photo : michael maly

The first time I met any members of The Blakes was @ the Austin City Limits Studios moments before KEXP’s online broadcast of Iggy and The Stooges live performance during SXSW 2007. I had become familiar with the band and it’s music just previously and couldn’t help to be attracted to the sounds of the self released and self titled recording that I had recently acquired and was interested in what this trio from Seattle had to offer. Iggy Pop was as you might expect…Iggy, interesting, powerful, a relentless muscle of energy…Iggy. Overheard this day in the studio as “Two Times” plays over the PA “Who’s this? This shit is good!” (Iggy Pop). It’s The Blakes.

Burgers and cold Lone Stars at Casino El Camino seemed the appropriate welcome for the band on it’s second visit to Austin. Waiting for our food and sipping on the “National Beer of Texas” we discuss a variety of subjects ranging from the annoying abundance of grackles that reside in downtown Austin, to Duran Duran’s Greatest Hits, fresh water mussels, and home canned pickles. The grackles make their presence known with evidence on the drummer’s shirt, as they vacate the overhead trees as if their work was done. Sorry Bob, not the welcome I had intended.

Growing up on the East Coast, brothers Snow (bass and vox) and Garnet Keim (guitar and vox) found themselves in search of work in Seattle after being denied Canadian work visa’s. In a Tully’s coffee shop is where the brothers met their first Seattle resident Bob Husak (drummer) and talk of music and song writing bonded the three for the beginning of what would end up becoming a band called The Blakes. A relocation to L.A. to seek out a drummer, as Bob originally played guitar, proved to be an adventure albeit a disappointing one.

Sonic Itch Music: L.A. didn’t work so well?

Garnet: No, it didn’t. Three years of just trying to get by, living in a hotel room.

Snow: We went there looking for adventure, you know. I don’t even know if we knew what we were looking for. We knew we needed adventure, we were young.

SIM: So, you all were playing as a band at the time?

Snow: Yeah, you could call it that. We were just kind of hodge podging it. We heard that there was a great music scene there.

Garnet: We were writing a lot of songs in Seattle, and we were like, we’ve got all of these great songs we need to start playing out, but there was no all ages scene.

Snow: I remember actually, we were busting at Pikes Market, Garnet and I, and this guy came up, listened to the whole thing, tipped us a couple of bucks and said “you guys should think about going to L.A.” We were like really? “Really, there’s a club on every corner.” Really? “Every corner!”

Bob: (Laughs) Not exactly.

Snow:(continuing story) Can you play it if your underage? “Of course you can, it’s a great scene, lots of stuff happening.” We figured, oh well, you couldn’t play in a club in Seattle unless you were 21 and we weren’t at the time. So we said what the hell, why not? It’s L.A.

The band played L.A. for several years under various band names, sometimes coming up with a band name the day of the show. But California, or Garnet’s California dreaming would eventually be the birthplace of The Blakes name.

SIM: Tell me the history behind The Blakes name.

Snow: Garnet became really obsessed with an 18th century, romantic era poet or something.

Garnet: We were at the Huntington Library, Snow and I went down there, and there was a Blakes (William Blake) exhibit going on, his paintings, poems, stuff like that. A couple of days after, I had a dream and he came to me and said “you guys are The Blakes.” I came up to the guys the next day and said, what do you think of that, The Blakes? It came to me in a dream last night. Sounds pretty good.

Snow: Yeah, like it. We had all of these other bad names before, Pink Junior, Call Us Girls.

Bob: Johnny Rockstar. Terrible names.

Garnet: It was weird, I had this thing in a dream, whatever a dream means, and we all liked it. We could never agree on a name before.

The William Blake exhibit may have been the catalyst for the dream, but a shared respect and admiration for the poet/artist and what he stood for, between band members, secured the bands new name.

One can comfortably assume by listening to the music that the band is slightly influenced by the “alternative” rock scene burgeoning in the late 80′s and early 90′s, but sometimes assumptions need confirmation. With two older brothers 3 plus years elder, the Keim brothers exposure to music was a range of different tastes and styles.

Garnet: Of course you have the trickle down from the Def Leppard, Van Halen, and stuff like that. (speaking to Snow) But you kinda liked country a lot when you were younger.

Snow: I liked old country.

Garnet: Of course I loved the alternative thing that happened in the 90′s. (speaking to Snow) But, you never really got into that, I don’t know where you went with your musical interest.

Snow: I got into Classic Rock. I like that song “Now you’re messin’ with a son of a bitch”. I like Nazareth, I like Van Halen, and I love ZZ Top.

Take all of that into consideration while listening to The Blakes self titled release on Light In The Attic Records, and it makes sense how one album can shine on so many different levels of song structure. The recording was originally released by the band itself, and did well in the Northwest, the first success for the band after 3 EP’s and 2 full lengths previous. The band experienced calls for more stock from record shops for the first time ever.

Snow: It hit. I don’t know if it was the stars..

Garnet: The producer. We spent some money on it and we worked hard on that record. It took us 5 months to record that record.

Snow: We really worked hard on that record.

SIM: Who produced the record?

Garnet: Brian, our tour manager, Brian Brown. He used to work at Fort Apache, Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, the Pixies recorded there, Radiohead recorded there, so he was mentored by this guy with great experience named Gary Smith. Brian came out here for a new life and we were the first band he recorded with, so it was kinda like this weird meeting of the fates.

Snow: Once again, I say the stars.

Garnet: The stars……… the stars, it worked out.

After signing to Light In The Attic earlier this year, the album underwent a remix of 7 out of the 11 original recordings along with the addition of “Run” and “Magoo”which were recorded for an EP release.

Spending the rest of the evening drinking wine back at the venue while we wait for the show to begin, hanging out with the guys gives me a pretty good sense of what this band is about. Impromptu sessions with Garnet playing the piano in the green room, find band-mates, tour manager, and friend Heather joining in for songs that I’m not familiar with and not even sure if they weren’t being made up on the spot. It’s hard not to resist the overwhelming sense of friendship and family shared by this group. This group of guys who just want to make their art, uncompromised and honest, while keeping an eye on the stars.

Being my third time to see the band perform live, the show at The Mohawk was a clear indication of what lies ahead for us in the future. The Blakes drove through the set with intensity, drive, and the precision of a group that has spent time together perfecting their craft. Quick tempo gritty rock fit for a night out with the guys that progresses into a morning with a girl you might not want your mom to meet, or maybe you do. The crowd was more than ample for a Tuesday night in Austin, and the irresistible urge to move to the beat overcame a handful of attendees who couldn’t resist a little dancing up front of the band.

The band is currently on their first ever lengthy tour that cover the states and parts of Europe well into the first few months of 2008. Our friends over @ KEXP have been avid supporters of the band, and notice has been taken by NPR (“Don’t Bother Me” named song of the day), Spin.com (Artist of the Day), as well as many in the blog scene.

Get to know The Blakes. Check their Myspace for current tour information as well their entire album available for listening.

The Blakes Myspace

Two Times

Don’t Bother Me

photo : michael maly

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 9:27 pm and is filed under mp3's, recommended, touring news.