Text: Laura Rosierse
Leeds-based post-modern grunge outfit Bloodhound are gearing up for the release of their new single ‘There Are Birds Falling Out Of The Sky’ which is due for release on the 2nd of December, which gave us the perfect opportunity to sit down with Lucy, Max and morgen to talk about the band, their inspiration, motivation and their musical future!
Hi! Who are Bloodhound and what kind of music do you make?
Max: I’m the singer and guitarist, we’re based in Leeds, I don’t really know what kind of music we make.
Morgan: The easiest way to kind of condense it would be smash hits, me and Max are often referred to as the jukebox, because we just come out with hits. Hit masters would be the term I would go for, for the type of music we create.
Lucy: I do vocals and a little bit of keys, I moved to Leeds for university and the rest kind of followed me which is really lovely. I guess it’s shoegaze, grungy stuff, sort of electronic, ambient, melodic music. Very different from the style that Bloodhound created before.
Morgan: I play bass and I do the very occasional bit of vocals.
Spotify shows an EP-release, how has this release been for you?
Max: People think it’s an EP, but really we just waterfalled the singles that we released this year, and it became this little body of work which kind of worked out quite nicely. We didn’t really do anything for two years, these have been kind of casual releases, testing the waters and seeing what we could come up with. The new single that we have got coming out next week is something totally wild and unhinged.
Lucy and Morgan, you recently joined the band, what has the journey so far been like for you?
Lucy: We joined around a similar time, but I think from hearing the songs beforehand, and watching them live, it was a massive shock for me because I’ve had my fair share of being in bands that were more indie but nothing compared to this. It was a challenge at first, but I think I’ve always been comfortable around the band, we’re great mates as it is. We tried to really take it into the direction that caters for all of our music-tastes, rather than sticking to one genre.
So have all of you worked together on the upcoming single?
Morgan: Max sent an idea over about seven weeks ago, just an acoustic demo, we had a chat about it, the next week we did a demo day at Max’s and about six weeks later we went into the studio with Mickey Dale from Embrace, who’s been a friend for years. So the whole process maybe took about six or seven. We are trying to release music in its purest form. We are not just this noisy band, there’s a lot more to us.
What do you hope your music does to people?
Max: As long as we are happy with what we are releasing that is what really matters. I like the idea that we have this label of being a grunge band and now there’s barely any electric guitar on the new single. We like taking people’s expectations of us and scrunching them up and throwing them back in their face.
Morgan: Especially because the band has changed so much, this single is the first collection of all of our different tastes and interests together.
Max: My music background for the past few years has been a lot of melancholic music such as The National, Bon Iver and Ben Howard, this track has given me an excuse to experiment with that kind of music.
What do you hope the next two years will look like for Bloodhound?
Morgan: For me it’s important that we are enjoying it, there’s still that purity, when you start looking too much at what you want to do it can nullify why you do it. Starting the music from the ground up again, as long as we are still enjoying it, and the energy and the excitement in our shows is still there in two years, and us three are still writing songs and enjoying it as much as we do now, then that’s sweet; let’s keep doing that!
Max: Yeah, as long as it’s us three having a great time, we could play in a room with ten people and we’ll still have a great show cause I’ll be on stage with my best mates.
Lucy: I think the writing journey has been the nicest part. We are combining our influences and it’s beautiful to watch that come together. I love being on stage and playing to new people! Watching that unfold in the new year would be great.
Morgan: If next summer I can sit in a hot sunny field having a cocktail with Mel C, I’ll be quite happy about it.
What is your favourite track of those that you released this year and why?
Max: ‘A Message’, it’s a really moody, groovy way of expressing who we are, it holds a special place in my heart.
Lucy: ‘Illuminations’, not that I had a lot to do with it, but it’s completely different, it allows me to transform into a version of myself that I never thought I would see. It is CHAOS!
Morgan: My favourite has to be ‘Backscattering’, it is pretty simple, you know what you’re getting and it descends into this drowning chaos, and live it steps up another level. For me simple music is good music, if it is easy to digest and punches you in the face everytime you listen to it then you’ve achieved the right thing.
Max: I like how we all chose a different song!
Where can we find Bloodhound next in terms of live dates?
19-12 Hyde Park Book Club, Leeds with Bug Teeth, Allora
20-12 The Eagle Inn, Manchester with Faux Pas, Bleach Boy
Bloodhound’s next single will be out on the 2nd of December, ‘There Are Birds Falling Out Of The Sky’ and in the new year there will be a short run of very intimate house concerts in nice settings so keep an eye on the Bloodhound socials if you would like to be a part of this!
