Flower-Powered Artist - December 2008

Blondfire

It must be horrible for a band to be forced to change their name at such a critical time like in the middle of a nationwide tour. Having a major record label backing you up might make it a bit easier, but that is not the case for the indie band that we are featuring this month. It is with great pleasure that we introduce this month's Flower-Powered Artist, the brother-and-sister duo of Erica and Bruce Driscoll collectively named Blondfire.

Erica and Bruce were born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Having an American father and a Brazilian mother provided them the opportunity to soak in both American and Brazilian music as they spent their childhood growing up in both places. It didn't take long for the siblings to gather favorites, which then become their musical influences. Their influences are a varied mix of music from exotic, classical, and electronic artists, from Antonio Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Caétano Veloso, to The Beatles and The Carpenters to Pet Shop Boys, Tears For Fears, The Smiths, and New Order.

Being three years older than her brother Bruce, Erica was the first to get her hands on an instrument. Their mom had Erica playing the piano at age 3 and the violin in her second grade. Young Bruce got his music initiation through his sisters, Monica and Erica. In the same fashion as Erica, Bruce was to learn the piano but he really did not want to play the piano so he put his musical interest on hold. At age 12 he was ready to rekindle his passion for music and started taking drum lessons but that did not hold his attention for long. By then his sister Erica was already playing another instrument, the guitar, so Bruce stopped the drum lessons and instead followed his sister's footsteps and took the guitar.

Erica and Bruce along with their older sister Monica, formed a band in high school and named themselves Nectar. This gave them a chance to experience playing gigs in public and touring for the first time. The band eventually signed a deal with a publishing company, EMI. The deal turned sour after the band was pressured to write and record mainstream songs. Choosing creative control in this situation, the band's career was cut short.

Not deterred by the problems they had with their former band, Erica and Bruce started another band in 2002. This time, they called themselves Astaire. Using their previous experience, they immediately began writing new songs, one of which won a runner-up in the Pop category of an annual UK Songwriting contest. They took the new songs out for a test drive with a year-and-a-half of gigging and touring, all the while recording bits and pieces of music in their parents' basement. Placements in television shows, and music & fashion magazine provided the deserved attention. Notable placements include Dawson's Creek and Entertainment Weekly.

A necessary career move landed the siblings in New York City in 2004. They had a dream-come-to-life opportunity of working with one of their favorite artists Ivy's Andy Chase. They started to record the song “Weightless” and eventually completed their very first EP, titled “Don't Whisper Lies.” They released this EP in November 2004 under their own label, Wax Divine. One of the tracks on the EP titled “L-L-Love,” which soon proved to be the band's quintessential composition, made it into two movies: Monster-in-Law and Mozart and the Whale.

With a huge heap of publicity generated by the movie placements as well as critical success of the EP, the band was hurled into a nationwide tour with Ivy, Robbers on High Street, and Stars in April 2005. The tour took them to 14 cities, including Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto. Just when they thought everything was going quite well, they suddenly hit a wall – a wall of lawsuit that is.

It was the estate of Fred Astaire which made the lawsuit. Perhaps Google played a part in the emergence of this lawsuit for they were topping the results for “Astaire” for quite some time. Instead of fighting against such a frivolous lawsuit, they decided to just change their band name. And thus, Blondfire was born. They continued the tour with the new name and released an iTunes exclusive acoustic EP as well. The new EP, released in the same year of 2005, includes three new songs and an oldie, “L-L-Love.” The new EP became so successful that it garnered the #1 spot for pop album on iTunes and #9 on the album charts – a first for unsigned artists. But that's not all; the song “L-L-Love” became one of iTunes' Single of the Week garnering nearly 300,000 downloads. Later that same year, they released a Christmas EP, which was once again under iTunes.

Sparkles of their success drew the attention of major record labels. By 2006, the band signed a record deal with EMI Records UK. Unfortunately, while working under the deal, the record label was bought out by another company resulting in massive layoffs and that includes our dear Blondfire. All was not lost however, as they got their master recordings back.

After the failed record deal, they decided to sit down with their songs to finalize, polish and mix it themselves. Soon thereafter, they finally came out with their first full-length, My Someday. Released independently under their own label Tender Tender Rush on April 2, 2008, My Someday instantly gained enormous success. Their quintessential piece “L-L-Love” unsurprisingly made its way into the full-length.

The siblings also enjoy doing side-projects. Erica co-wrote with Ric Ocasek and Wally Gagel for the Jessica Simpson song B.O.Y. and currently enjoys writing for other artists. Bruce on the other hand, has co-produced or performed on songs featuring Brookville, James Iha, Gretchen Mol, members of Tahiti 80, and the Brazilian Girls.

KGRL is very proud to present our December 2008 Flower-Powered Artist, Blondfire. Bruce & Erica Driscoll of Blondfire joined KGRL in-studio for an exclusive performance shot in high-definition video and audio. Being the completist we always are, here's a list of the rest of our fabulous materials for this feature: a CD review of My Someday, photos, and our comprehensive interview with Blondfire in video, audio, & transcribed form.

As per our usual monthly feature, we are giving away 3 signed My Someday CDs! Just e-mail me at contests [at] kgrl.fm and tell us why you deserve to win. Don't forget that you can request a FREE copy of the FPA live session DVDs as well!

KGRL Blondfire Interview

KGRL had a chance to sit down with Brazilian-American singers / songwriters Bruce and Erica Driscoll, from the band called Blondfire, for an interview right after our KGRL FPA Live Sessions held at The Alley Studio - 08.18.08.

Blondfire Video Interview (Click to launch the player!)
You can use the "pause" "back" and "forward" buttons to skip back or forward each of the Q&As.
This video is embeddable - you can use it on your blogs, myspace, website, etc.!


Having trouble viewing the video interview? Hit this link for IE7 Users!

My Someday CD Review

Blondfire's iTunes exclusive acoustic EP was a smashing success. Not only did the EP skyrocketed them to the #1 slot, which in itself is quite a feat being that they're the first unsigned band to accomplish it, but it helped them avoid a potentially disastrous career pit-stop. But the EP wasn't the only thing they had in mind since the time they were still known as Astaire. They were actually working on a full-length. My Someday, released on April 2008, is the fruit of Erica and Bruce's years of work reaching as far back as when they were still writing and recording in their parents' basement. Now that it is out in the open, was it worth the wait? Read on and find out what I think about each of the songs in this record.

The title track, My Someday warms us up with an upbeat track. The heavy influence from the Pet Shop Boys shows in full-force. This song will make you want to shake your thing to the groove that harkens back to the sound of the '80s. While the song is fun to listen to, it's not something I'll put on constant repeats. I feel like the keyboard and synthesized sounds compete with the serene vocal work of Erica. The chorus is a little weak for my liking as well.

Oxygen, the next track, is simply a brilliantly-composed song. It's a ballad wrapped in electronic coating. One of the highlights is Erica's voice; it soars and sends chills. For all the synthesized background this track has, it's not even enough to steal the attention from the song structure. Whether it was arranged acoustically (as seen in our exclusive video below) or electronically, the song stands by itself as a beautiful ballad.

The quintessential Blondfire composition, L-L-Love, is a proven winner. It is understandable why they included the track that garnered them nearly 300,000 downloads from iTunes. The electronic version included in the album contains a mixture of synth and screaming electric guitars. Erica's voice sounds a bit haunting and ethereal in this version. I actually do prefer the acoustic version (check out the exclusive video below) over the electronic one but that's not to say that I do not like this album version. There's no other way to say it -- I L-L-Love this song.

There's something about the song Always The Last To Know that makes me put it on plenty of repeats in my player whenever I listen to the record. It sounds very familiar yet it's not something I've heard before. It's a song that immediately clicked with my musical taste. The keyboard-played notes and trumpet in the intro, the guitar-plucked notes throughout the song, Erica's sensually-pleasing and very soothing vocal delivery, and the ear-bait melody are the elements that keeps me coming back for more. I tend to overanalyze the structure of the songs I love and that's because it is what makes me love a song in the first place. Give the song a listen and I dare you to say anything less than “I like it.”

The next track, Into The Sea, reminds me of Willy Wonka's Pure Imagination. I know they're not the same song but perhaps it draws parallel from the theme of being in a “different world” as well as parts of the lyrics and how they sound, particularly in the chorus when Erica sings “Come with me...” It's a catchy song and I love listening to it. The synthesized sound goes well with the acoustic and bass tracks. Erica, of course, does another great job in the vocal department so much so that I am tempted to come with them into the sea.

Pretty Young Thing (plus the Intro) is another beautiful acoustic-electric upbeat pop song. It's really a fun-to-listen-to kind of song because it exudes the creative energy of the siblings. You can feel that they really enjoy what they're doing. Erica's lead vocal and Bruce's back-up singing sparkles in this bubbly track. Put on your dancing shoes and enjoy this track the way it is intended.

If the last track exhausted your energy, it's okay to sit back, relax and enjoy the slow, heartbreak ballad that follows. All In My Mind feels very gloomy despite the electric sounds permeating the atmosphere. The drums feel like a heartbeat pulsing throughout the track as Erica gently sings, steadily paced in this somber melody. All In My Mind is a haunting and delicate piece of musical delight.

The track Lovesick travels to a different direction, into the realms of jazz, R&B, and soul with a funky flair. The accompaniment is less synth- and more band-sounding. This track is definitely anchored to the sound of the '80s. Out Of The Blue, on the other hand, is more synth-sounding and is quite an enjoyable Euro-pop track. The electronic arrangement, I think, best suits this track as it brings in a livelier approach to what might otherwise be a slow drag.

Eyes Of A Stranger is a highly melodic ballad complemented by the upbeat electro-pop sound. I sense the Tears For Fears influence on this track. I can actually imagine Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith singing this one. That's not to say that I don't like the vocal work by Erica, which I actually do love.

The album comes to a close with the oldest song in the record, Aluminum Stars. The acoustic and synth mix perfectly marries Brazilian and electronic music. The melody is soothing, playful and exotic. It's a great way to close the album with a track that signifies their roots.

It's extremely easy to get ecstatic in the way Blondfire incorporated electronic sound into their compositions that are mostly rooted in Brazilian music. To answer the question I posed earlier, yes the wait for Blondfire's full-length is very much worth it! If you appreciate indie melodic pop and electronic sound don't waste any more time waiting and grab My Someday. If you're an indie pop lover and don't care much about electronic sound, give Blondfire a try and maybe you'll start caring.

Buy My Someday on iTunes (Click Here)!

Buy My Someday on Amazon.com (Click Here)!

Buy My Someday on CDBaby (Click Here)!

Tracklist:

My Someday
Oxygen
L-L-Love
Always The Last To Know
Into The Sea
Intro
Pretty Young Thing
All In My Mind
Lovesick
Out Of The Blue
Eyes Of A Stranger
Aluminum Stars

Blondfire Photos

Play Slideshow!

KGRL FPA Live Session - The Alley Studio 08.18.08

KGRL proudly presents another wonderful webisode of our FPA Live Sessions. This month features Brazilian-American brother and sister duo Bruce & Erica Driscoll, collectively named Blondfire. The streams can be viewed using our embedded flash player. We do hope you enjoy these wonderful exclusive videos shot in high-def video and audio. There is also a 720p (1280 x 720 resolution) high-definition video of Blondfire's L-L-Love.



And remember, those of you who support the station by donations can request a copy of the DVD. Click here for more information on how to obtain the DVD!


*The flash videoplayer uses Javascript - be sure to enable it in your browsers.

Always The Last To Know	Oxygen	Paper Doll
Any Other Day	L-L-Love	Pretty Young Thing

Extra Bonus FPA Live Video!

The Girl From Ipanema

*L-L-Love performance is available in 720p High-Definition WMV-HD format.
Click here to view this video in HD!
(Warning: File size is 94.1Mb and requires WMV codec for Mac and Linux)