articles
The Blood Brothers
from volume 01 issue 08 // Michael Rabinowitz
The Blood Brothers
Interview with Johnny Whitney
Jannus Landing
Words: Mike Rabinowitz
Photos: Mike Rabinowitz and Nathan Martin
Being Peter Pan is tough. Just ask Winnie the Pooh. Adolescence, with all of its light and ferocity is ultimately fleeting. And, like Pan and Pooh, Johnny Whitney knows this all too well. He is the lead singer and eight year veteran of the Seattle hardcore act, The Blood Brothers, a group who may have grown up beyond its punk/screamo roots. But, don’t tell their teenage supporters. Like Wendy and Christopher Robinson, The Blood Brothers’ fans often move past the sound and fury that originally attracted them to Johnny’s primal screams. “It really feels like our fan base has always been 15 to 17 year old kids,” Whitney reluctantly admits. “After they get to a certain age they just don’t go to our shows anymore. Then their little brothers and sisters come to our shows.”
And like Pan and Pooh, Whitney performs with reckless abandon despite knowing full well his audience’s tastes have an expiration date the same time high school prom season arrives. Created within the gap between the last death rattle of grunge and the wellspring of the indie-revolution, The Blood Brothers still draw the all ages shows when they first committed to hardcore founding fathers Black Flag and Helmet. The Blood Brothers attraction to youth is simple and easy to identify: their shows are orchestrated flumes of extreme volatility. “I think it’s just the energy of our band and having something that’s really frenetic,” Whitney explains. “Its something that’s different and weird.”
In fact, Jannus was at near capacity for this “opening act” on November 18th. Promoters were left to sulk at the end of their set as the 250 plus crowd of tweeners ran past the bar and bee lined for the merch table. All but echoes of reverb were left in the outdoor courtyard as a handful of yuppie hipsters sipped beer awaiting the appearance of the “headliner,” And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead. (Who actually behaved more like teenagers as guitarist, Kevin Allen puked on the drum set. He finally returned in the denouement of the set only to be pushed to the floor in disgust by lead singer Conrad Kelly. Ironically, Trail Of The Dead proved more destructive than the all ages demographic hoped to find in The Blood Brothers.)
When I meet Whitney during sound check, he dresses in typical punk ironic fashion: sporting a 1987 New Kids on the Block tee (although he painfully admits not being able to pick Donnie or Joey out of a lineup). Yet, underneath the bleach and eyeliner, lies a sincerity not seen in post-punk acts. With hair like Tom Hulce’s Amadeus to counter a purposeful and thoughtful demeanor, the 25-year-old Whitney describes the decidingly un-rock like diet he adheres to. “I do voice warm-ups for about 35 minutes, every day.” With his fingers, he counts off others: “I take slippery elm bark lozenges. I drink a lot of tea. I try not to drink . . . that much. I try not to drink coffee that much. Recently, I’ve been taking homeopathic medicine that’s supposed to prevent hoarseness.” None of these remedies will be found in the Meatloaf vocal workout book but are required for any singer who explores the scorching high octaves Whitney must reach. “Singing is so much different than other parts of the band. You can play guitar hung over but you can’t really sing hung over.” Speaking matter-of-factly, and likely from experience, Whitney espouses, “If you don’t take care of your body, your body is not going to give a shit about you.”
Despite the revolving door of 15-year-old fans, The Blood Brothers themselves continue to mature as musicians. The new album, Young Machetes, is a celebration of orchestrated decadent glam rock as much as an adherence to the chaotic sparseness of punk. This is a result of the converging tastes within the band’s members. “I am more on the over the top, super-decadent side in terms of lyrics or music,” Whitney explains. “Morgan (Henderson), on the other hand, is more into the very spare types of music.” This convergence gives birth to cabaret heartpounders like “Lazer Life” and “1, 2, 3 Guitars” which Whitney’s vocals are more in line with Elton John than Johnny Rotten.
Looking back at The Blood Brothers’ catalogue, maturing past the confines of punk is not surprising. The band has followed the historical arch and natural progression of the genre toward post-punk (covering “Anthrax” by Gang of Four), No Wave, and now, even glam. This evolution seems to be attributed more to age than deliberate artistic exploration. “We started the band when we were 15 and 16,” he carefully explains. “I’m 25 now so, I’ll occasionally listen to Black Flag or Dead Kennedys, bands that I listened to when I started the band. But now, I listen to every kind of music possible.” This means even delving into classic rock inspiration once pissed on by the titans of punk. “You know, there are things that I hear and think, ‘Awww, it would be awesome if we had a song like this John Lennon song or this Prince song.’”
This sonic ripeness extends beyond to just acceptance of once foreign tastes. The deliberate delivery of Whitney’s words detail maturity in songwriting as well. Earlier albums like Burn, Piano, Burn offered an eclectic kitchen sink style but barely had the structure the band could artistically build itself off of. “We would have an idea and put every kind of genre possible into the song,” Whitney admits. “Looking back on it, I just feel like that was poor song writing on our part. All of our songs had to be crazy, chaotic but we would interlude little weird things . . . We weren’t brave enough to do something different. To me, that is the biggest difference from what we were and what we are.”
For now, Johnny has to politely excuse himself. It seems he spilled his daily ration of coffee on the band’s merchandise girl’s new laptop. To make up for it, he is offering his own for replacement - not exactly punk rock, and not exactly Peter Pan. But even Peter Pan has to grow up eventually . . . or begin homeopathic therapy.
Interview with Johnny Whitney
Jannus Landing
Words: Mike Rabinowitz
Photos: Mike Rabinowitz and Nathan Martin
Being Peter Pan is tough. Just ask Winnie the Pooh. Adolescence, with all of its light and ferocity is ultimately fleeting. And, like Pan and Pooh, Johnny Whitney knows this all too well. He is the lead singer and eight year veteran of the Seattle hardcore act, The Blood Brothers, a group who may have grown up beyond its punk/screamo roots. But, don’t tell their teenage supporters. Like Wendy and Christopher Robinson, The Blood Brothers’ fans often move past the sound and fury that originally attracted them to Johnny’s primal screams. “It really feels like our fan base has always been 15 to 17 year old kids,” Whitney reluctantly admits. “After they get to a certain age they just don’t go to our shows anymore. Then their little brothers and sisters come to our shows.”
And like Pan and Pooh, Whitney performs with reckless abandon despite knowing full well his audience’s tastes have an expiration date the same time high school prom season arrives. Created within the gap between the last death rattle of grunge and the wellspring of the indie-revolution, The Blood Brothers still draw the all ages shows when they first committed to hardcore founding fathers Black Flag and Helmet. The Blood Brothers attraction to youth is simple and easy to identify: their shows are orchestrated flumes of extreme volatility. “I think it’s just the energy of our band and having something that’s really frenetic,” Whitney explains. “Its something that’s different and weird.”
In fact, Jannus was at near capacity for this “opening act” on November 18th. Promoters were left to sulk at the end of their set as the 250 plus crowd of tweeners ran past the bar and bee lined for the merch table. All but echoes of reverb were left in the outdoor courtyard as a handful of yuppie hipsters sipped beer awaiting the appearance of the “headliner,” And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead. (Who actually behaved more like teenagers as guitarist, Kevin Allen puked on the drum set. He finally returned in the denouement of the set only to be pushed to the floor in disgust by lead singer Conrad Kelly. Ironically, Trail Of The Dead proved more destructive than the all ages demographic hoped to find in The Blood Brothers.)
When I meet Whitney during sound check, he dresses in typical punk ironic fashion: sporting a 1987 New Kids on the Block tee (although he painfully admits not being able to pick Donnie or Joey out of a lineup). Yet, underneath the bleach and eyeliner, lies a sincerity not seen in post-punk acts. With hair like Tom Hulce’s Amadeus to counter a purposeful and thoughtful demeanor, the 25-year-old Whitney describes the decidingly un-rock like diet he adheres to. “I do voice warm-ups for about 35 minutes, every day.” With his fingers, he counts off others: “I take slippery elm bark lozenges. I drink a lot of tea. I try not to drink . . . that much. I try not to drink coffee that much. Recently, I’ve been taking homeopathic medicine that’s supposed to prevent hoarseness.” None of these remedies will be found in the Meatloaf vocal workout book but are required for any singer who explores the scorching high octaves Whitney must reach. “Singing is so much different than other parts of the band. You can play guitar hung over but you can’t really sing hung over.” Speaking matter-of-factly, and likely from experience, Whitney espouses, “If you don’t take care of your body, your body is not going to give a shit about you.”
Despite the revolving door of 15-year-old fans, The Blood Brothers themselves continue to mature as musicians. The new album, Young Machetes, is a celebration of orchestrated decadent glam rock as much as an adherence to the chaotic sparseness of punk. This is a result of the converging tastes within the band’s members. “I am more on the over the top, super-decadent side in terms of lyrics or music,” Whitney explains. “Morgan (Henderson), on the other hand, is more into the very spare types of music.” This convergence gives birth to cabaret heartpounders like “Lazer Life” and “1, 2, 3 Guitars” which Whitney’s vocals are more in line with Elton John than Johnny Rotten.
Looking back at The Blood Brothers’ catalogue, maturing past the confines of punk is not surprising. The band has followed the historical arch and natural progression of the genre toward post-punk (covering “Anthrax” by Gang of Four), No Wave, and now, even glam. This evolution seems to be attributed more to age than deliberate artistic exploration. “We started the band when we were 15 and 16,” he carefully explains. “I’m 25 now so, I’ll occasionally listen to Black Flag or Dead Kennedys, bands that I listened to when I started the band. But now, I listen to every kind of music possible.” This means even delving into classic rock inspiration once pissed on by the titans of punk. “You know, there are things that I hear and think, ‘Awww, it would be awesome if we had a song like this John Lennon song or this Prince song.’”
This sonic ripeness extends beyond to just acceptance of once foreign tastes. The deliberate delivery of Whitney’s words detail maturity in songwriting as well. Earlier albums like Burn, Piano, Burn offered an eclectic kitchen sink style but barely had the structure the band could artistically build itself off of. “We would have an idea and put every kind of genre possible into the song,” Whitney admits. “Looking back on it, I just feel like that was poor song writing on our part. All of our songs had to be crazy, chaotic but we would interlude little weird things . . . We weren’t brave enough to do something different. To me, that is the biggest difference from what we were and what we are.”
For now, Johnny has to politely excuse himself. It seems he spilled his daily ration of coffee on the band’s merchandise girl’s new laptop. To make up for it, he is offering his own for replacement - not exactly punk rock, and not exactly Peter Pan. But even Peter Pan has to grow up eventually . . . or begin homeopathic therapy.
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