Blind Robbery Interview on Junior's Cave Online Magazine!

Hey kids,

Yes, I know that Daddy's been away for a while and he keeps feeding you more empty promises than food as of late but understand that he means well and he's just a man.

What I really mean is that we have been playing a bunch of shows, shooting a bunch of film, editing what we can and lining up some interesting situations that you will want to come and sniff out.

Speaking of which, our interview with Junior's Cave Online Magazine is up but for those too lazy to click on the link, here's the full-text:

Music that is full of heart, soul, and passion are what comes to mind when describing this next band. Our Webzine recently had a chance to review the band’s music and was amazed by the band’s poetic lyrics, melodic tunes, soulful vocals by Lead Man Craig Adams, and skillful lyrics. In this in-depth insightful and intelligent interview, the band reveals many wonderful things about themselves. Here is what transpired.

Isaac: I just listened to one of your songs titled, "Destinies Lost". What was the inspiration for making this song and your new album?

Blind Robbery: It's a little awkward because we don't have a song by that title but we will tell you about the inspiration for our new album “Crooked Numbers”.

First, maybe not foremost but first, we were broke. That might sound a little shady but broke in the sense that we set out to make an album on a shoestring budget to prove to ourselves that we could.

Our first album “Ante Up” was finished five years ago. So, it has been a long time for our fans to wait for the follow up. The first album was done in a studio, with an engineer and a producer and in the end; the sound of the record was one that was very commercial. We still are very proud of the first album and love and play the songs often but we felt at the end of the process that the record reflected the vision of those behind the board as opposed to us behind the instruments.

Through the years in between the first album and this one, we had accumulated somewhere between twenty and thirty songs. Our sound had shifted from a funk influenced hard rock to a more skin and bones blues rock that was also funky. We feel that this record has a more mature feel without sounding geriatric. It's not exactly old but not entirely new either.

This album for us was about taking complete control of the process from start to finish. We knew what we were capable of, the sort of sound that we wanted to get and how we wanted to capture it. Another part of the reason why it took four years to get this album out was that we wanted to get it right. We recorded the tracks for the album I'd say about eight or nine times. We kept scrapping the project and starting again until everything worked. We were able to do this mainly because we weren't paying for studio time or the services of a producer or engineer.

Our bassist, Brian Blum recorded the album mainly in his room. We used his bathtub as a vocal booth. With technology being as accessible as it is today, he used programs on his laptop to create a record that, at least in our minds, sounds as clean as anything else out there. We ditched a lot of the effects that five years ago we were told were absolutely necessary and let the performances speak for themselves. We are lucky to work in an age where this is possible.

Isaac: Who were your influences?

Blind Robbery: We think that it is the people who really enjoy music that end up becoming musicians. That said, we draw upon a wide range of influences. The four of us come from a rock background but some of us like rap more, some like punk more, funk, blues, jazz, folk, whatever it is that Tom Waits does along the way, it's all seeped into our minds and now comes through in our music.

As a band, I'd say that the greatest influences on us are the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Prince, MC5, Jane's Addiction, Guns & Roses, Living Colour, George Thorogood, artists who bring the funk or the blues into their type of rock music and play hard while keeping one foot somewhere else.

It's rare that you find an artist who will reinvent the guitar. When they come along, we all stand in awe of them and rightfully so. The real artistry is taking a little from this and some of that and finding a mix that you can call your own.

Isaac: What do you consider to have been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?

Blind Robbery: In a very conventional sense, playing every year at Jones Beach State Park is a highlight. It's right on the water and across the street from a huge venue that holds tens of thousands. Every year, we play to about 1,500 people in a free; all ages show in front of the Atlantic Ocean and to us, there is nothing else like it. That gig reminds us of how lucky we are to be alive and able to play music that people enjoy.

Other than the gig with the most people, we play just as hard in front of 10 people as we do in front of 1,000. We love playing shows outside of the normal everyday bar situation. We have enjoyed playing at weddings, food stores, malls, swap meets; we jammed with a local elected official at a political rally once. Our first major radio airplay was in 2003 during the Northeast Blackout. We drove to the radio station and banged on the door until they let us in and we refused to leave until they played our song. Maybe they figured the boss couldn't email the DJ his termination notice then and there. It's always fun to find a new niche to crawl into, sometimes just to say we did it. To us, those are the most memorable times.

As for a low point, we're sure we are not the only artist to have them and we had a few. The lowest point was last year on the Ides of March. We should have known better than to have booked a show on March 15th. We were set to open for George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars. This was easily the biggest show in our history. We had hit the streets and the internet promoting this thing like our lives depended on it.

We sold a bunch of tickets, we were ready to go. Then the night before the show, we get a call from the promoter. He tells us the show might not happen. The next day he calls again to tell us the show was off. There was a contract dispute over money and the show was canceled. Our lifelong dream of opening up for an artist that we had looked up to for so long, a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and the plug was pulled. To make matters worse, we had to hunt down the promoter to recoup the ticket money to distribute back to our fans. It turns out that we got a hold of the promoter just in time because he skipped town shortly thereafter. Having to explain the whole situation to all of our fans and relive how we came so close to having the show that we had dreamed about for years fall through the cracks was devastating.

Looking back, it could have been a lot worse but at the time we were furious. We were angry mostly at the business end of how this scene works but we live to play another day.

Isaac: Brief history about your background plus the style of music you play.

Blind Robbery: The roots of this band can be traced back almost 15 years. Craig, our singer and Brian Blum, our bassist are cousins who were forced to see each other weekly at Sunday dinner. Craig had songs and Blum was interested in learning how to record. They wrote a bunch of songs, some of which we pay to this day and in 2002, Blum convinced Craig to take a break from the acoustic circuit and start a band. They found a guitarist in Brian Holmes and a drummer, who would be replaced in 2003 by Matt Jennings.

As for our style, it's a dingy yet delectable plate of Funky Blues Rock piled high and seasoned in smoke and bad decisions. It's a high voltage groove that will smash and thrash while it chumphumps your bump as the bass pastes your face.

Isaac:I love the name Blind Robbery. What is the whole concept behind the name?

It started with an unfortunate encounter at the penitentiary cafeteria when Craig's eye was introduced to the business end of a sharpened toothbrush. But seriously folks, as a kid, Craig had a fictional band called Blind Robbery. While some dreamed about being the starting pitcher for the fill in the blanks, Craig wanted to be a rock star. He would rock out with a karaoke machine in the basement in front of an audience of cardboard cutouts and have his cousin come over and cheer.

So as you can see, the singer's ego is something that forms at an early age. Years later, Blum thought it would be potentially embarrassing to Craig to call the band Blind Robbery. Some nights we feel like we are playing to imaginary crowds but that's another story altogether.

It's also a versatile name. You could easily see a metal band, a blues band or a ska band with our name but we think we do it justice.

Isaac: How do you handle disagreements between the members of the band?

Blind Robbery: It's rare that we have disagreements. We can count the number of arguments that we have had over the past seven years on one hand and we don't really remember what any of them were about. Being a band for as long as we have, we can sense if something isn't right and we talk it out. We know that if one member feels like they are not being heard or they are unhappy then it is going to get worse unless we decide to come to a solution with the quickness.

Isaac: How easy is it to gets gigs for you as an artist? What is the live music scene like in your area?

Blind Robbery: At this stage, after playing shows for as long as we have, it's not difficult to get gigs at least locally. The problem is what happens after the show is booked and that has more to do with the local music scene on Long Island.

We often hear the phrase the “Long Island Music Scene” thrown around in conversation and we are at a point where we are not sure what that even means. What we do see, is a group of literally thousands of bands playing shows in hundreds of venues every weekend and the majority of which, us included sometimes, play to less than 30 people.

We have watched this so called “scene” devolve to a point where the people who do go out want to listen to the new Lady Gaga record or the song by a teenager who we are sure never heard of Mick Jagger until her songwriter put his name into the song she was about to record. It seems like the kids aren't into the rock like they used to be.

The only bands that seem to play to large crowds around these parts are cover bands and tribute bands. For those who don't know the difference, the cover band will play Roadhouse Blues and call it a night. The tribute band leader will legally change his name to Jim Morrison, grow out his hair and play Roadhouse Blues before he moves to France and is found in a bathtub. It puts a heavier weight on being somebody else than to expressing yourself musically and it closes people's minds to a new experience.

On the other hand, the clubs that book live music are operating mainly on a pay-to-play scheme where it costs bands money that they don't necessarily have up front if they want to play in their club. The system inhibits creativity and really sucks whatever rebellion is left out of rock, at least from this vantage point. Pile on the recession and people's understandable unwillingness to spend money on going out and you have our local “scene”. What is lacking is the will to foster creativity. It's more about squeezing the last cent out of whoever has some change in their pocket than it is about music.

It's discouraging but it's not enough to defeat us. Like we mentioned, we can still get gigs and the people who come and see us play are people we wouldn't trade for anything but it is difficult to progress in this environment. Rather than give in to the system that we disagree with, we decided to simply refuse to play in the clubs that use the pay-to-play scheme. Do we know that we could have a great time and play to new people in those larger venues? Sure. For us, it's more important to control a greater share of what we do and how we do it.

Isaac: What do you think of the state of Indie music at the moment? Do you listen to radio much at all? Has the Internet helped music grow or hindered it in your opinion?

Blind Robbery: The state of independent music (and we will call it independent since the word Indie comes with the connotation of being a scene onto itself that has little to do with being an independent) currently is great. As we mentioned earlier, a band like us can make an album in their room for next to nothing without the bureaucracy that comes with a major label. You can present your musical vision across the globe with an infinite shelf life.

If you go into a chain store that sells CDs, notice what albums they carry. It's usually the most recent album and some sort of greatest hits compilation. It's a whole lot easier to find a copy of a Rolling Stones hits compilation than it is to find a copy of Beggar's Banquet. The shelf cannot hold all the music in the major label scheme.

On the other hand, independent artists have found means to distribute their music on a much smaller scale but make the entire catalog available. It's a double edged sword in that we are fairly confident that we will never have the same distribution power as a major label and as a result won't sell as many records. The good news for us is that we get to keep all of the money and all of the rights to the albums that we do sell.

As for the radio, we listen sometimes. We tune into our local college station, WUSB and on occasion we can hear ourselves. On the whole, we think that internet radio and mp3 players have done a lot of damage to the radio as well.

The Internet is another example of looking at both sides of the coin. For independent artists, it provides unparalleled opportunity to release and share music. On the other side, a hurdle that every band has to try to get over is an over-saturation of music on the Internet. Competition is good and it forces someone to rise but grabbing people's attention proves difficult. Ultimately, we are happier to be heard than sold and if we were in this to make money; we would have declared bankruptcy a long time ago and found something else to do with our time.

Isaac: If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?

Blind Robbery: After some intense discussion, we decided on John Bonham on drums, Flea on bass, Prince on guitar and Otis Redding out front. We, in our twisted, caffeine addled, musician minds think it would work and Prince is one of the most underrated guitarists ever.

Isaac: What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?

Blind Robbery: We have our 2005 release, “Ante Up” and our latest album “Crooked Numbers”. Both of which are available on iTunes, www.myspace.com/blindrobberyAmazon.com and CDBaby.com

Isaac: Where can fans access your music, videos, blogs, and anything else about you online?

Blind Robbery: We are on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Blind-Robbery/42059228143), MySpace (www.myspace.com/blindrobbery), ReverbNation (www.reverbnation.com/blindrobbery) and at www.BlindRobbery.com. Any of which will suffice to answer your questions or point you in the right direction. We are highly Google-able and enjoy inventing words. Any unanswered queries may be directed at our tick heads by emailing us at blindrobbery@gmail.com.

Isaac: Message to your fans?

Blind Robbery: To put it simply, thanks! We thank our fans for continuing to support us in everything that we do because without them, we are nothing more than a bunch of loudmouths with instruments. Because of them, we are loudmouths with instruments on stage and in the record store. Finally, personal hygiene is important and we promise it will not be another 4 years in between albums!