Blak is a death rock, horror punk, post punk, with old school thrash type of act that's been through hell and back more than just once. Having played a few shows and written material over the years the band is still to this day going strong like never before. Now with a new line-up and more new material underway, nothing says Blak, like Blak! Vocalist Gypsy Blak foretells the tale of how this act came about and what else they got up their sleeves....
1. What type of band are you?
Gypsy Blak: Deathrock, horror punk, post punk, a bit of old school thrash!
2. Tell us the brief history of your band.
Gypsy Blak: Originally I had a band called Elegant Bastards from 2002-2009, after the demise of that project, I had the brief project BLAK #9 , first in Los Angeles with ex E.B. members, A.J., Nancy” Nurse Hearse” Dementia and Payasa Vampira, later when I temporarily moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, dropped the # 9 part , making it just BLAK with drummer Eric "Shug Nutz" Hackett and Jason "Boomstick" Basset.
We played 3 shows, made a live EP, but later that year I ended up moving back to Los Angeles. I picked things back up when moving back to California. The current band line up features the original E.B. drummer, A.J., and my friend Gene Migaki, who I first started writing songs with years ago, so we are no strangers to playing music with each other. For awhile we had other old E.B. members, Bryan Gage on guitar, as well as Perry Tee, also on guitar. Perry moved away, and Gage had to leave the band due to personal issues.
As of recently we added 2 new members, David Garcia on guitar and Mike DLP on keyboard. We also have an occasional dancer, IrinaXara, she's a tribal fusion belly dancer. she's performed with us a few times and has appeared in a few videos of ours as well.
3. Who are your musical influences?
Gypsy Blak: The Damned, Misfits, Samhain, Danzig christian Death, Rozz williams, Gary Numan, Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Black Flag, Henry Rollins, Sisters of Mercy, motorhead, Ramones, Wednesday 13, Roky Erikson, Rob Zombie, Rudimentary Peni, Nausea, Aus Rotten, Bad Brains, Balzac, Bauhaus, and The Cure.
4. What are your dreams and goals?
Gypsy Blak: To take this band as far as it can go. I want to spread out to more fans, be noticed more, maybe even one day do a small tour.
5. Who writes the songs, what are they about?
Gypsy Blak: Some of the music and lyrics are done by me. The current line up has been collaborative but mostly a lot of it comes from Gene and I. The song "Staring at the Sky" came off the E.P. War of the Flesh as well as the songs "War of the Flesh" and "Scarred", was a collaboration with Jason "Boomstick" Basset and Shug Nutz. All of our songs are about death, sex, violence, and horror, both fantasy and real life horror.
6. You have several releases can you tell me about those and which is your most recent?
Gypsy Blak: We had a whole bunch of recordings from the old Elegant Bastards recordings, that we didn't do much with at the demise of that band. So I had them remixed & remastered and put them under my name on: Gypsy Blak: The Blak Devil Anthology (which is available on CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon, etc.)
I also put out 2 free EPs : which had BLAK, cover a few songs. The “Set the Dead Free e.p.” included tracks not on The Blak Devil Anthology, including a track I did with another band I played with called GO DIE!
The most recent release is the BLAK: Staring at the Sky EP from 2011. It was with the first version of BLAK in Indianapolis. It's a live EP which featured s few new songs including the original version of Staring at the Sky, and a few old Bastard songs, that were recorded live at Bears Place in Bloomington, Indiana.
7. Your signed with Black Circle Records, how did that happen?
Gypsy Blak: Black Circle Records, is actually my "Label" made specifically for the last few releases. We also get distribution through Dr. Cyclops Records.
8. How do you promote your band and shows?
Gypsy Blak: I'm a spammer haha. I am always constantly trying to promote the band posting up videos, music, photos, giveaways, etc I post everywhere.
9. Describe your show, visual and musically for us?
Gypsy Blak: I would definitely say energetic; however I was having difficulty trying to give you an accurate description in the right words. So I asked the boys, the best one comes from our bass player Gene: “…It's like Bruce Lee meets Salvador Dali. Someone goes crazy, and the other guy winds up with broken ribs. McRibs, even…” Yea…that’s it. Lol
10. Tell us about your next shows and why we should be there.
Gypsy Blak: Our next show will be a place in the Universal City/North Hollywood California area called the Universal Bar & Grill. This will be our second show with the new band mates, we will be debuting a couple new songs, their will be giveaways, and we are playing with a band I have known for about 20 years, The Los Angeles Shock Rock Legends REBEL REBEL, this will be one hell of a show, and you will never forget it!
Gypsy Blak: Do it because you love it. Don’t do it because you think you will automatically get a record deal, money, women, and the usual blah blah blah, it doesn't happen like that. Some bands get lucky and get all the breaks, some bands don't. The music industry is a rough industry to get involved in but if it's what you love to do, it's worth it, even if you don't make a cent.
12. What inspires you to do what you do?
Gypsy Blak: The people that enjoy what I do, the ability to make some sort of art period. My Wife, my band mates, my close friends that are like family. Keeps me going. If it wasn't for all for that, I would have said fuck it and given up years ago!
13. How does music affect you and the world around you?
Gypsy Blak: Music is the one thing that has always been constant in my life. Where relationships and friendships failed, when everything was gone, music was always there and still continues to be there for me no matter what.
14. Where did the band get the name from and does it have a meaning to it?
Gypsy Blak: Honestly, after Elegant Bastards, I wanted to keep it simple. Most people already were taking notice to the music under my name, Gypsy Blak anyway, so it was easier to just call it BLAK.
15. Anything else you want to say or add?
Gypsy Blak: Be proud of who you are. Be proud of what you are. Be what you want, ans fuck anyone that tries to tell you otherwise… We owe alot to our friends and fans, all the people that have stuck by us and supported us. All the internet radio play and being added to Death rock radio , Horror-punks.com, Kitty Lectro, etc. Big thanks to Blak Devil Anthology cover artist & friend, Kenn "Kenn Kroosaficks" Duffy (R.I.P.) and his beloved family.
You can check us out at http://www.reverbnation.com/gypsyblak or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/BLAK/148134098539226
and visit our dancer IrinaXara @ her page: http://www.irinaxaradance.com/
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