Edinburgh’s Slow Blood will release brand new EP ‘EP 1’ on Friday (28th September) and we are delighted to have an exclusive preview track.
We caught with the guys to chat about the release and future plans.
Alive & Amplified – Hi Slow Blood, for those who don’t know, tell us a little bit about the band?
Slow Blood – We’re a goth pop three piece from Edinburgh, we Like Star Trek and today marks exactly a year since we released our first single.
A&A – You released a couple of tracks, Prayer & Demon Speed in 2017 and are set to release your debut EP ‘EP 1’ on 28th September. Tell us about the EP. What can we expect?
SB – We’re super proud of the new EP as it feels like we’ve found our feet sonically. We wanted it to sound incredibly loud to match our live sound whilst letting the songwriting and melodies flourish. Like someone singing you a beautiful lullaby whilst beating you over the head with a lead pipe.
A&A – You recorded in Post Electric Studios with Rod Jones (Idlewild). How was that?
SB – Not to sound like a bunch of fan boys, but it was a little surreal working with Rod since Idlewild have released some of our favourite records. Before we went into the studio we sent him our demos alongside a bunch of other band’s tracks we liked to give him an idea of the flavours, amp tones and drum sounds we were trying to capture on tape. He understood exactly what we were looking for and we’re super happy with the end product. He also let us nerd out and record with guitars he’d used on some of Idlewld’s records.
A&A – Who are your influences and what is your songwriting process?
Our song writing process normally starts with someone writing a demo, which we then take into our basement rehearsal space (The Doom Tomb), where we play about with it for a few weeks. We like to start playing new tracks live as early as possible to see how they feel in front of people. It helps give us a much better idea if it’s good or something we need to work on a lot more.
A&A – You had your launch party at the weekend (21st September) at Henry’s Cellar Bar. Tell us about Edinburgh’s music scene?
SB – Even with all the controversy around Edinburgh City Council and venue’s closing down, there’s some great people out there putting on incredible shows. Our ‘Slow Blood Mad Props awards’ go out to the guys at City of Glass, Tallah and Malcom and their new ‘Supper Club’ night. Ryan Drever at ‘Accidental Gold’ promotions and the Edinburgh venue staples of Sneaky Petes, Mash House, Leith Depot and Henry’s.
A&A – After the release of the EP are there plans to get back into the studio or are you taking this one on the road?
SB – We write pretty continuously, so getting back into the studio is always in the back of our mind. I think we’d like to get out of the basement and play plenty of shows this Winter. We’d also love to book some shows in Europe. We have a few contacts out there but it’s about finding the time in everyones schedules to make it happen.
A&A – What about further ahead? Plans for 2019?
SB – As I said we write and demo pretty continuously, so I think we’ve probably got another EP or album in us that we could release in the next 12-18 months. Just now it’s a case of adding as many new tracks into the live set as possible to see if they stick and then get back in the studio to record them.
A&AFinally, if you could pick one song to describe Slow Blood what would it be?