Bloody Tourists Interview & Review Written, Reviewed, & Interviewed by Darcy
Q: I sat down and looked through your blogs, and websites reading about your music, what inspires your work, and read about you guys a little. The people that you guys are inspired by are great music artists, and people the same. Oddly enough I wanted to ask what is it about Elvis Presley that inspires the band?
JAMES:Elvis Presley’s music does not inspire the band, it inspires the guitarist, James Cradock. James used to be a huge fan of the man, taken in by his passion for the music as well as his skills as an entertainer. One of the reasons James first decided to buy a guitar was to play the old rock and roll songs Elvis had made famous and to learn Hank William’s classic ‘I’m so lonesome I could cry’ also recorded by Elvis.
Q: Your website says “Bloody Tourists came into being on the eve of 2005" Was there any reason for that day in particular? Or was it something like a spur-of-the-moment?
JAMES: Bloody Tourists formed off the back of a rock tribute band, Moneyshot. Lee and James had been members of Moneyshot for a few years and had written songs for the band which got them a slot in Glastonbury in 2004. James was the singer and frontman whilst Lee played Bass.
LEE: After watching the shite bands in battle of the bands at moles. Jeez, there was some shit. I wanted to redress the balance and stand up for great music, not just a load of Brit pop or Peaarl Jam copiests. I wanted to show there was another way, I had no idea we'd end up second place in the next years comp. I hope we inspired other like-minded people that music isn't just for musos, it's for people who likemusic and having a great time.
Q: As someone that comes across a lot of new/”MySpace” bands; I have taken to spreading the good word about a band whenever I hear them. How does Bloody Tourists get there name out there?
JAMES: Songwriting was hard in Moneyshot . James and Lee threw ideas onto the table, the other band members snubbed them, looking for a more ‘Rage against the machine’ sound. As frustrations grew, James and Lee decided to branch off and write songs for a new project. Now having no guitarist James decided to learn to play, working hard to figure out his favourite songs and get to know the instrument. Within a couple of months James and Lee had written enough songs to fill a 20 minute set and were ready to take their creation to the masses.James has been in bands since he was 16 as a singer and had met Dave a few years back in a original band called ‘Cognito’. Dave was the obvious choice for a drummer and with Dave now on board we needed a venue to host us.The Wunderbar in Midsomer Norton, the south west of England had gained respect for James as every band he had been in had managed to fill the venue and so offered this new venture a Saturday night, The first Saturday night in 2005. This was the chance to play in front of a crowd and seeing as the gig was only 4 months after we’d first left Moneyshot it was a deadline that we frantically had to prepare for. The gig went extremely well. The crowd loved us, not for the musicianship (as we were all still beginners), not for the image (as we all wore garish blue trousers and red tops), but for the sheer audacity of forming a band so quick and writing songs so quick and for the energy for put into the tunes. The first song we wrote was Gram and a Half which still remains untouched from it’s original form and has won a few song writing awards online, one being from littlebizaar. com.Bloody Tourists, during the first year or so, played prolifically around the South West of England in order to spread the name about. It is a name that is easily remembered which helps. In more recent times we have used the internet more to our benefit and have found fans using myspace, basically searching it for fans of our sort of music and sending them a message to join our mailing list. Every one who joins our mailing list, incidentally, receives a few free songs, a monthly newsletter, and the chance to win a t-shirt and limited edition 7” vinyl.We are at the stage now that we will start to look for representation of sorts so that we can use someone who has the relevant contacts to help push our career. This time last year, we were signed to an American Management company who had found us on the internet and had liked what they had heard. It all looked good for a while but then it became evident that they did not have the contacts or the determination that we needed, they could d no more than we were doing for ourselves.Promoting a band is not an easy task, we have been told by many people how great our music is and that we have very good potential but this never seems to lead us to the next step. We are looking at getting more media exposure at the moment.
Q: Funland, that right there is a unique song. A lot of your music has a unique title fallowed by unique lyrics. [I like it.] Do ideas just come to Lee Elkins, or does the band bounce ideas off each other.
JAMES: Lee writes the lyrics and melodies and James writes the tunes. The lyrics are Lee's babies and no influence from other band members is welcome (or needed).
LEE: Glad you noticed... not many songs as genius as Funland out on the net!! First off, I don't write the songs, the band do. I bring a heap of lyrics I've written, James brings his latest riffs and Dave, well Dave brings his cigarettes, and his drums. We try and push the maddest ideas, it's very important to us to be different,.Having said that Funland was weird. James started playing the opening riff just jamming and almost immediately the words and the delivery of the first verse were pouring out of my mouth and mind almost exactly as they are now. When I write lyrics I tend to just write an outline about a person or place or experience. One thing I can tell you is that all the people and places and experiences have existed in my life at one point.
Q: You guys place your music into the genres of Garage/Punk/ New Wave. What is New Wave? JAMES: We have had our music placed in the Garage / New wave category by the media. It's basically just rock 'n' blues with scratchy, dirty melodies and lyrics. I think garage refers to the 1970's Garage scene, with the Velvet Underground, The Stooges etc which, unwittingly, we have been placed. The band love Velvet Underground but not to a point of imitation. We have all bought influences to the table which has evolved into our sound.
LEE: Oh come on! It's the american equivalent to punk. The 'New Wave' of back to basics punk rock ie 'The Ramones' etc... attempted to overthrow the 'Old Wave' widdlely up it's own ass mega rock ie Yes, Chicago, etc...
Q: As a band, how did you guys get your name? Bloody Tourists is an interesting one, I will admit.
LEE: We hang out in Bath, somerset, it's a cool place but it's a world heritage site so it's always packed with 'bloody tourists', hence the name. Not a day goes by without a local muttering our name under their breath if they go into town.
Bloody Tourists Review
As a music lover, it is really nice to have the opportunity to write a review here. Bloody Tourists is a band from United Kingdom. They have a "garage/punk" sound, and very unique lyrics. They are greatly inspired by music artists, such as: The Pixies, The Stone Roses, The Raconteurs, Jimi Hendrix, and The White Stripes. Next time you have the time you should check them out. They bring another dash of diversity to the music scene.
