The Blood Brothers Set to Turn Heads
By Randy J. Klodz
Though its oldest member is only 24—with the youngest being 20—the
Seattle-based punk metal quintet the Blood Brothers have had quite the experience
while out on their road to big-label pandemonium. This chaos includes a Chicago
show supporting Glassjaw at the Metro on Nov. 17.
Johnny Whitney—he of the high-pitched, almost Cartman from TV's
"South Park" voice—comprises half the lyrical assault with vocalist
Jordan Blilie. Guitarist Cody Votolato, bassist Morgan Henderson and drummer
Mark Gajadhar complete the Blood Brothers cast of characters.
That’s right, the band showcases two singers, a feat not often seen in the
music industry. “When we started a band it was just to make it different and
to make it more intense and screwed up,” Whitney said. “It’s evolved into
something weird because we both are singing more and we both have different
voices so it’s this weird kind of like a metal duet."
Though, as Whitney said, "there's no funny story," behind the band name, Whitney
did give a recount of a time last year when the Blood Brothers were playing
their first song at a venue in Columbus, Ohio. He thought the nearly tragic
accident was more funny than scary. “Our guitar player [Votolato] did one
of those around-the-world-tricks [where a guitarist swings his guitar around
his back] and did it way too close to me and the neck came down and smashed
over my head,” Whitney said. “He smashed his brand new SG, the neck of it
clear broke off his guitar and I had about a 4-inch gash in my head.”
Whitney can laugh at the situation now and can look forward to playing
in front of a Chicago audience, now that six stitches fixed the wound, last
year. The Blood Brothers are no strangers to Chicago audiences; in fact, they've
played two shows at Fireside Bowl and are one of the three bands scheduled
to open for the Long Island, N.Y.-based Glassjaw on Nov. 17 at the Metro.
With off-the-wall melodies, one would think that this group of young adults
were deviants, just as stories surface of young bands like Sum 41 trashing
hotel rooms and the like, this unusually is not the case.
“We’re all pretty level headed, so spend most of our time reading or watching
TV,” Whitney explained. “Older people have this perception that if you are
in a band you live this swanky lifestyle and you throw your mattress out of
your hotel room into the pool every night and get wasted every night. We don’t
really buy into that very much.”
Show up early to Metro on Nov. 17 to check out the Blood Brothers, who
are set to release "Burn Piano Island, Burn" their major-label debut in the
spring of 2003, and are one of three bands that go on before Glassjaw takes
the stage. Metro is located at 3730 N. Clark St. Tickets are $12.50, with
the show start time listed as 6:30 p.m. More info on the Blood Brothers can
be found at www.thebloodbrothers.com.
| The Blood Brothers | Photo: Martyn Atkins |
