BLOODYMINDED - 02-18-11 - Video

Just a quick clip from Milwaukee...

BLOODYMINDED Live Recap

Friday February 18, 2011
Stonefly Brewing Company
Milwaukee, WI
with Wolf Eyes, Envenomist, Juiceboxxx, and Mildew
BLOODYMINDED:
James Moy - Synth + Vocals
David Reed - Synth
Pieter Schoolwerth - Synth
Mark Solotroff - Vocals + Synth

Saturday February 19, 2011
The Abbey Pub
Chicago, IL
with Frontier, Wolf Eyes, Envenomist, and Plague Bringer
BLOODYMINDED:
Heber Burguete - Synth
James Moy - Synth + Vocals
David Reed - Synth
Isidro Reyes - Synth + Vocals
Pieter Schoolwerth - Synth
Mark Solotroff - Vocals + Synth

Set List:
01. In The Mood
02. Lake Street
03. Porn Lords
04. As If
05. Angel Of Darkness
06. Outside The Gate
07. Mind The Gap
08. Head
09. Shivery
10. Pro-Ana
11. Genital Panic
12. Two Drops Of Blood
13. Leak
14. Within The Walls
15. Chinatown
16. Cost
17. Visiting An Ex-Girlfriend In The Hospital - AIDS Ward
18. Trophy

Does the fact that three more Korg Monotrons and one more Roland MC-202 are non-functional say anything about the sort of weekend that just passed? It is a hint. BLOODYMINDED felt like it was in maximum action mode for these two amazing nights in Milwaukee and Chicago. We were stacked up in such incredible line-ups that we had to deliver a couple of our most full-on sets.

In Milwaukee, Mildew kicked off the night right with a dark, murky dose of psychedelic noise... it had been ages since I last saw/heard a Mildew set, so it was great to share the stage with them. And then, to make sure that people understood that this was a party, not just a show, the energy level was kicked up about 20 notches with an over-the-top set by Juiceboxxx. It has unfortunately been nearly eight years since we last played with this guy and it is clear what a great match we are on certain levels. The most vulgar comparison to use for him would be early Beastie Boys meets Andrew WK. Hi-energy party rap... whatever... the room was alive and well. And then... Envenomist came on and flipped the world back into ice age mode with his frozen, underwater synth tones. And the crowd was with him, every step of the way. Transfixed. I have said it many times before, but I could watch Envenomist over and over and over again. David then stripped down his set-up to one Roland MC-202 (there might as well have been a big target on it -- but it survived, do not worry) and he joined BLOODYMINDED for our spirited set. The 18 songs seemed to go by in a flash, even with all of the gear abuse and physical abuse. What more can I say about our Milwaukee crowds and our Milwaukee friends. Can't we all live in one city together? The energy and the mood really helped us deliver the type of set that we have owed Milwaukee for several years. Long overdue. Sorry for the wait. First song in Milwaukee... Yes, Pieter was in the mood. Swinging his little synth like Roger Daltrey's microphone... Except Daltrey always had an entire fucking roll of tape holding his mic to the chord. We were not so thorough, and the synth went flying into the audience. Luckily, we have learned to travel with back-ups (but they are all gone now). Our thanks go out to the kind young lady who found the Monotron on the floor and brought it back to the stage. Wolf Eyes were up next and they proceeded to creep into the dark and dangerous zone that I remember from their show last year at The Viaduct Theater with Anatomy of Habit -- before bringing out some of the most pummeling aspects of their live mode and crushing the crowd with beats, frequencies, and tortured, throaty moans and groans.

Milwaukee was quite a night, overall. Stonefly is a perfectly-sized spot to play with the ideal stage for BLOODYMINDED to play on. Wide, deep, and with a great launch pad... err... drum-riser. The staff there was really nice and easy-going, too. The PA seemed quite substantial, capable of capturing a full range of frequencies, as required. Thanks to sound guy Alex for the solid work. Great stage mix by James, too. The recording of our set sounds intense...

A heartfelt thanks to all of our friends up there who came out to see us, to support the show, and to celebrate my birthday with me. And thanks for singing to me! What a fucking killer night!!! James did a fantastic job of organizing and promoting what was a really perfect show. Thanks also go to Mike Mildew for his work on kicking the event into gear.

Low key party mode back at James' house with some friends and acquaintances... Where the hell were those pizzas that we ordered? A short night. Comfortably numb in a very warm room, thankfully. A confusing coffee maker. Olson started off the day's musical tone with the score from Nekromantik. Yep, a suitably weird choice. Then it was off to Trocadero for a really tasty brunch before the (almost) easy drive back to Chicago. A homestretch traffic jam meant a quick shower and turnaround was necessary before the early call at The Abbey Pub.

Saturday night was not just full-on whore mode for me, as David got to deflect some of the sticky wetness that comes with that territory. Plague Bringer kicked off the night in furious style, launching into a crushing version of "Impaled Faith" that was the perfect opening salvo for the night. David and I both hit the stage for a really nice duel-Roland MC-202 augmented version of the newer/unreleased epic Plague Bringer song, "One Into Parts," which I have guested on a few times before. I screamed so long and hard at one point that I nearly blacked out. Not smart, considering what was ahead. After Greg and Josh cleared off their mighty PA, and after David battened down the hatches on his equipment, BLOODYMINDED dragged our ailing set-up to the center of the stage and all systems were pretty much "go." It was one of those gotta-go-for-it nights and we opened up both barrels, happily with Isidro adding synth and vocals, along with our secret weapon and security associate Heber on synth. Fuck, if only Xavier could have been there... It would have been beyond historic... Anyhow, it was loud, it was physical... I am still all bruised up, like some battered housewife. Pieter pulled out all of the stops, eventually climbing up on James' synth/mixer table and proceeding to illustrate "Within The Walls" with carefully timed tugs on the massive projection screen that was just within his reach. Thankfully, that did not end up going south, as it easily could have. Frontier may have a fog machine but we have disgusting dust clouds! We charged through our set as fast and hard and loud as we could, before turning the stage over to David, for his third set of the night. And holy fuck, Envenomist over The Abbey Pub's PA was like an extra birthday present. Perfect! What a hat trick of a night it was for David. Hell yes! Then Wolf Eyes set up and they proceeded to destroy. I have to say that the version of "Always Wrong" that they performed on Saturday night was one of the single most impressive Wolf Eyes moments that I have ever seen/heard. It was simply devastating. Nate was on fire and his vocals were the most extreme that I have ever heard them. Amazing! After a cooling down period, Frontier set up, and the opened with their crowd pleasing bruiser, "Truck," complete with 18-wheeler on a foggy night smoke + halogen lights + air horns. I jumped up to sing the same three songs that I did with them back in September (thank you, gents!) before they moved through their serpentine set of noise rock, dubbed-out post-rock, and otherwise unclassifiable forms of experimentation. For me, this was just one of those nights that came together perfectly. Sharing the stage with so many friends who make some of my very favorite music... I could not ask for much more...

A big thanks to all of our friends who came out to join in the fun and grind and noise! Thanks to Sean at The Abbey Pub for hosting the show. Thanks to our friend Matt for keeping the sound loud and clear all night. The same goes to Che Arthur, for Frontier's set and to my band mate Kenny Rasmussen for Plague Bringer's set. After a long, slow breakdown, we made our way over to Pozoleria San Juan for a late night banquet, before heading back to Garfield Park to crash.

The weekend was bookended by several great nights with friends... Delicious dinner and drinks at Blokes & Birds, an all-dayer at Kuma's Corner (I experienced the bacon-fest that is the Earthride), the excellent Mueran Humanos show at Crown Tap Room (their new LP on Blind Prophet is a must), late-night Noise Crush meets Taylor Swift (behind the scenes, of course)/Rihanna YouTube sessions to explain the finer points to some lady friends who had not yet come to terms. What was up with that text to land line weirdness? Pieter flew out early on Monday, after I discovered some of my furniture had been re-arranged by James. Buy why??? A lunch of wild boar Sloppy Joes at Longman & Eagle sort of closed out the extended party, and then we had to say goodbye to David. One more band dinner (Thai comfort food) with James, before Isidro and I crawled off to the practice space (groan) to do work, prior to The Fortieth Day + Noise Crush playing on March 15, which is coming up fast. By the end of Tuesday night's Anatomy of Habit practice, my ears and my psyche had pretty much had it. I need a little more downtime before Friday's Anatomy of Habit show with Running and Bottomless Pit... If I think of anything else, I will let you know...

A.V. Club Interview

In addition to the A.V. Club blurb for our 2/18 show that was previously posted, the site just published part of an interview that Peter J. Woods was kind enough to recently conduct with James and me.

(My, how James has changed...or, how Xavier hijacked his way to Milwaukee)


Mark Solotroff and James Moy of Bloodyminded

by Peter Woods February 16, 2011

Considering the myriad difficulties in keeping a band together, particularly in the fame and riches-averse noise underground, the fact that Bloodyminded is still a working unit and making vital music after more than a decade is a major achievement. The highly aggressive and extremely dark power-electronics outfit fronted by Chicagoan Mark Solotroff and backed by a crew of synth-wielding maniacs—including Milwaukee resident James Moy—has terrorized audiences with its sexually perverted and highly violent noise blasts for 16 years and counting. Even before that, Solotroff was a founding member of the seminal Intrinsic Action during the mid-’80s through the early ’90s. Before Bloodyminded’s show Feb. 18 with Wolf Eyes at Stonefly, The A.V. Club sat down with Moy and Solotroff to discuss the band’s history as well as the state of noise.

The A.V. Club: As one of the longer running power-electronics groups still performing in the US, how would you describe the noise world at the start of the group’s existence as compared to where noise is now?

Mark Solotroff: Well, for starters, there actually is a thriving and fairly cohesive noise scene now, compared to when Bloodyminded started in 1995, and things are certainly completely different, when I think back to starting Intrinsic Action in 1984, and how I could count my earliest contacts on the fingers of two hands. But even in 1995, “noise” as an accepted term was still emerging. It is sort of an awful, reductive, and self-deprecating marquee for this very multifaceted genre, but I have slowly and begrudgingly grown used to it. I am not sure if “power-electronics” is better or worse. In any case, everyone’s ability to start connecting via the Internet, right around the year that we began, has had a profound impact on this scene. Suddenly, small clusters of people around the U.S.A. developed stronger bonds, while the emerging Japanese noise scene linked in, and throughout Europe, previously “industrial” groups and scenes joined the picture. The rest of the world joined the party as message boards and social networking sites became commonplace. This connectivity has made it easier to tour, easier to acquire new music, and it has made it much easier to stay in touch with everyone in the scene.

AVC: With a style so focused and so stripped down, it’s hard to find any copycats, but where do you feel the group stands as a source of inspiration for newer acts?

MS: That is an interesting question, because over the past 16 years, Bloodyminded has had phases where we felt more alone out there, carrying on some lost tradition, while at other points, including right now, it seems that there are a larger number of like-minded groups working with some of the same ideas and energies that we immerse ourselves in. Maybe I see it more in a newer wave of artists and groups that have emerged over the last few years who reject the stance of the static knob-twiddler or trackball pusher, and who have brought some desperately needed showmanship into the scene.

AVC: The noise scene around Milwaukee has always been very appreciative of Bloodyminded over the years, to the point where certain songs have been dedicated to the city even if you are performing elsewhere. Where does this Milwaukee connection come from?

MS: I started playing in Milwaukee with Intrinsic Action in the mid- to late-1980s, and I have always enjoyed my time up there. When I moved back to Chicago from New York in 1997, it was not long before Bloodyminded played in Milwaukee—to a mostly unappreciative industrial club music audience, no less—at The Rave. From a handful of enthusiastic fans of the band, friendships developed, more shows were set up here and there, tours followed, and the circle of people that we know in Milwaukee continued to grow. The energy and enthusiasm that I have experienced with crowds in Milwaukee, and even when groups of Milwaukee folks come down to Chicago shows, is unbeatable. And it is much appreciated.

James Moy: Even at shows in other cities, mixed into crowds as thick as 300-400 people, I’ve seen Milwaukee folks stand out like beautifully sore thumbs with their extreme enthusiasm. Whether they’re starting pits song after song or screaming along word-for-word throughout the entire set, the Milwaukee fans are some of the best people to play to, and we sure as hell appreciate them.

AVC: The show at Stonefly is part of a multi-show run with Wolf Eyes, which seems like something of an odd pairing stylistically. How did these shows come about?

MS: First off, I enjoy playing with a lot of different types of groups. In Chicago, over the last few years, it is more likely that Bloodyminded will play with metal or punk or synth groups, as opposed to just jumping on a noise bill. That is as much about my varied tastes and interests as it is about putting together unusual and exciting shows for the audience. And as far as Wolf Eyes goes, specifically, we have played many shows with them over the years, whether in Chicago or Detroit or New York. And we have toured and played one-off shows with many of their related bands and solo projects, including Demons, Hair Police, Graveyards, Dead Machines, Failing Lights. We have been friends with those guys for ages, and from the first time that I saw them, nine or 10 years ago, I not only liked what they were doing, I appreciated that they had a sense of stage presence, which was sorely missing from the noise scene at that time. I was instantly hooked. But really, in the scheme of things, Bloodyminded and Wolf Eyes does not seem like an unusual pairing to me. The next night, in Chicago, we are playing with our friends Plague Bringer, a brutal grindcore/death metal hybrid. But even that makes perfect sense to me.

Sneak Peek: 02/18/11

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