Portfolio > Interviews

I first saw Blandest play live at The Workspace in Manchester, CT on a bill with other local CT outfits like Jaded in Paradise and Symposia. It was one of the more memorable local shows I had been to at that time, and Blandest’s set stood out to me. It was distinctly noisy, and they seemed determined to get through their set and keep conversation to a minimum. I saw them again months later at the local DIY venue, The Dog Pound in Storrs, CT (check out my short documentary on them!), and bought a T-shirt. A few months later, Damien Galvez, vocalist and guitarist from Blandest, sent me a DM about doing an interview. He had heard I was interested in interviewing local artists from our mutual friend Hadley. I told him I was down for sure, though I hadn’t ever done an interview before, so I said I was sorry if it was to turn out poorly.

Weeks later, on March 6th, I returned to The Workspace with a bunch of friends for Blandest’s hometown album release show in Manchester, which capped off a five-show East Coast tour with Brooklyn shoegaze act Velvet as support for their new album As She Drifts Away… For this show, they brought along Massachusetts emo band Summers in Autumn as well as Connecticut natives Death Valley Sun Troopers, both of whom rocked. The venue was so packed out that employees threatened to turn people away, possibly due to the $5 cover price compared to $15 at other shows on their tour. Members of fellow CT acts like Solace in Bloom (whose new album Glass Minds, Stellar Thoughts is out now) and mybodywasfoundinahollowtree could be spotted in the sea of people, as well as Alexa Udell and other staff members from The Dog Pound. The tightly packed crowd didn’t hide their love for the album, belting the lyrics to every track played in order, constantly moving around, and selling out the band’s merch table at the end of the night. I bought a CD that I’ve admittedly played on repeat in the car way too much since. The show felt like an important and special homecoming moment for the band in a scene where local support is valued so heavily. I chatted with Damien afterwards, as well as bassist and vocalist Maysalee “Maybell” Gray-Khen and drummer Declan Johnson, and set up the interview.

A month or so later, on the morning of April 12th, I pulled into the parking lot of East Hartford’s Triple-A Diner, a bit nervous. When I walk in, a notebook full of questions for Blandest in hand, the very friendly staff let me know that I can sit wherever I'd like, so I pick a booth in the far-right corner. My phone buzzes with a text from Damien telling me he’s arrived. Him and Maybell sit down with me in the booth, and I ask what they recommend. “Something safe.” I ordered a bacon cheeseburger. Declan is a little late, but that’s ok.
Taylor: How did you all meet? I know you guys (Maybell and Damien) are together, but...
Declan: I met them in February last year because they played a show with a band called Keep who are one of my favorite bands, and we ended up just talking to each other. They needed a drummer, and a month later, the band I was in at the time played with Blandest. Damien gave me his number. We jammed out, and here I am.
Damien: Blandest started out as a grunge band in high school, and it was just me and my friend Kolby, who is now in the band Remedies. We would just jam out, make music, and whatnot. After a while I was like, “I kinda wanna take this seriously.” We wanted to see if there was a scene around here and do shows. We were looking for a bassist and couldn’t find one in our circle, and around the time I had gotten her (Maybell) a bass. Did you want a bass, or did I just get you one? I forgot.
Maybell: I learned a couple of songs on your bass, or your uncle’s bass, and we were kind of just farting around. Then you ended up getting me a bass, and I think it was because you wanted me to play the bass for the band, and I was like, alright, that’s fine.
TR: Subtle, right?
DG: And that’s kinda how she joined the picture. So, for a while it was just me, my girlfriend, and Kolby, and we were just playing really noisy stuff. Over time, playing a lot of shows and listening to a lot of different music ourselves, being teens and then growing up, we evolved our sound. We took a shoegaze-esque, post-hardcore direction, I would say. I got really into Hum, and that has changed the trajectory of like, everything.
TR: I love Hum. I guess that leads to questions about inspiration, not even just for the album but in general. What inspires you guys?
DG: For Blandest, it’s mostly the bands that inspired a lot of the artists that are relevant right now, like Fleshwater or Julie, and before them, Hum and Swirlies for sure. There’s also this band called My Vitriol, they’re really good. I think I read somewhere that they were the first band to coin the term Nu-gaze.
DJ: For me, at least for drums, I have a list of drummers where I like, just steal what they do. Matt Wood from Dream Fatigue, Carson Wilcox in Narrow Head. This guy Jon Brenner who plays in a band called Prize Horse, that guy has chops for days. Listening to the songs, watching videos and being like, I’m stealing that.
TR: A lot of people say art is stealing. You gotta take from somewhere and adapt it from there.
MG: I don’t contribute to the sound a ton, but for bassists, I’m inspired by Kim Gordon. Definitely Lydia from Feeble Little Horse, I love her. I like Blimp, I forget what her name is, but her at is like @aliexpress_lucite_stiletto on Instagram.
TR: Awesome.
MG: I really think a lot about visuals. How I dress and move around on stage. I’ve only been playing bass a few years, so I’m still figuring out my performance, but I’m trying to be more intentional with how I move while I play. I’m inspired by Tati from Snow Strippers and the way she performs.
TR: I saw them live a few months ago.
MG: Are you serious?
DG: How was it?
TR: It was awesome; it was a great show. Out in Boston at the Roadrunner, I went with a few friends of mine. Crazy show.
MG: Was that in February?
TR: Yeah, I believe.
MG: My sister was there! And Elliott was there, I think.
DG: Our friend Elliott. He did the mix on the old demo for “Fluorine.”
TR: I’ll ask about that later, don’t worry. Speaking of Kim Gordon, have you listened to any of her new solo music?
MG: I’m ashamed to say I haven’t listened to any of her solo music.
TR: It's a lot different. She’s making, like, trap music. She’s rapping. It's really cool. It puts people off a little bit, but it's really cool. I mess with it a lot. She’s got a really interesting vocal style because her rapping is really breathy, and she sounds like an old woman rapping. It's so cool.
DG: I've checked out her recent stuff. She's always had this croon to her voice, and I think it contrasts well with the kind of music she's making now. It's so cool that that's the direction she's taken from like, starting out making really weird experimental rock music.
TR: I think it's one of the coolest careers...
DG: She’s definitely an inspiration for me as an artist in general, and she’s done so much. She hasn’t just stayed in her lane in the alternative rock world. I feel like it's similar to Yung Lean in the sense that they’re both just so tapped into so many other niches.
TR: I think versatility is so admirable.
DG: Definitely.
TR: Especially being 70+ years old, taking on a new genre, a very purely modern genre, taking that up and doing it well in my opinion. I think it's really cool stuff. I’m a fan. You were talking about looking cool on stage. What goes into a Blandest live performance? Is it all really meticulous? Is it really in the moment?
DJ: Sometimes if we’re feeling a little fancy, we’ll plan out a specific intro or song transitions.
DG: We’ve always liked playing short and sweet sets. Ever since we dropped the album though, there’s been shows where we have extra time, and we might play the album straight through since it’s on the shorter side. Or we’ll think of different ways to go about the set list. Maybe we’ll have a noisy intro or whatever. There’s bands where they dance, interact with the crowd, or show off and just [exaggeratedly strums an air guitar], which is cool, but we don’t do that. We kinda do our own thing and rock out.
TR: I think that's awesome. I really enjoyed the Workspace show (Manchester CT, March 6th, 2026) where you guys played it all the way through. I really admired that show.
DG: I’m very glad. It was a special show for us.
TR: Do you guys ever play covers? Or did you play covers before the album? And do you guys have a favorite cover to play?
DG: We played “Stars” (Hum) last night for the first time in a while. We’ve played “I Hate It Too” (Hum) once or twice on tour, which is probably my favorite song ever. I just love that song so much. We don’t play covers often, but once in a while we’ll sprinkle one in. It's either like, "Hey, we’re just gonna play a song that we like for fun because it's awesome,” or if we’re entering new scenes or states we haven't played before, it's like, “You know what, I think this might have a crowd that would be tapped into this song.” We covered Sonic Youth a little in 2023-2024. There was a song that we did with (Maybell) on vocals called “My Friend Goo”. It was just me on bass and whoever was drumming with us at the time, and she would just scream on vocals, it was us at our most raw state.
DJ: We did a Strokes cover too once.
MG: And a Narrow Head cover.
TR: What Strokes song did you play?
DG + DJ: “Hard to Explain.”
TR: That’s awesome. I would have loved to hear that.
DG: The Strokes are the reason why I wanted to start a band, bro.
TR: They got the new album coming out in the summer; I’m very excited about that.
DG: I checked out the single. It is not for me.
TR: I actually haven’t heard the single yet. It’s autotune-y, right?
DG: I didn’t like that about it. Obviously, they’re very laid back, and the guitars are very loose and whatnot, but I feel like it's a little too... mellow and stale for me. But who knows, maybe it’ll grow on me.
TR: I know a lot of people said it reminds them of The Voidz.
DG: I never got into The Voidz.
TR: I listened to their most recent album, didn’t love it. Julian’s gonna do what he wants to do... They posted that little album trailer and got a bunch of backlash because it was AI-generated. I guess he’s getting old now. What are some of your earliest music related memories, whether it's listening to music or playing music?
DG: One of my earliest influences in music is probably my Uncle Chris. He played drums in the demo for “Fluorine.” Growing up, he always listened to punk or nu-metal. He was in a hardcore band when he was our age, drumming and gigging wherever. Seeing him play in his rinky-dink basement, I just thought, “This guy is so cool.” And my Dad has always had an acoustic guitar around the house. He would play Radiohead or Violent Femmes.
DJ: My dad is a musician. He mainly just does acoustic stuff, but I remember, I think it was like 2018, I heard a Beatles song in an ad, I think it was like a Verizon ad, and I was like, damn, this is kinda cool. I got really into The Beatles in like 8th grade or freshman year of high-school and that made me want to be a musician, so I just learned bass, then guitar, then drums. Thanks, Paul.
TR: Favorite Beatles album?
DJ: Sgt. Peppers. Normie answer, but yeah.
TR: Theres nothing wrong with that. I’m more of a Revolver guy.
DG: Pretty based.
DJ: I think “A Day in the Life” is one of the greatest songs ever written.
MG: My dad used to play a lot of club music and pop music. Any 2010s pop I love so much. It was kind of what I grew up on, but he would also just turn on the radio and play whatever. He liked to play a lot of big butt music, if that makes sense.
DG: Yeah, almost every time we play a show, or we come back from one, we bump hella recession pop, like Kesha or whatever. I can’t act too nonchalant because we listen to so much white girl 2010s music.
TR: I’m sure if I was performing that would get me in the zone. My thing with Kesha is that she brings a certain energy to her music and it's unmatched. I feel like no one has ever done that sound in the same exact way, but once you’ve heard a few songs, you’ve kind of heard them all, and I don’t think that's necessarily a bad thing. She’s got such a crazy voice and delivery.
DG: She’s iconic. I think she’s a good singer. I wouldn’t compare her to like, Sinatra, but stylistically it's perfect for the music she makes.
TR: Let's talk about the music now. Obviously, the first release was the “Fluorine” demo; what made you go with that one? Did you release that with the album in mind?
DG: “Fluorine” was a song that I wrote in high school and one of the only ones that we still play from that era of my life. I was really proud of the instrumentation of it, and it dropped I think in October of 2023. We started playing live in August, so we were around for like, 3 months. Our idea was, if we're gonna be performing, people should have at least one song to go back and listen to.
TR: I remember doing that.
DG: But later when we dropped it, I was like, “I want to re-do this,” because recording was new to me and we rushed to have it out. It was very DIY. It was a demo. Listening back to it, there were just so many things I wanted to do differently.
TR: You guys shared that sentiment when you first recorded it?
DG: It was actually just me and my uncle. I recorded guitar, bass, vocals, and then he recorded the drums. It was all done in his basement.
TR: What did the album recording process look like? Was it really quick? Did it change overtime?
DG: We started recording the album in the fall of 2024 and finished it a year later. A lot of that time came from us growing as artists while also balancing college, shows, work, and life outside the band. There were also some lineup changes during the process. Our drummer at the time was balancing multiple projects, and it became difficult for everyone involved. Eventually, we decided it made the most sense to go in separate directions. Afterwards, I was constantly reworking songs and obsessing over every detail of the record every single day, and it really took over my life for a while. When Declan joined, everything clicked, and we were finally able to finish the album. The whole record was recorded DIY, which was rewarding but also really challenging. I love the freedom that comes with doing things independently, but having unlimited freedom can also be overwhelming. Without someone helping guide the process, there were moments where I felt lost and second guessed everything. In the end, the process was messy, stressful, and really personal, but I think that's exactly how the record had to come out. We spent a lot of time experimenting, learning how to record better, and even tracking vocals in my car. Songs, like “Fluorine” and “Kitty Track,” had been around for years with some being written just for the album, like “To Make It Back To You”.
DJ: We wrote that in like a day or something.
TR: That's interesting considering the long spoken-word aspect.
DG: [Pointing to Maybell] That’s all her. She has always written and journaled, and I’ve always loved spoken word in songs. But “Swirl,” “Trinket,” “Comets (In The Sky),” and “Raindrop Collector” were new.
TR: Well, it all works very well together; it's very cohesive. You’ve got the sound, and it brings everything together very well.
DG: I’m glad you think so.
TR: It came out on Valentine’s Day. Any motivation there?
DG: In my head I wanted the album to come out sooner, but our sound engineer, Corey Coffman, who was a pleasure to work with, was on tour with his own band, so we didn’t hit the deadline I had in mind. It ended up working out though. A lot of the songs I write circle around love in different ways, and Maybell has always been a big inspiration for that. She’s kind of my muse, which I know is a bit of a silly way to put it, but that’s why she’s on the album cover.
MG: Aww, that’s really cute actually.
DG: So yeah. In that sense, I guess it coming out on Valentine’s day worked out in my favor.
MG: It’s kind of a cute day.
TR: The look of the cover and the rest of the visuals so far remind me of a memory in a way. I think the harsh white is very cool. Who shot the cover?
MG: Ren Frank. Lauren Frank of rrendesign.
DG: Our good friend. She’s awesome.
TR: And did you have that cover in mind? Maybell on the cover?
DG: I always wanted Maybell to be on the cover in some way with her all overexposed in white. I’ve noticed most of my favorite albums have a plain background with a figure on it, like White Pony or You’d Prefer an Astronaut with the zebra. I love minimalism in art, and that kind of simplicity has always really stuck with me.
TR: I agree, it not only looks nice, but it lets whoever is consuming the art fill in the rest of that space in their head.
DG: We had a few alternate designs from that photoshoot, which we actually used for our album release tour poster. One of them had a line on the side, and it said “Blandest” and “As She Drifts Away...”
TR: How do you guys feel about praise on the album? Like, when you come to an interview and someone is like, “I loved the album,” how does that make you feel? The difference between having a conversation with a regular person and a fan.
DG: It’s a little surreal, because it’s something we made, and then hearing that people actually value it or resonate with it is really cool. We really only make music for ourselves, never in a “people would like this” or “this has to be catchy” kind of way. It’s just music we’d want to hear and play. So when other people connect with it, it’s really reassuring. It makes everything feel worth it in a way, and it’s encouraging to keep building on what we’re doing. So yeah, I’m always just really grateful and appreciative, no matter who it is.
DJ: I try to be as casual as possible.
DG: Mr. Nonchalant over here.
DJ: Occasionally, people will come up to me and talk about the album like, “Yo. The album’s cool.” And I’m like, "Thanks, bro. Dap me up.”
MG: To be honest, it's kind of awkward. Whenever people tell me that they really like the album, I respond really enthusiastically because it is really, really cool to have people who have even listened to it and actually like what we’re doing, so it’s really flattering. But then it's like, “THANK YOU SO MUCH!”
TR: And how do you continue from there, right?
MG: Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing.
DG: Another thing, in our overall experience as a band, we’ve played in so many different scenes and on so many different bills. We’ve played with hardcore bands, a bunch of punk bands, and indie bands, but there aren’t really a lot of shoegaze bands in the scene here in Connecticut, at least that are active anymore. There’s Porcelain; they’re more so in Rhode Island, though. It has felt a little awkward, because we love all our peers, but we don’t really feel like there are enough people here playing the kind of music we do, and sometimes it feels like it’s just us out here. Doing that album release show though, it was really awesome to hear people sing our stuff and come up to us who I know for a fact mostly listen to hardcore music. So when those people say, “I love your stuff,” it’s like wow, it’s really cool that our music, something they probably wouldn’t usually listen to, is something that still affected them.
TR: I have a friend that I go to school with in the radio club, and I don’t want to say he’s snobby about his music, but he’s very particular about who he listens to. He went to that show, and I didn’t know what he would think because I can’t really pin down whether or not he would like something. But he’s a fan, and he loves the album, and I think that shows that you have that broad appeal. Do you think being one of, if not the only shoegaze band in the scene, is a good or bad thing for you guys?
DG: I feel like it's more a bad thing than good. I guess it could be seen as good since there aren’t a lot of shoegaze bands here, there’s draw to us. But that being said, I don’t really want that. I want to have people to lean on and grow with who have the same inspiration and influences and goals as us to build each other up. When we did our tour with Velvet, who are like our big brothers... Have you listened to them yet?
TR: I haven’t.
DG: You should, they mean a lot to us. But we played a show in New York with them; they’re from New York, and they were introducing us to their friends and all these other shoegaze, alternative bands. It was super cool because they all had each other’s back and they were all friends. There wasn’t even a sense of competition; it was like, "We're all in this together.” I wish we had something like that here, because it gets a little lonely being one of the only bands like that over here, but we have friends that make other music to make up for that.
MG: It's kind of deflating to go and play a show on a bill of bands that don't really sound like us. Then every once in a while it's like, you guys liked every band but us!
DG: Not even that, because when we’ve played hardcore shows...
MG: I feel like I’m LARPing at a hardcore show.
TR: I think a lot of people feel like they’re LARPing at a hardcore show, because of the nature of that scene sometimes, so I get that.
DG: Hey, I love hardcore! Most of my favorite shows we've played have been with hardcore bands. But when we're on a genre-specific bill and we're kind of the odd one out, it can feel a little awkward sometimes. We played a show with Sue and UponBrokenApologies and a bunch of other hardcore bands, the bill was great. But while we were actually playing, nobody was really moving, and since we were probably the softest band on the bill and hadn't played in Worcester before, I think people were still figuring us out. In the moment, it can feel a little deflating because you're up there thinking, "Man, nobody is rocking with this."
TR: And that goes back into your performance.
DG: Sometimes yeah, but then afterwards people come up to you all hyped and say they loved it, and you realize they were rocking with it, just not in the way you expected.
MG: I get it; nobody’s going to two-step to us.
DG: They literally do, though.
MG: And it's really nice when you guys do, but is it like a sympathetic two-step because you did it for everyone else?
TR: Why’d you choose Trinket as the lead single? Was it ever going to be any of the other ones?
DG: My original plan was to drop “Trinket” and then “Comets (In The Sky)” as another single after that. I’m biased because I like all the songs that I write, but to the average listener, I feel like “Trinket” is our catchiest song, also pretty short, since we have some pretty long songs. I feel like it's more single worthy than, like, “Swirl.”
MG: There’s so much going on in it.
DJ: It's got the most variety out of all of the songs.
MG: Like that little random tambourine that comes in, I love that.
DJ: That makes the song. I’m not even joking, that makes the song.
MG: Maybe I’m the average listener, but it’s my favorite song on the album.
DJ: It's a tough one, because I have to think about my favorite song to listen to and my favorite song to play. I think my favorite song as a listener is probably “Comets.” I remember when I first joined the band, they sent me the demo for that song and I was like, “Woah. This is a song dude.”
TR: I love that one too. It's so distinct from the others, it's right there in the middle, it breaks up the tension a little bit. With “Trinket,” the subtle scream in the background, was that you (Maybell)?
MG: Yep.
TR: Was that planned? Was it recorded in the moment? How did that come about?
DG: Being a three piece, we want to fill as much sound as we can. We have a lot more free rein to do stuff on a record than we can live. So listening to that one part of the song, I felt like there should be something there. I had been listening to a lot of emo, and our peers, Porcelain, also have some screaming in their songs live. I thought, “Not a bad idea.” It's cool when they do that, maybe we should try including that in one of our songs.
MG: It was also right after “This Is Real” came out. I feel like that’s totally what influenced it.
DG: Oh yeah, wait that’s literally actually the reason why we did that.
MG: I don't know why you didn’t mention that at all.
DG: It totally slipped my mind. So yeah, feeble little band dropped a single...
MG: Feeble little band???
DG: Oh my god. The band, feeble little horse, they dropped a single called “This Is Real,” and there's this cool little section where there are screams in the background that aren’t as loud while there's a bunch of stuff going on. I was like, “Woah, we should do that.” Especially since that's like, (Maybell’s) favorite band. She was really inspired by that, too.
TR: I’ve got to listen to some more of them. I like what I’ve heard.
DG: We played at Lydia’s house last summer for a show; it was really cool.
TR: On “To Make It Back to You,” what was the inspiration for the spoken word lyrics that get lost in the mix as you come in and as the heavier guitar comes in?
DG: That's a trope we're really big fans of. We had a couple older songs built around spoken word sections, but those ended up getting shelved. A lot of the inspiration came from bands like Slint, Swirlies, Life Without Buildings, and the song “Be Safe” by The Cribs. I love when albums include experimental noise tracks, monologues, audio collages, or interludes. Those are often the parts that pull me because they make you stop and really experience the record instead of just moving from one song to the next. “To Make It Back to You” came together really quickly, and at first we were thinking of it more as a noise piece. Around that time, Maybell started her blog, so I suggested incorporating that. It's vulnerable and intimate. You're hearing her own private thoughts, but they're drowned out by the guitars and also open enough that everyone can take their own interpretation from it.
TR: It works really well. It's very emotional. I was listening to it on the way here, and it hits the hardest of all the songs, I think. On “Fluorine,” you write about chlorine, puss from the lungs, cat piss, these kinds of gross images of flowing fluid. On “Swirl,” a similar thing, the mind leaking from her ears. “I cry into my raindrop collector.” Does that mean anything to you? Was it intentional?
DG: It was not intentional. It's cool that you caught that when looking into it. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a very lyrical person. When I listen to music, I’ve always focused on the instrumentation, and when I’m writing, I just want to have a cool sounding song that I like. Lyrics usually come last. I used to listen to a lot of Nirvana, and there’s stories where Kurt would just write what sounds cool and edgy or whatever on the spot, and that’s that. So me being fifteen years old, I wanted to do the same thing for the song, I mean obviously there’s some meaning for me. “Fluorine” isn’t a song that currently represents who I am right now as a lyricist. For “Swirl” and “Raindrop Collector,” it was more building something visually. When I write, I usually want to story tell a bit, as opposed to talking about something super personal, or I do a bit of both.
TR: I listened to it multiple times through, so I guess it was just something I caught. I guess that brings up the question of how you guys have evolved as musicians from when you first got together to when you dropped the album, or even to now. How have you changed?
DJ: I’ve had to take drumming way more seriously than I did before. I’ve only been drumming for three, three and a half years? I record my sets so I can watch them back, and the first few Blandest shows, I suuuuucked.
DG: Don’t beat yourself up. That was all of us. We all sucked.
DJ: Until March, I had been practicing on a dinky electronic kit because that’s all I could use, but I just rented out a practice room monthly so I can go play drums whenever I want, 24/7 access.
DG: I feel like I've really stripped back a lot of my stuff. I was seventeen years old when we started playing live and I was just trying thrash around and go crazy on stage. Now, I feel like I’ve been less intense, not only because the more intense you are, the more you miss chords and mess up, but because I’ve been focused on being more vulnerable and conscious about what I’m writing and playing.
TR: That’s gotta contribute to the art, right? You said you write with love in mind, and love and vulnerability go hand in hand.
MG: I feel like I don’t have a good answer. I just kept playing.
DG: I feel like out of everyone, you’ve come the farthest. I would spend nights up with her trying to teach her a song. And now, a few years later, we’re here.
MG: I just got better, and I just kept playing.
TR: That’s evolution, though.
DG: She’s a very shy and awkward person. Always has been.
MG: Chill on me.
DG: That being said, being in the scene, playing shows, and talking to a lot of people has really helped her branch out.
MG: I’ve changed a lot personally, and some of that is thanks to being part of that community.
DG: You’ve come across so many artists of all kinds as well.
MG: There’s this one girl who I think about all the time; she makes sculptures out of bone, and welding, and all sorts of natural things she’s found. It's not music, but music is how I found her and her art.
TR: That intersection of art is so cool. I feel like that’s a big reason why I love being in a scene. You discover a band and branch out from there; it's all a web of creativity. There’s cool shit around here in all different kinds of mediums. I think Connecticut is underrated in that way, because there’s so much different stuff going on. We’re right in the middle of two big cities. It’s an interesting and engaging art scene as a whole, and I’ve discovered that over the last couple of years.
DG: There’s so much, whether it’s metalcore, indie, even trap. There’s cool stuff happening here.
TR: I’m happy to be here. Have you guys seen any good shows recently, whether it be local or otherwise?
DG: We both saw Ear recently.
TR: Was that in Boston?
DG: Yes.
TR: I was gonna go to that show, but I didn’t end up going. They’re so good.
DG: So good. I think moving forward, they’re going to be a big inspiration for me, because they’re also very vulnerable and intimate. It was really cool watching them, because the way they perform totally clashes with their music. Their music is very stripped and lulled, compared to their peers like Bassvictim or Snow Strippers who are making really bass-y in your face party music, which I still like. Ear is like Aphex Twin in a sense, but twee and a little bit more personal, not high energy at all. I don't know if you've seen videos, but they headbang and thrash out on stage. Just shows that you can do a lot as an artist, especially live. I could talk a lot about them.
MG: I really liked watching them. I could barely see them because I was squished to the side.
TR: Where was it at? Was it packed?
DG: It was really packed, actually.
MG: It was at this little theater sort of place. It was a really cool venue. It was cool to feel all the bass in real life as opposed to just hearing it; it was a physical experience. After the first three songs it got a little repetitive, but it's not like I didn’t like it. They were great.
TR: Very honest.
DJ: I try to go to as many shows as possible, local or bigger bands. Off the top of my head, my favorite show I’ve been to was on the Velvet tour that we played. We played at O’Brien’s in Boston with a band called Main Era. That band is so good it makes me mad. I don’t even know what to call them. I remember someone said they were like Blue Smiley if they had doom metal parts.
DG: They’re similar to Unwound.
TR: If you could be billed with three other acts, living or deceased, who would they be?
DJ: Hum.
DG: We can’t say Hum, because they would be the answer for all of us.
DJ: Ok, fine. I get three? Failure, this is a hardcore band but Counterparts, and I'd love to play with Keep again.
MG: I’m the least tapped in of the three of us. Whatever I am tapped into, Damien’s tapped into harder, and Declan isn’t tapped into. How many times have I recommended you something and you just haven’t listened to it?
DJ: Have you ever recommended anything to me?
MG: I couldn’t even get you to listen to Neutral Milk Hotel.
DJ: I’m gonna swap out Counterparts and replace them with All Under Heaven.
DG: I’m gonna give you two answers if that’s ok.
TR: Go for it.
DG: We already play a bunch of mixed bills, I think playing on an electronic bill would be so dope. Maybe Ear, Somewhere Special, and Bassvictim would be kinda cool.
MG: Oh yeah, just take my music that I like. I think (Bassvictim’s) newer stuff would be cool with us. I love their newer stuff. I really, really love it.
DG: My other answer would be, My Vitriol. If not Hum, My Vitriol would be the other band that inspires my writing the most. So My Vitriol, stereotypical but, My Bloody Valentine, and maybe Swirlies?
MG: That would be really cool.
[Our waitress comes, and Maybell asks for a to-go box. She points to the meatloaf that Damien ordered. It doesn’t look very appetizing, and he’s barely touched it.]
MG: Are we just not gonna talk about this?
DJ: I finished my stuff like forty minutes ago.
DG: The last time I got meatloaf here, it was smaller...
TR: Not messing with the meatloaf? I saw (Maybell) take a picture of it, subtly.
MG: I don’t know why we’re acting like this is ok.
DG: That’s what you were doing? I figured you were just stealing a fry or something.
MG: Feeble Little Horse would be cute. Well, I don’t know if I’d want to play on a bill with a lot of the artists I like. I would say Bassvictim, but would I want to play with them? They’re gonna bring their entire evil crowd, so there's that.
DG: That was a really good question.
MG: Pinback, that would be cool.
DJ: Nickelback.
MG: Oh yeah, probably Nickelback, Sleep Token...
DG: Staind!
DJ: Breaking Benjamin.
DG: Imagine Dragons!
TR: Falling In Reverse?
DG: Falling In Reverse, Sleep Token, Maroon 5...
DJ: Drake.
TR: These are the answers I’m looking for!
DG: We’re gonna blow up after this.
TR: What was your favorite album of last year?
DG: I listened to Finelines by My Vitriol a lot last year, because I found them last year.
DJ: Do you mean albums that came out last year, or just albums I listened to last year?
TR: Give me both.
DJ: Downward (2) was great. Superheaven Self-Titled, everything except the album cover was really good. Sunset Funeral by Glare was a really great album. Bleed Self-Titled was great. The album I had on repeat last year was The Difference Between Hell and Home by Counterparts. I think I listened to that album a thousand times, I’m not even joking.
MG: Basspunk 2 (Bassvictim) came out, and I had it on repeat all last year. It was ridiculous. And then Forever came out too, which was also incredible, and I listened to that until the year ended.
TR: Yeah, they work crazy. Two projects in one year, and they dropped earlier this year. They grind.
MG: And I feel like they’ve been on tour nonstop.
DG: That’s how we gotta be one day.
DJ: Also, honorable mention, Earthly Bounds by Humiliate, great EP.
DG: We should play with them again
DJ: We should.
DG: The Hellp dropped. That was good.
MG: It was fine.
TR: Really? You only thought it was fine? I love that album.
MG: I think they’re really good, but they piss me off.
TR: Of course, they’re questionable, but awesome music.
MG: Its wrong of me to say that though, because I can justify Bassvictim, and I'm like, “Well, it's fine!” but then (The Hellp) are just a little insufferable and I’m like, “They can just die for all I care.”
DJ: I’m gonna throw in three more. Burnside – New Breed, uponbrokenapologies – Silence and Sorrow, and 0 Miles Per Hour – Gallop.
TR: You’re a gold mine.
DJ: I’m tapped IN.
DG: I’d say Fleshwater’s new album for me. It had a more melodic sound as opposed to their first album which was darker. A lot of people I know didn’t like it, but I honestly loved it.
TR: Are you going to the show in New Haven?
DG: Yesss.
TR: I’ll be there.
DG: I’m really excited for that show. Fleshwater and Julie, how could I not go.
TR: Are you guys anticipating anything that’s dropping soon?
DJ: Narrowhead, Prize Horse, a bunch of stuff.
DG: We were talking about The Strokes earlier. I don’t like that single, but being a huge Strokes fan since high school, I am excited for that.
DJ: There’s a band called Sunbloc that is releasing an EP soon that I’m really looking forward to.
MG: Bassvictim will probably drop something. And I think Feeble Little Horse...
DG: They’re definitely dropping something. A lot of the artists we like now just drop, and they don’t really tease it too much. I like that.
MG: But I feel like you kinda just know. And my brain is connected to theirs. A lot of other fans just don’t know what it's like.
DG: What about you?
TR: Hmmm. I try to keep up with as much as I can. Fakemink is dropping soon, I’m excited about that. And the new American Football album, since I’m going to see them soon.
DG: I like some of their music, but I never got super into them. When it comes to that kind of emo, I love Mineral.
MG: He’s just really niche... and different...
TR: I find that a lot of musicians don’t keep up with a whole lot of new music. They’re more focused on their own stuff and they’re in their own world.
DJ: I know so many people who think music isn’t good past like... 1988.
DG: I was like that in high school, but then I grew up. Like I didn’t want to listen to any new music at all, but it's important to be as well-versed in music as you can be. As a musician, I can go on and on about music that has inspired the songs we write. Like “The Modern Age” by The Strokes inspired the solo in “Comets (In The Sky).” A bunch of Sarah Records bands, like twee pop bands that influenced “Trinket.” Stuff that isn't the music we make, but we grab from different genres and make it our own. I think that's very important.
TR: Do you guys read at all?
DG: [Pointing to Maybell] Bookworm.
MG: [Taking out multiple books and dropping them onto the table] I’m almost done with this... it's like a diary, it's called Go Ask Alice. I like reading diaries because I like to know what people are thinking. It's this 15-year-old girl who gets addicted to drugs and then goes on the run. Then she gets sober and I don’t know what happens in the end yet. [She picks up John Green’s Looking for Alaska] I’m going to reread this, because I read this when I was in 5th grade and I loved it. I don’t know why I was reading this in 5th grade. And I just got a new book yesterday, it's Kurt Vonnegut, because I've heard about him, and I thought I should read something of his.
TR: He’s a legend. Which one did you get?
MG: Slaughterhouse-Five.
*TR: Nice, I read that a year ago. Really great book. I just finished a book by him called Bluebeard. It's framed like an autobiography about this expressionist painter, and he has this secret thing hidden in the barn in his backyard, and the whole book leads up to him revealing what's in the barn. But he’s awesome, he’s my girlfriend’s favorite author.%
MG: I kind of wish I got that one now.
TR: Slaughterhouse-Five is great, trust. But Bluebeard is a less liked Kurt Vonnegut book, which surprised me because I loved it.
MG: I hate when I like something, and then I go look at a review, and everyone says they hate it.
TR: Yeah, but then you can say you’re different. You get points. Do you guys read at all?
MG: Damien’s illiterate.
DG: I joke around saying that I’m illiterate. I would love to read, and I see her reading and I get kinda jealous, which is dumb. I don’t know, I have ADHD, and I struggled in high school because I would get through 2 pages and have to reread them because my brain’s moving so fast.
TR: I have to do that sometimes.
DG: But my favorite book is James and the Giant Peach. It's a classic and has a special place in my heart. I should probably force myself to read a book, because it would probably help with writing lyrics and staying sharp as an artist in general.
TR: I go to school for film, and I think that literature is pure creativity, words on a page, the foundation of story. You can take it and it can inspire so many other types of art. I want to read more as well because when I have free time, I’ll usually listen to music or watch a movie. I just started reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which inspired Blade Runner.
DJ: I told (Maybell) that I did, but I don’t.
MG: What? You were lying? I’m feeling hurt.
DJ: I read Stand By Me in high school for summer reading, which I enjoyed. I don’t read, but I’m probably going to.
TR: You guys watch any good movies or shows recently?
DG: We’ve been watching The Walking Dead.
TR: Never really tried that one, but I’ve heard so much about it.
DG: I grew up watching a lot of zombie stuff. We just started The Walking Dead after we finished Regular Show. But I do love movies. I was thirteen years old, and I watched Pulp Fiction with my father, and that's what led me down the rabbit hole. At thirteen I was like, "I loooove Tarantino. You guys don’t know shit about movies.” But I like Gregg Araki movies, and Harmony Korine carried me throughout high school. There’s too much. I need to watch something by Wong Kar-wai.
TR: Fallen Angels is a beautiful, beautiful film. One of the best looking films I’ve ever seen. Have you heard of All About Lily Chou-Chou?
MG: I started watching that once, but I was with friends and I couldn’t focus on it, so I got confused.
TR: That’s one of my favorites.
DG: Every clip I see about that movie is so beautiful and makes me feel melancholic for something I’ve never experienced. I know I’d enjoy it.
DJ: I don’t watch movies. The last movie I watched was 28 Years Later in Pittsburgh.
MG: Are you serious?
DJ: I think I’ve watched like 3 movies in the last decade.
DG: We need to watch the new one, because there’s a sequel.
MG: We’ve watched all the 28-whatever-laters.
TR: 28 Days is so good.
DG: That’s in my top four; I love that movie so much. My favorite zombie movie.
DJ: I don’t know what the ending of 28 Years Later was about. It just seemed kinda silly.
DG: I do think that 28 Years Later was a little zanier. Obviously the first one is pretty stripped and indie, and I liked 28 Weeks Later, even though a lot of people didn’t. They both felt very grounded. And then the first twenty minutes of 28 Years Later was so cool, the flashback when the zombies were breaking into the house. But when they introduced the doctor, and the power ranger dudes...
DJ: The Irish Power Rangers.
DG: It really threw me off. I also didn't like how it focused more on the emotional connection between the boy and his mom as opposed to just the zombie apocalypse.
DJ: I just want to see the zombies bro.
DG: That’s what I’m talking about!
DJ: And the alpha zombie...
DG: With his meat out.
TR: Insane that they did that. I think this is the last one... what kind of reels do you guys get?
DG: Shit, I don't even know if I should say. Hmm, whenever it's not actual bullshit on my page... Do you know the band Kino?
TR: No, I don’t think so.
DG: They’re a Russian post-punk band. I keep getting a lot of Eastern European high-rise brutalist aesthetic videos, and I don’t know, I just fuck with it. I love that shit. And I get a lot of nostalgic... like XBOX 360 stuff.
DJ: Just brainrot. Cat videos, drumming, a lot of Invincible brainrot.
TR: I think you can tell a lot about a person by the reels that they get.
MG: I get a little bit of brainrot, but not the same kind that they get. They would think it's lame.
TR: It's a spectrum.
MG: We have this blend from a group chat with some of our friends, and the night it was made, one of our friends, Justin, wouldn’t stop laughing at the ones that were for me because he was like, “This is so fucking lame.”
DG: It's like 2018 TikTok humor, and everyone is flaming her.
TR: But is it ironic though? Because then that’s funny.
MG: Yes! Everything that I find funny is in an ironic way and some people just don't understand. I also get a lot of cooking videos. I get a lot of homesteading stuff. I’m interested in growing plants and food. And I get some artsy stuff sometimes, but not as much as I would like.
TR: It's good to have a variety. I get a lot of dumb stuff, music stuff, movie stuff, and recently a lot of political stuff. I want to curate a good variety for myself, especially if I’m gonna be scrolling.
DJ: I have like a football team’s worth of people to send stuff to.
TR: Yes! I love doing that, curating which reels go to which people.
MG: I have also gotten a lot of political stuff recently. I get a lot of text posts, like a screenshot from twitter, and I sit there and read the entire thing. Nobody wants to sit and watch my reels.
TR: One of the funniest reels I’ve ever seen was this twitter screencap about a MAGA guy going to the movie theater and running into a mother and a daughter who wanted to see the Melania movie, but it was sold out, so this guy gave them his tickets. It was one of those things that 100% did not happen.
MG: I think I saw that actually.
DG: I also get a lot of reels with anywhere from zero to fifty likes, and it's just the most random stuff. I saw a kid set a watermelon on fire the other day.
TR: Those are the gems. Random reel with three likes and no comments.
DJ: Or like, a random middle-aged man in Arkansas.
DG: Like thanks, Grandpa.
TR: I saw a dude calculating the velocity of a gallon of milk he was catapulting across a field.
DJ: I’ve seen that. He just launches random shit at himself. “Activate Hell Yeah Sequence.”
It's truly a miracle that As She Drifts Away... was recorded DIY. Its soundscapes are so powerful and smothering that I find it hard to believe. From the bouncy opening and killer chorus of “Trinket,” the distinct heaviness and multifaceted ending of “Comets (In The Sky),” the slow growth and eventual gratification of “To Make It Back To You,” and the sticky melodies all over the album, it's the work of seasoned veterans and singular artists. If Blandest’s debut is this impactful and inventive, who knows what’s to come next.

My conversation with Blandest gave me the chance to pick the brains of one of my favorite bands working today, but it felt like I was having a conversation with some great friends. Since the interview, I’ve run into them a few times in the wild as well as at some shows in Connecticut, where I’d assured them that this interview would be completed soon. This interview has spawned some meaningful friendships, and I’m truly honored to have been given the opportunity to give Blandest one of their first interviews. I can’t wait to see where they go from here, both as a fan and as a friend.

Blandest’s As She Drifts Away... is out now, as well as a music video for “Kitty Track” made by r.l.vhstapes and Damien Galvez. Show them love!