both of us.

You’ve been working with producer James Bragg. How’s that process been?

Yeah, James is the man. He is the ‘6th  Tourist’. Recording with him is always so exciting as he adds so much to the tracks. We go to him with ideas and he makes them happen x 100. He even cooks us bacon in the morning.

We had our biggest gig to date recently, playing a live showcase for BBC Radio 1’s The Academy. We were pretty nervous before, especially when we saw how many people were there but James turned up just before we played and was the calming presence we needed. He said he felt like a proud Dad after that show – Ironic considering he’s younger than a few of us.

Where do you cite your musical influences from?

We like to think we are influenced by everything we hear. I think it’s a mistake to get hooked on one or two bands too much as ultimately you’re going to end up sounding the same – And what’s the point in that.

Jamie loves a good 80’s pop song. That together with post punk and psych-pop/rock influences, it becomes quite an interesting mix.

We love new music at Indietronica. What new music are you listening to?

Jamie – Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool (“It’s a masterpiece”)
Scott – Ulrika Spacek (“I have a thing for a maze of dark sounding, chiming guitars.”)
Matt – Diiv – Is the Is Are (“Such simple riffs but total bliss”)
Lloyd – Deep Sea Diver (“I love the guitar work and the synth tones they use sound great. There’s a really good balance between the two”)
Tom – Lets Eat Grandma (“The depth and maturity of their songs for their age is mind-blowing. They have serious natural talent.”)

‘Quiet Room’ is out on 17th June.

We’ve invested in Tourists. Have you? Listen to more of their songs and support them at tradiio.com/tourists/circle.

Sounds like: Band of Horses, MOTHXR, Tuska, Honne, Tender, BLAJK, Youth Club, FAIRCHILD

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BKLYN – Don’t Even Care

BKLYN

BKLYN

BKLYN are an alternative pop trio from Devon, UK, comprised of Josh (lead vocal / guitar), Alex (bass) and Jack (drums).

We caught up the guys to discuss Devon, musical influences and what their sound is all about (in four words, not three!).

For those of you who don’t know you, tell us a bit more about yourself and how you got into music.

Hi I’m Josh, I sing and play guitar. You’ve got Jack who plays the drums and Alex who also sings and plays the bass. We’ve all lived most of our lives in a small town on the coast of Devon. All 3 of us started playing music in different bands and through the playing of local shows, you kind-of got to meet and know who everyone was through the music “scene” – ’cause to be honest it doesn’t really exist where we are unless you venture inland a few more miles. But how we actually got into music started when we were all pretty young, I think we’ve now all got an urge/strive and passion to create a sound we can call ours.

Describe your sound in three words.

Lovesick Pop, Electronic, Ambient.

You’ve definitely got a The 1975 vibe going on. Where do you cite your musical influences from?

We have been told that our music resembles theirs and we’re humbled to hear that, but we couldn’t say that we were influenced by them in general. Our influences differ depending on which one of us you ask; we have American Football, Brain Eno, Peter Gabriel, Chairlift, Blood Orange, Sia, Neon Indiana, Bowie, I mean the list can go on. But we do have a huge mutual appreciation for hip/hop and take a lot of narration from the percussion and bass lines. It’s hard to narrow it down to a select few artists.

Tell us who the new release ‘Don’t Even Care’ is about?

Its kind a revenge song in my head, but its pretty self explanatory. I lead more towards it being in your face rather than it being vague and shadowing its truth, which is how I used to like to write. It needed to be more full fontal. Its pretty much about not caring about something special and being blatant about it, when you’re preaching to everyone that you did care. I’m heading down this self righteous road on how I’m writing these songs at the moment and most of the new songs we’ve yet to release will tell you that. Its exciting because we feel like this is the step we need to take in writing new music.

We love new music at Indietronica. What new music are you listening to?

Josh – I’m smashing out ZAYN‘s new album, theres some great new sounds I’ve not really heard on songs before which I love.
Alex – been listening to KANO and Deftone’s new albums.
Jack – it been LANY for me.

Sounds like: The 1975, Fickle Friends, BLAJK, High Tyde, SKIES, The Northcoast

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BLAJK – Good Liars

BLAJK

BLAJK

Toronto indie pop five-piece BLAJK make a tidy return to Indietronica with their latest release, ‘Good Liars’.

The track sees lead vocalist Jordan Radics telling the story of contrived, synthetic lives and personalities broadcast through screens and filters.

“Good Liars was built off another song we had written about a year ago. We had always liked its energy but didn’t really know where to go with it. So when it came time to piece together all the demos we had for the EP, that song quickly evolved and became one of our favourites. The original demo sounded much different and it took a couple nights of writing to really bring it to life. But when Jordan sang over it we knew it was strong and it proves to be whenever we play it live.”

It’s another polished and compelling offering from BLAJK. Listen below:

Tour Dates
May 4 / The Velvet Underground / Toronto, ON (w/ Baio, ROMES, Only Yours and TMPL)
May 6 / Royal Ontario Museum / Toronto, ON
May 8 / Adelaide Hall / Toronto, ON (w/ Big Black Delta, Rolemodel and Wilde)
May 18 / Sugar Nightclub / Victoria, BC (w/ Young Empires)
May 19 / Fortune Sound Club / Vancouver, BC (w/ Young Empires)
May 20 / Habitat / Kelowna, BC (w/ Young Empires)
May 21 / Commonwealth / Calgary, AB (w/ Young Empires)
May 22 / Starlite Room / Edmonton, AB (w/ Young Empires)
May 24 / Amigos / Saskatoon, SK (w/ Young Empires)
May 25 / Park Theatre / Winnipeg, MB (w/ Young Empires)
Jun 12 / Bestival / Toronto, ON

Purchase on iTunes.

Sounds like: The Neighbourhood, Phantogram, The 1975, MOTHXR, LANY, Young Empires, Banners

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Premiere: BLAJK – French Class

BLAJK

BLAJK

Toronto five-piece, BLAJK are a well-tailored and well-talented bunch.

That’s all we really know about them, but it’s enough. No gimmicks, just straight-forward, inviting, indie pop.

Their latest single, ‘French Class’, has been co-produced with SONNER, and is about discovering the joys of escapism when you fall in love.

Sounds like: The Neighbourhood, Phantogram, The 1975, MOTHXR

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