Five Minutes With Old Blood

Perth blues rockers Old Blood have been doing their thing since 2011, steadily amassing fans and earning themselves somewhat of a cult following as one of the best live acts in the city - a reputation easily justifiable if you've ever caught their set. Last year saw the five-piece hit the studio to record their debut album Live at RADA, much to the joy of their dedicated fan base that seems to grow with each new live performance. Having impressed massive crowds in 2015 at the West Coast Blues and Roots Festival and the Wave Rock Weekender, Old Blood continue to gather steam as they prepare to launch into further writing to round out 2016. The blues lords were kind enough to chat to us ahead of their massive headline show at Jack Rabbit Slim's on Friday, September 2.

So the Live at RADA album you released a little while back had been a long time coming. Firstly, congratulations on the record! Secondly, why was it that you guys waited five years to release a full-length?

Thank you very much, it’s definitely been a long time coming. The boys have been playing pretty solidly for a number of years now, with the band slowly evolving, finding the right people with the right sound in mind. Getting into the studio has always been the goal though and we couldn’t be more grateful to all the people who have put up with us and been patient all these years.

I imagine it must've been a pretty special feeling finally getting the record out?

Yeah, it feels pretty unreal to be honest. We’re fortunate enough to be surrounded by some really talented visual artists, and knowing how much time and energy has gone into the final product from so many different people, we couldn’t be more happy to finally have it out.

How have fans been enjoying the album so far?

The response has blown all of us away. We were a bit worried as to where the album would lie, it’s only five tracks, yet none of the songs are less than six minutes, so to see almost all of our first pressing gone has taken us all a little aback.

You tracked this album live at RADA Studios, what was that recording process like?

Yeah, we decided to record the album in a performance setting. We had about 70 people in the studio with some people taking footage of the whole session as well. It was one the bands first recordings in a studio, but with our friends and family all there sharing it with us, it only added to what was a pretty incredible atmosphere.

And why did you decide to go with live tracking rather than with more conventional recording techniques?

Old Blood wouldn’t exist without its live performance, as well as all the people who have been coming to our shows for the past five years. Live is what we do best and we wanted to share it with the people who really make it what it is.

You're headlining a show at Jack Rabbit Slim's on September 2, it looks like it'll be a big one! Are you guys looking forward to it?

Yeah, we’ve played there a couple of times now and we’re really excited to get back. We’ve also got two of our favourite bands joining us for the evening in Grace Barbe and Jacob Diamond. We all had a really special time playing at Wave Rock last year and couldn’t be more excited to be sharing the stage with these world class acts.

And what can people expect to see/hear from at that show if they haven't seen Old Blood play previously? 

We’re hoping to have a few guests with us at the Slims show in Phil Stroud on percussion, and Gordon Cant on organ. We were fortunate enough to play with these guys on the 'Live at RADA' recordings, and they add so much more depth to the sound and the grooves in the songs. We’ve got a few new songs we’re hoping to share as well so it should be a pretty fun night.

Do you have any other shows coming up after the Slim's gig, or any plans to head over east/overseas?

No shows after Slims yet, but we’re currently looking at heading over east in the coming months. Hoping to get overseas in the next year or so as well.

What do you guys have planned for the rest of 2016?

We’ve been playing pretty heavily for a number of years now, so we’ve decided to take a bit of a break as far as heaps of shows are concerned. Our focus at the moment is on writing new material and getting the songs where they need to be so we can get back into the studio as soon as possible.

Click HERE to go to next Friday's show at Jack Rabbit Slim's.

Follow Old Blood: FACEBOOK