Saturday, July 31, 2010

Glows Under 'Blacklite'


A hot new band roaring out of the Midwest is Blacklite District, which recently released "Left Behind," the first single from their upcoming album entitled Scream Out, due out in the fall of 2010.

The young band formed in Spearfish, South Dakota, where band members Roman James (vocals), Kyle Pfeiffer (lead guitar), Todd May (bass) and Kjay Culver (drums) graduated from Spearfish High School's class of 2009. They are currently putting the finishing touches on Scream Out in Minneapolis and have plans to relocate to Denver in the fall of 2010.

James and Pfeiffer took a break from the studio to speak with RtD.

RtD: How did you get into music?

KP: I got turned on to Fleetwood Mac when I was about seven years old, and convinced my grandparents to buy me a drum set from Sears. When I turned 10, I found Ozzy Osbourne and started Blacklite District... the rest is history.

RJ: Me and Kyle started jamming at age 10 and I have been into music ever since, although seeing Linkin Park live for the first time a couple of months later was the final nail in the coffin.

RtD: How did you meet the other members of Blacklite District?

KP: I met Roman in school, and we started jamming. We did gigs around the Black Hills, jammin' with friends for a year or so.

RJ: When we decided to take things to the next level and get the right guys, we auditioned many musicians, who were also friends, to get an official line up in BLD.

RtD: How did the final lineup of the band come together?

RJ: As I said, Kyle and I founded the band, so it was more of the process of auditioning and finding the right guys that we knew could take things to the next level.

KP: Playin' gigs, writing and recording music, starting to work with producers, it all came together pretty fast over the last few years.

RtD: What inspired the tunes that you've written for the band's first CD, Scream Out?

KP: I think over the last few years, it's always been about being something real. Having those classic hard rock influences, but in a fresh way, with our own style marked on it. Blacklite District is the real deal, and this is us literally screaming out -- no pun intended. Inspiration comes from everything.

RJ: Not only the music I've listened to since a young age, but real experiences from life. A lot of the lyrics on the album are subjects that people can relate to and have true feeling and emotion.

RtD: The first single, "Left Behind," is tight. You have a great modern rock vibe. Some have compared it to Godsmack. What sort of process do you find yourself using when you write?

KP: For me, it always starts with a riff. Hearing the riff and kind of building a structure. It works awesome as a collaboration. We'll be in the middle of a bumpin' party -- quite often -- and start humming melodies and ideas to each
other... it's great.

RJ: I like to listen to music to get inspired and think of everything that has happened in my life and the world around me. From partying with the boys, to tragedies, it all just falls into place.

RtD: You're going to be touring this fall. Where are some of the places you'll be playing, and where are you especially excited about going?

KP: We'll be hitting everywhere in the U.S. and Canada [that] we can throughout late 2011, with dates in L.A., San Fran, Las Vegas, Denver, Salt Lake City, and et cetera... I'm most excited for L.A., and playing clubs like the Whisky.
Getting out there, and growing our audience. With the album, our first video, and a single launching [to] radio nationwide in October, we will be everywhere.

RJ: Just hitting the road for the first time and getting the music out there is exciting for me. I don't really have one place I'm particularly excited for, I'm just excited to hit the U.S. and Canada and play everywhere we can.

--

You can hear "Left Behind" at the band's website, blacklitedistrict.com.

No comments:

Post a Comment