Wednesday, February 25, 2015

¡BLUNT! - Rough, Attitude-Filled Houston Hardcore!

Interview with  Harry Stokes.

First off, the typical question, can you tell us about the thought process on the band name?
Ha. Well, it's a double entendre. Of course, the drug reference, but also, the upfront in-your-face aspect. I don't believe much thought was put into it, really. The story goes; everyone was sitting down at a local tex-mex, trying to come up with a band name. All of the ideas were either taken or too stupid. So we split, and Gerardo is smoking a blunt on the way home when he calls us and says, "BLUNT dude!" So we stuck with it.

Overall you have an 80s hardcore image, everything from your sound to the look. My take is that you remind me musically of Wrecking Crew and vocally of BL’AST and Damaged era Black Flag. What is your take on that?
We all grew up in Houston during the Attitude Era. Lots of fuck you's, and not taking shit from nobody's. There's a ton of dicks in Houston, so the only way we know is to be a dick back. We take liking to no gods or masters, and enjoy the evil side of things. The REAL side of the story. People want to live arrogantly and rely on what they hear from People Magazine and Fox News. Life is not happy.
Your lyrics cover a variety subjects from rebellion to rough sex with sluts. Is there a concept you try to stay with or are the lyrics whatever comes to mind?
I like to call "Hardcore Fuck" a filler song. Haha. It's not really meant to be taken seriously, but it packs a punch and gets the crowd moving, and that's what I love to see. We've gotten a couple girls to take the mic to fake an orgasm right before we play and it gets a lot of laughs. But our other songs, like "Fraud" and "Fuck With Me, Punk" deals with shitty relationships with people over the years. Kind of like a feeling of betrayal. People you thought had your back but turn out fake as fuck. "Authority Fight" is about police brutality and giving the finger to all that get off on belittling the real hard working people that go in everyday 9 to 5 to make a living.

I really love your Pass the Blunt demo. The recording is clean, yet still rough enough to complement the music. Where did you record it and how was the process?
I bought a Zoom R8 from Guitar Center and we recorded it in our jam space, much like a garage. We modded it by hanging up used carpets from vacated apartments. It was a pretty neat, yet extraneous, DIY project. 

I also like the cover art. It has a vintage Suicidal Tendencies feel. Who came up with the idea and artwork?
Our drummer Gerardo is a professional graphic designer and going to school for it. He's a natural artist with the mind of a demon. He's always coming up with dope designs for flyers and such.
Pass the BLUNT Demo! cover art
Blunt seems to be hot on the local live music scene. You have a great animated stage presence and seem sincere on your delivery. You are definitely not one of those bands that look bored while performing. Mentally what is your approach to playing live?
Man, I live for our Saturday night practices. It's the only time in the week I look forward to. I'm off work, I get to jam out with my friends, and turn that shit up wicked loud. When we play live, we just try to go up there with that PMA and have a good time. Show people what we're about and do our best to get a good reaction. 


I believe your band is over a year old. In that time you’ve made quite an impression. What’s next? Any planned new recordings?
We're always making changes to our songs. Adding bits and pieces to enhance the songs. We just finished up recording our full length LP over at 360 Studios. Big Ups to Jessica Garcia for all the hard work. Right now it's in Tennessee getting mastered by one of the homies, so we're just waiting for it to come back.


Final greetings and contact info…
Thanks to everyone who comes to our shows, buys the merch, and digs our music. Couldn't do it without them, and thanks Jeff for the interview. Hope to play more shows with Khobretti soon, bud.



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