Artist Spotlight: BLOOD
Local acts BLOOD and West Nile Crows took the stage alongside Arkansas experimental electronic group Modeling at Cactus Club on Sunday night.
BLOOD is the project of Nicholas Schubert, who’s known for playing in electronic pop band GGOOLLDD. BLOOD finds Schubert exploring the territories of gothic rock and dark synths. On how he conceptualized the project, Schubert said, “Back when I was in high school I was really into a band called HIM…I’ve always gravitated toward that style of music. GGOOOLLDD is more bubbly and poppy, and during COVID I realized that whatever I sit down and write I always go into that darker space. I have folders and folders of shit that I’ve recorded but never done anything with, and I had the revelation that that stuff is just going to rot away if I don’t put it out. The name came from my wife having poetry magnets on the fridge, and one of the words was blood.”
Currently Schubert is playing with Nik Hoffman on bass, whom he’s been playing music with for decades. “We like a lot of the same music, and I thought that what Nick was doing was great but that it could have a more interesting live sound,” Hoffman said. “The first show he asked me to play, we practiced with another guitarist and a live drummer, and it just didn’t really work. But then me and him practiced informally together with a back track and that worked really well.”
“I’m all about simplicity.” Schubert added. “I don’t want to overcomplicate things. I’m truly just doing this for fun.”
BLOOD’s debut album “Testamental” came out in October 2020. “The title itself kind of describes me just going for it with the dark music,” Schubert explained. “I will be the first to say that I am no lyricist by any means; I actually struggle with it. A lot of times I’ll just throw words together and leave it up for interpretation. It’s vague enough that the listener can create their own story, and I kind of wanted that. It’s definitely a lot of sad lyrics and tones but without saying directly that a song is about something like a past relationship or death. I’ll even spitball lyrics when I’m playing live and sing lyrics that I haven’t used in recordings.”
BLOOD are currently writing new material while also working on live versions of “Testamental” songs. Schubert shared, “This past record I was heavily inspired by Drab Majesty, who are very synth-heavy and gothic with deep vocals. This other stuff I’ve been writing is more similar to Black Marble and bands like that.”
