Q&A w/Seth Baker of The RedBloods
“We’re not looking to be signed by anyone; those days are long gone. The major labels have little to offer fledgling musicians besides a team of lawyers to sue their fans.” — Seth Baker of The RedBloods
We’ll admit it: we’re not more indie than you. But this cool indie band from Huntington called The Redbloods might be. They’ve got three songs up on their Myspace profile and are set to do a show at Sharkey’s in Huntington on 11.26. After rocking to their infectious anti-ode to the Buckeye state, “Ohio,” we had to find out more about the band and decided to ask frontman Seth Baker the tough questions…
———-
GAZZ: What are the goals for the band? A project or something more?
SB: Right now, the goals are relatively short -term and modest: we plan to release a couple EPs within the next three months, a proper LP (on vinyl) within six months, play some dates in cities throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and expose ourselves to new fans — but not in a sexual way. Long term, we’re thinking of starting either a cult or a political party. I don’t see much difference between the two.
—–
GAZZ: How did you guys know each other/meet?
SB: I met Rick at a poker game over the summer, but we later discovered we were on opposite sides of archrival marching bands. In 2004 , I met Lonnie during an exhibition at Marshall’s Birke Art Gallery. James and I were acquainted through his brother.
—–
GAZZ: Have you done any shows yet?
SB: We’ve all been playing around town for a few years, but as The RedBloods, we’ve only played a couple local open mics to get our feet wet and test our material. We’ve been more focused on writing quality new material, though we just started working on some regional bookings. We’ll be doing frequent gigs soon enough.
—–
GAZZ: Who/what is Detector Records?
SB: Our own little record label. Detector Records is basically the Horatio Algiers side of The Redbloods. If we’re going to do everything a label would do (recording and releasing records, promotion, throwing sleazy parties), why not start a label? We’re not looking to be signed by anyone; those days are long gone. The major labels have little to offer fledgling musicians besides a team of lawyers to sue their fans.
We think the future of music is about decentralized distribution models, an increase in artists’ control of their own music, and less emphasis on profit from CD sales. Due to inertia, the majors will stick around and keep cranking out assembly line music based on demographic studies, but most people who care about music already look elsewhere. We just want to offer one more place to look (Sorry about the rant).
—–
GAZZ: So J. Barker is in the band and is basically running a studio?
SB: James is not only a talented engineer but an excellent musician; to have him willing to play music with us is a great thing. The same goes for Lonnie and Rick. They’re both wonderful musicians and I am happy we’re all working together.
—–
GAZZ: It seems that you guys are one of the rare indie-type bands out of Huntington. Morgantown has a lot of indie bands, it seems. Why is that? Any thoughts on the Huntington scene, as it were?
SB: I see two big reasons. One is that West Virginia, if it’s known at all, is known for disaster and/or misfortune. It’s part of our collective psyche, our mountaineer heritage. Huntington, being a decaying rust belt city, gets hit doubly. This proves a fertile inspiration for angry and unhappy music without the artsiness of the teenager in his room listening to The Smiths and writing bad poetry. Indie can be kind of funny and even optimistic, but for many there’s little to be optimistic about here.
The second point is many people would rather stay home. If you’ve gone to the bar and had one pint too many, your transportation options are limited. Rather, people stay in with 1,000 channels on a car-sized television, all the lolcats on the Internet, and have me to personally deliver their pizzas to them. Why would anyone want to leave their house?
—–
GAZZ: Why did the V Club show get cancelled? Politics?
SB: Just a booking error.
—–
GAZZ: If you were to have your pick of local bands to do shows with, who would you pick?
SB: Bud Carroll and the Southern Souls, Bedtime, Luke Jivetalker, Threefold Theory, and the Red Velvet are all doing some excellent work. I couldn’t pick just one, and I know there are plenty more out there. Jesco White would be great.
—–
GAZZ: It says on your profile you like to take hikes on the Appalachian Trail. Where were some of yer favorite spots or hikes?
SB: I’d rather not give away the really good spots, but I will say some sections in the Smokies were pretty amazing, especially in the higher-altitude coniferous sections, where you’re above the clouds and it’s all pine forest, moss, fog and solitude.
– photo: Morgan Lemasters
