(Photo by Matthew Jenkins)
Please introduce the members of your band, names and roles.
Hi. Black Blondie is composed of: Samahra Daly on vocals, Liz Draper
on upright and electric bass, Tasha Baron on keyboards. The three of
us write drums parts but we do perform with live drums and have a few
different drummers that we work with. One of whom is Nate Babbs who is
absolutely awesome!
Your music is very unique, how would you describe the genre/sound of
Black Blondie?
We all come from diverse backgrounds so we are a total mix of that.
For instance, I (Liz) grew up with a dad who played jazz drums, but I
listened to a lot of hip hop, punk, and underground music. Tasha grew
up with a fascination for experimental jazz and 20th century classical
music before she even hit puberty! Samahra was a singer from day one
and grew up listening to tons of old soul and 80s rock. So, our sound
is a culmination of all these influences, but one thing we all
developed an equal love for is hip hop. I would say we are sort of
“alternative R&B” but are similar to hip hop in the sense that we may
write one part that sounds like a reggae sample, but throw a afro-beat
melody over the top, and have a metal beat underneath… Samahra
definitely has a very bad-ass diva voice and both Liz and Tasha went
to music conservatory so that definitely plays into our sound and
performance as well.
Candy Cigarettes ft. Channy Moon Casselle (Polica/Roma Di Luna)
-BeScene recently did an album review on Sarah White’s new album. She
used to be a member of Black Blondie, correct? Tell us about her
involvement and what her move to New York did for the band.
Sarah was a vocalist with Black Blondie a number of years ago. After
she left we were really able to nail down the sound we were going for
and it gave Samahra a lot more freedom to make her lyrics wayyyy more
personal. I’d say that having a smaller number of members also made us
a lot tighter, not only musically but also as friends. We’ve spent
COUNTLESS hours together and love each other deeply! Being in a band
is like being married, especially after all these years. We’ve had a
lot of opportunities to grow as friends and musicians.
-In 2007, you girls were picked as #2 in the “Picked to Click” series
(City Pages). What sort of opportunities did that open up for your
group?
That was awesome! I think it helped make a name for us around
Minneapolis; especially with folks who perhaps don’t get a chance to
go out to a lot of shows.
World Won’t Rest
Tell me about your work with local emcee, Muja Messiah.
Muja and Maria Isa are both friends of ours, so it seemed natural to
have him on the album. Samahra is also on a bunch of his tracks, and
we’ve all done shows together. We wanted to have a rap verse on the
song “Dirty Ashes” and his attack seemed perfect for it.
“All I wanna do is listen to Black Blondie” (a lyric from the song
Cool J Planets off of Big Zach’s solo record “White Jesus”) was
actually the first time I had ever heard your name. Tell me about
your involvement with Big Zach and Kanser as a whole.
When we first started playing out as a band, the hip hop
scene/community, especially at the Dinkytowner
(Stinkytowner…Donkeytowner… RIP), was VERY supportive… Big Zach,
Unicus, everyone from Interlock, Chuck U, Prof and Rahzwell, Ernie
Rhodes, Muja Messiah, …one of our earliest shows was actually with I
Self Devine at the Triple Rock! Dessa (Doomtree) has also been a
great supporter and friend throughout the years since the very
beginning. We’ve always had a hip hop flare to our sound, so we fit in
well with hip hop bills.. One year we even hosted Dre Day at the
Triple Rock, -and YES Samahra did rap that night. Another great show
was the Hip Hop and Harmony Festival where we shared the stage with
Sage Francis, and of course Kanser.
Kanser “Music” ft. Samahra of Black Blondie
Tasha you used to be a member of Heiruspecs. Tell me one of your fondest memories playing with that group.
I had a ton of great experiences playing with Heiruspecs… Our month
long tour with Oddjobs, Mac Lethal & Joe Goode, and for part of the
tour, POS was CRAZY.. It was routed so that we made it all the way
from MPLS to Montreal to NYC to Denver to Texas.. lots of driving and
lots of listening to Cannibal Ox on repeat…! Also, backing up
Atmosphere for a sold out show at the Metro in Chicago on my birthday
was another highlight. I also learned a TON from Sean McPherson aka
Twinkie Jiggles, about booking shows…promoting shows..how to run an
indie band in general. Those lessons have been invaluable to my
experiences with Black Blondie.
Bye, Polar Bear
New album in the works?
Yes. We have a number of new songs that we’ve been performing for a
while now, but finally just got back in the studio.
When are the next few dates in which people can catch you live?
+October 29th 9PM Bethany Larson & BK//Black Blondie//Taj Raj at the
Amsterdam Bar and Hall.
+Nov. 5th 9pm Sexcat, Lovecat and Black Blondie at the Kitty Cat Klub
+Nov. 11th 7-10pm A LOUD HEART Guante & Claire CD RELEASE w/ Black
Blondie & Kristoff Krane at the kitty cat klub
+Nov. 23rd “Drinksgiving”. 9pm. with Black Blondie , Useless Wooden
Toys & Dj Asylum Sound System at Memory Lanes.
bescenempls 