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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

NEW SOUNDS: THE BLOOMS

A friend with incredible ears turned me onto this band from Tulsa, Oklahoma recently, and although I only have 4 songs, it shows the promise that this band has in front of them. They are called THE BLOOMS, and let's get it out of the way and mention the QUEEN sounds right off the bat. It's important to differentiate this Queen from say MIKA or even SCISSOR SISTERS, where they take Freddie over the top, THE BLOOMS give you the rockin' Queen. So many times you find artists hidden away in cities like Tulsa, Kansas City, and Cincinnati that aren't in some kind of "scene", but rather have their favorite records, memorize them, and follow those high standards into making their own music with their buddies. That's where the BUDDY HOLLY's (Abilene, TX) show up and exactly how we came across THE KILLERS at first in Las Vegas. I've been enjoying the track, "White Walls" the most.

The band was nice enough to answer some questions I sent their way so I'm going to let them tell their story.


Q: Can you briefly give us a rundown of the line-up of THE BLOOMS?

A: (Caleb) Sure. David Dean is the front man I guess you could call him. He does lead vocals, plays rhythm/lead guitar and piano as well. I am the Blooms guitarist as well and responsible for rhythm/lead parts as well. Elad Fish is the Blooms drummer and Dan Morrow is the Blooms bassist.

Q: From the songs I've listened to, the obvious references are QUEEN and ELTON JOHN, which is also stated on your Myspace page, but can you tell us more about where your inspiration comes from? Past and present?

A: (David) Well, The Blooms as an entity have inspirational influences that cover every musical facet you could probably imagine. From classical to gospel to you name it, its in there some where. Id say past influences which are really heavy are Queen and Elton. When I was a kid before I discovered Queen I used to get as many tape recorders as I could find and overdub vocals and guitars and of course it sound horrific but its what I heard in my head. So when I discovered Queen I was like," Thats it!" No other rock music moved me like that. As for Elton, his lyrics were so interesting and so effortless and I always wanted to achieve that. As far as present influences go we really haven't listened to anything in a very long time. We have to check every few months just to see who's doing what.

Q: I understand that you have a "private investor" - I love hearing those stories because I'm a believer that artists should be open to making things happen for themselves now more than ever before. Does this outside party influence any decision making regarding the next steps for the band? Did they help create a marketing plan?

A: (Caleb) Well, yes and no. Its actually pretty complicated and I'm not sure we understand our arrangement at times. Our investor's involvement of his time resource sort of comes and goes but yea we discuss things and try to figure out the best way to go on things.

Q: The Blooms are from Tulsa - Outside of the Flaming Lips, what's going on with the music scene in Oklahoma and enlighten us on bands that have come from the Sooner state?

A: (David) Well in Tulsa the arts district has only been around for a few years now. Its a pretty conservative and highly religious town so Id say thats why. Hero Factor was a band that was really big around here for a while and just kinda disappeared. Of course, Hanson is from Tulsa. All American Rejects are from around here. Admiral Twin which are still together but really don't play around here anymore get some radio play here and there. Theres a really high turn over rate on clubs and many of the live venues have been turned into dance clubs so most bands have to find gigs elsewhere. Theres still a problem in that area with the crime rate which has really hurt quit a but. Hopefully, that will change for upcoming bands.

Q: We're always looking for new artists, can you name three bands/artists in Tulsa/OK that we should know about?

A: (Caleb) There has really been a drought of bands around here. EAST, WEST, BY MIDWEST is a band thats doing ok now. Other than them I couldn't tell you.

Q: What are the venues that indie bands play at in Tulsa?

A: (Caleb) 1974 is really the only 'real' venue for indie bands in Tulsa aside from a few tiny little hole in the wall joints where solo gigs are kinda the thing.

Q: What is the best thing about Tulsa?

A: (David) Best thing about Tulsa....? I think we're relatively safe from the threat of terrorist attacks.

Q: What can we expect at a Blooms live show?

A: (David) At a Blooms show you can expect a huge amount of energy, a lot of attitude, and of course our standard of musicianship that has become an earmark of what we do. The songs actually take on a whole different life from the studio cuts. We're very aware the studio is one thing and the live environment is something completely different and we accentuate that.

Q: I read on your Myspace that the 4 song EP was recorded in Hollywood at Capitol Studios. Are there plans for more recordings? If so, with who?

A: (David & Caleb) Well, we are recording constantly. We have over the past year and a half accumulated some very high end recording gear and we understand that while a tour is a great deal of fun and connecting with an audience is priceless it is our recorded product that will live on past the memories of this show at so and so venue. With us, its more of a question of what not to record since we do so much writing and pretty decent writing at that. So yes, we do a lot of "home" recording but we're hoping to be able to go back in the studio at some point with our new friend Ryan Hewitt who mixed the latest EP. Ryan has a lot of great credits which include the last Chili Peppers album but hes also just a great guy to work with. If we're fortunate enough to land some kind of a label deal we will go back in with Ryan and take our time this time and give our investors some breathing room.

Q: Because Future Sounds has always been a tip-sheet in nature for the industry, can you tell us a bit about the team behind THE BLOOMS? Management? Legal? Booking? Are there any team members still needed?

A: (David) At the moment we do everything and its extremely time consuming and frustrating. So yes, yes and yes!

THE BLOOMS
MYSPACE

Labels:

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear "The Blooms,"

You have no clue about the Tulsa music scene - bands or venues.

Signed,
Tulsa music scene participator for over 20 years.

11:00 AM  
Blogger jeddest said...

I'm really very impressed with The Blooms music...although I must admit this is the first I've heard of them. After reading their interview on this blog, however, I'd like to clarify one thing: The Tulsa music scene is actually very active. I've been a professional musician in Tulsa for years now (I'm in a band called Admiral Twin) and I can tell you this...for a city our size (around 400,000) we have a surprisingly large number of venues that feature live music here...from original indie pop and rock to roots music/rockabilly to jazz to country to metal to dance music and covers.

Additionally, we have a surprisingly large number of truly original and talented bands in our scene...including (but not limited to) Vandevander, Radio Radio, Lightworks, Callupsie, Ghosts, Down for Five, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Mudville Project, The Tractors, The Red Alert, RedEcco, Nude Furniture...and of course The Blooms. (Hey David and Caleb...get in touch with us! We'd love to do a show with you sometime.)

At any rate, I write all this not to disparage The Blooms--they're obviously very talented--just to make sure the Tulsa scene gets a fair shake.

Jarrod Gollihare
Admiral Twin
www.admiraltwin.com

9:12 AM  
Blogger david dean/the blooms said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

1:03 AM  
Blogger david dean/the blooms said...

Ya know I guess this is the point where cordial people would retract a statement and insert some sorta lame apology but that just wouldnt be us.

First off, let me tell you why Im fucking pissed off. This blog here with our name on it...you see it?...Its right there ABOVE your comment. Well it is about our band and our songs not the fucking Tulsa music scene!! If theres any part of that you don't understand please get our info and contact us. We'd be glad to break it down for you in simpler terms anytime youd like.

Having said that...
A couple of months back the Urban Tulsa which is the t-town's go to entertainment periodical had an article about the lack of the music scene and from our experience in this town it has a lot to do with the lack of viable venues. You guys can do the casinos and rock every denture clad citizen in Tulsa and pack every pool hall. We will pass thanks. Jarod we first heard of you guys back in 2000 when we were still in school. Youre making our point for us. The unknown soldier there who didnt sign his name also.
You guys have been playing here forever. Noone is watching Tulsa and for good reason. Sorry its just the truth. Our loyalty is to our music, our ambitions, and to our own standards and our fans. Thats why youll still be here in 10 years and we wont. We'll be nice chaps though and send you guys postcards!

david dean
The Blooms

1:16 AM  
Blogger jeddest said...

Hey...woah! I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I'm really sorry if I offended you with my comment. I truly think your band is talented and you guys have a chance to go far in the biz. I heard your music for the first time last week and now I'm a fan of what you're doing. As for my comment, I was just trying to let folks know that there are some talented bands in Tulsa playing original music (including you guys), since you had indicated there wasn't much going on here. I try to be supportive of the local scene every chance I get.

Anyhow...no hard feelings? We really would like to do a show with you guys at Exit 6C sometime...we'll be your opening act! It'll be fun. Let me know...
--Jarrod--

6:04 AM  
Blogger david dean/the blooms said...

Jarrod...whats at the center of this whole thing was the original context of the question Larry directed at us concerning our band trying to do original music in Tulsa. As original artists here in Tulsa what we see is what see and thats it. We do things our way and don't apologize to anyone for it.

We mentioned Admiral Twin because you guys had a great song on the radio some years back and to be honest its still the only thing that was worth mentioning even then about Tulsa's "music" scene. We go where we're celebrated for who we are and what we are. We have kids coming to us for our CDs in the US, the UK, Japan, and Australia. We go our own way now and its paid off more than I have time to talk about. We respect you guys but you seriously pissed us off. Still, Best of luck to you guys, we mean that.

david dean & caleb mayo
The Blooms

4:05 PM  
Blogger david dean/the blooms said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

4:06 PM  
Blogger jeddest said...

For what it's worth...I never called for you to apologize for anything you wrote. I wasn't even trying to chastise you or anything of the sort. Like I said, I'm a fan of your music. I'm really not sure why I pissed you off. Oh well.

Best of luck to you...
--Jarrod--

4:34 PM  
Blogger daviddean/theblooms said...

Jarrod...man, there arent any hard feelings.

We're really wrapped up with things at the moment but later this summer if its possible we'd love to do a show with you guys.

dave
the blooms

5:54 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ahh – I don’t know – not my style – too --- bland? Or something. I don’t know. Last night I stumbled across a site called woozyfly. com – I found this guy - who is f’in awesome Check him out woozyfly. com/chrismann

10:00 PM  
Blogger LDDJ said...

Ya know I never comment on blogs like this and I rarely take the time to even read them. But someone told me about this band and so I came on and read their blog and listened to their tracks on myspace and holy fuck! Ive been a DJ in L.A. for almost 15 years now and I can honestly say this is the first band that Ive heard in the last 10 years that I could say deserves the kind of shot that bands that are half this good are getting these day. The Blooms, you guys are fucking awesome so youre going to be hated so get used to it. The more "artists" that hate you just know the bigger of a threat youre perceived as being so heads up guys! Im telling you youre stuff is the best Ive heard in years. If I could Id play your stuff 50 times a day I would. One day I hope to see The Blooms on our stations program list! Best of luck!!

8:55 PM  
Blogger Ryan said...

I was researching DFest 2009 bands and stumbled onto this blog.

I dig the music. But I don't dig David's responses to Jarrod.

David was responding to the first comment and dragged Jarrod's comment with it. Pretty ridiculous way to act.

7:43 PM  
Anonymous The Blooms said...

Id NEVER go on another bands interview and give them a hard
time for their point of view which everyone has a right to.

Furthermore, I would NEVER use another band's interview as my own platform to promote my own band which was Jarrods motives for posting on here to begin with. So Id much rather be called ridiculous for getting irritated with someone for their tacky efforts at self-promotion than be guilty of ridiculously promoting my band's interests on another bands platform. So fucking call me 'Captain Ridiculous'. And in the category of thingsridiculous...well i guess what comes to mind would be more suited for a private 'come to Jesus meeting'. Im always shocked at the self righteous bullshit that people are capable of. Man clean the bullshit off your own mouth before offering Captain Ridiculous a hanky...ok man? Thanks for your time and attention!

2:42 AM  
Blogger jeddest said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

10:15 AM  
Blogger jeddest said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

10:34 AM  
Blogger Caleb said...

Hey Man, You obviously don't know what a "come to Jesus meeting" is so I posted a link so the eyes of your understanding might be enlightened. Here's the link...so study that you be no longer tossed to and fro by every wind of your ignorance.

http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001218

"Furthermore"

The comments in that statement were directed at Ryan, in which you haven't the slightest clue at why they were made or the background context.

"Furthermore"

We have played Tulsa under a different band name and haven't since starting "The Blooms" for our own reasons. We do not aspire to be the next "Admiral Twin" so why follow their path. (Misery loves company)

8:21 AM  
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