The Blackchords: Busy Busy Blackchords
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They've finally found it...
After serving their apprenticeship with a few years on the local music scene along with a couple of line-up transformations and experimentations, the Blackchords have finally hit upon that winning formula. And no-one could be happier about it than core Blackchords member Nick Milwright.
"I feel like we've graduated from level one of being a band," Nick shared, as he chatted with The Dwarf from a balcony in St Kilda.
With their self titled debut album just days away from release, and not a bad review to be read about it, Nick has every right to be proud. "We're stoked with how well its been received and we're riding on that." Nick said. It's been quite a few years working up to this moment in time, and Nick feels pretty good about where things are headed.
"We've got a good line-up, very professional. We're getting close to being a good band. Now we just have to keep working our arses off and try and become a great band."
Although based in Melbourne, the current line-up also features Jay Tilley on bass, from Sydney and Damian Cazaly on guitar and Nick Cheek on drums, both hailing from Tasmania. These guys have been kicking around together as a team since last year.
Also sitting on the bands periphery is the amazing Sasufi, a French graphic designer based between France and Melbourne who does all the design work for the Blackchords- posters, album covers and web design.
The boys have been pretty busy leading up to this point, writing, recording and getting their debut album ready for release and playing quite a few shows- all leading up to the big event- the album launch.
The album itself hits the stores on 18th April, with the boys doing a special in store appearance at Pure Pop Records, in Barkley Street, St Kilda.
Then Friday 24th April sees The Blackchords hitting the legendary Gershwin Room down at the Espy for the official album launch with special guests Wellyn and The Holy Sea. They seem pretty excited about the launch party, with the boys already checking out the venue.Nick had just been down there the night before. "It's a great venue, nice and classy. I've just been checking out the stage and set up," he said.
"There's so much energy in a live show," Nick explained. "It's a more explosive sound. It's dynamic, with dirty guitars and lots of screaming and jumping around.It's a little more subtle on record."
But with such an amazing debut, will it be hard to back that up on album number two?
"We'll just have to pull up our socks and work harder, and not let ourselves down." Nick said. They'll be able to experiment with different sounds a bit more on the next album. "I can definately feel some African beats coming through." Nick mused.
So, with all the hard work that goes into getting a good album in our stores, after the launch the boys are taking a few well earned weeks off. But hopefully, they'll be back hitting the live scene pretty hard again come June and July. Then a trip overseas isn't out of the question, with an offer from a festival in Germany on the cards, followed by a full on Aussie tour later this year.
Sounds like the Blackchords are going to be a little busy.
If you have the pleasure of being in Melbourne this weekend, get down to the Espy and check out this amazing band. The rest of us will just have to make do with the sweet sounds of the Blackchords debut album wafting from our stereos to tide us over.
THE BLACKCHORDS PLAY:
April 18- Pure Pop Records, Melb (also the release date for new self-titled album)
April 24- Espy, Melb
