I'm really excited to share The Blands as our Band To Watch. The Blands are based out of San Antonio, Texas, and are easily one of the bands that I currently listen to the most.
Remember being in high school and wanting to start a cool band? Well that's The Blands, except this band is actually good. The Blands consist of Nathan (Bass/vocals), Aldo (guitar), Trent (guitar), and Bella (drums). The young band has only done 2 shows at the time of this interview and has already become one of my favorite bands.
Rapid Fire Questions
1. What have you been listening to lately?
Aldo: Oh Sees, David Bowie, a little Kiss.
Nathan: King Gizzard. They’re my favorite band. Oh sees, Hideous Sun Demon, R.M.F.C, Powerplant, ORB. Almost all the good stuff is happening overseas.
Bella: Ty Segall, THEE MVPS, ORB, RUT, Black Beach, Fall Children, and The Mystery Lights.
Trent: Cap’n Jazz, Thundercat, Hella, Camping in Alaska, and Sorority Noise.
2. I’m getting old. Tf is a VSCO girl? Explain that to me.
Aldo: A girl who cares about the planet and doesn't do anything to help it.
Nathan: The modern day basic bitch. She likes scrunchies, hydroflasks and needs you to share this post so we can make the oceans garbage free.
Bella: I don’t know….. :)
3. What band do you think you beat up in a fight?
Trent: American Football doesn’t stand a chance.
Nathan: AC/DC... They're all like 2ft tall.
Aldo: Modern Baseball.
4. Can you do a Daniel Johnston cover?
Trent: I think we could pull off “Hard Time,” however with less of Daniel’s grandeur.
Nathan: His music really isn’t for me. I see the appeal though. I just feel bad for the guy. He didn’t have a very easy life.
Aldo: Sure.
5. Any San Antonio bands that we should check out?
Nathan: If you like fuzzy stoner bass shit, I’d check out The Wizard.
Bella: The Blands, RATS, Catcall, Elnuh, and FEA
Trent: Ramparts and Cliffside of the Pinkeyed Sky are both are really great.
6. I’m pretty sure my ex-girlfriend is creeping on this site. Idk how she found it. Can you convince her to buy merch?
Nathan: We don't have merch lol.
7. Which US president would like your music the most?
Trent: Donald J. Trump is a known fan.
Nathan: Teddy. He's the coolest president.
Aldo: Andrew Jackson.
8. I ask this question to everyone that I interview, but nobody ever takes it seriously. Can you write a song about Ray Romano?
Nathan: Hate to break it to you, but Everybody Loves Raymond ended when I was 3. It's before my time.
Aldo and Trent: Nope.
9. What is the worst advice that you can give me?
Nathan: Stick a rusty nail in your urethra.
Aldo: Just do. Don't think.
Trent: Relive a traumatic childhood experience.
Bella: If it sounds like a dumb idea you should probably do it
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Born Loser Magazine: To start things off, can you introduce yourselves?
Nathan: I'm Nathan. I play bass and “sing” for The Blands.
Aldo: I'm Aldo. I play guitar.
Trent: I’m Trent. I play guitar too.
Bella: I’m Bella and I play drums.
BL: When and how did the band come together?
Nathan: Me and Trent met in church in middle school. We both played in the youth band. I met Aldo through a friend named Chad freshman year. I met Bella at our first gig, but had known about her for 2 years.
BL: You guys seem pretty young. Are you still in school?
Nathan: Yes. I'm 17, Aldo is 18, and Trent and Bella are 16. We are all currently enrolled in the Texas Public School System.
BL: How long have you been playing?
Nathan: I've been playing bass for 5 years.
Aldo: Same. I've been playing guitar for 5 years.
Trent: I’ve been playing guitar for 8 years.
Bella: I’ve been playing guitar, bass, and drums for about 6 years
BL: What music did you grow up on?
Nathan: I'm still growing up, but I guess I'll go with my "formative years" even though they're still kinda happening. I'd say Milo Goes to College, In Utero, The Revenge of the Pukes, and a lot of Pink Floyd. This is like 2015-2017.
Aldo: Just a lota old stuff. CCR, Hendrix, Styx, Alice in Chains, a lot of oldies like gloria and louie louie.
Trent: Generic Classic Rock, much like everybody else. I can’t stand any of it anymore though.
Bella: I grew up to a lot of garage rock, new wave, & classic rock. In elementary I was really obsessed with the White Stripes and still am. Now I’ve been really getting back into old punk and psych rock music.
BL: How is the San Antonio music scene? Is it pretty supportive, or is everyone just kinda doing their own thing?
Nathan: Boring. It’s all emo and hardcore. You got a lot of cumbia bands and cover bands. That’s what adults do. Everything else is just double kick and growling.
Bella: There’s some good bands here and there but it is slowly dying haha. Everyone supports each other however they can honestly.
BL: Who would you consider your musical influences?
Nathan: Oh Sees. Probably Nirvana in some way considering how important it was as a freshman.
Aldo: Same. I'll add onto that with The Clash.
Trent: Nick Reinhart, Alex Lifeson, Spencer Seim.
BL: I think my favorite song is probably ACDC. How did that song come about?
Nathan: It's just a bunch of mumbo jumbo that kinda rhymes and sounds like it could have a deeper meaning, but it really doesn't. The lyrics were written in 5 minutes before I took my chemistry EOC Exam.
Trent: The main riff was the first non-diatonic, almost random idea that came to me when I thought, “I need to write something ASAP.”
Nathan: Yea. I put him on the spot and said "play something.” He did and we said “OK that works.”
BL: Do you have a specific approach to making songs, or do you just kind of go with the flow? Nathan: The music is first. We record all the ideas and then I listen to them when I'm pissed off or moody. I write the lyrics based off those feelings and the music itself. It's mostly insecurities, girl stuff, or both.
BL: What is the cover art for demos on soundcloud? It looks like a close up shot of pizza, but I’m not entirely sure. It makes me very uncomfortable?
Nathan: Thanks for asking. It's a close up of eggs mixed with Whataburger spicy ketchup. It looks absolutely disgusting, but it tastes great.
BL: Do you have a favorite show experience?
Nathan: Once again only 2 gigs, but on our first gig our friend Anthony chugged a jug of chocolate milk before we even pulled out of the gas station parking lot. He's lactose intolerant.
Aldo: The first gig. I stepped on my cable and had to plug it back in while playing.
BL: Is there anything you like to do before every show, like a “pre-show ritual” or something like that?
Nathan: Drink a lot of water. It's important to stay hydrated.
Aldo: Talking to the band.
Do you still get nervous before you play?
Nathan: Not really. I'm confident in everybody's musical abilities.
Aldo: A little. I'm not afraid of messing up, but performing in front of people can be nerve racking.
What has been the most challenging part of being in a band so far?
Nathan: New songs. It's scary. I always think they're gonna hate them.
Aldo: Nothing really. I like them.
BL: Ideally, what would The Blands be known for?
Nathan: It's kinda early to tell. I'd like to be known as anti-drug. I think people should find an escape through something else. I understand why people do drugs, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.
Aldo: Not taken too seriously. Just fun to listen to.
BL: What are you currently working on?
Nathan: We'll be recording in Mid-October and have it released by December. All the material is ready, but we have some ironing out to do.
Aldo: Getting to Austin.
BL: What can we expect to see from The Blands in the future?
Nathan: Either world domination or mild popularity in our region of the United States.
Aldo: More shows.
To wrap up, is there anything that you want our readers to know?
Nathan: We’ll be recording in about two weeks for a release that will be coming out right before christmas. Keep an eye out!
