An interview with BlackJack Love
An interview with BlackJack Love
VEGAS
What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
I’ve always struggled with naming bands. So I kind of give up trying & let the universe do its thing. I was in Vegas playing blackjack & some American bloke just kept shouting “Woo, yea, USA. I love blackjack”. I was hammered & thought it could be a cool name. As for influences, The Rolling Stones, Queens of The Stone Age, The Who, Oasis, Marvin Gaye, Prince….. the list is endless….
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
I usually start with by noodling on an acoustic guitar. I use a lot of weird/open tunings & just jam shit out. Then I’ll put random words together to decide on a melody & it all falls from there really. Most of what I write, I have no idea what I’m writing about until I read it back & go “ah that’s clearly about…..” I can’t sit down & force myself to write about anything in particular. Nine out of ten times I just write & see what comes. A lot of them a made up stories, some about love, anger, whatever comes to fruition.
NOODLING
NOODLING
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?
I usually start with by noodling on an acoustic guitar. I use a lot of weird/open tunings & just jam shit out. Then I’ll put random words together to decide on a melody & it all falls from there really. Most of what I write, I have no idea what I’m writing about until I read it back & go “ah that’s clearly about…..” I can’t sit down & force myself to write about anything in particular. Nine out of ten times I just write & see what comes. A lot of them a made up stories, some about love, anger, whatever comes to fruition.
CHILDHOOD
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
Just been heavily influenced through my childhood by all these great bands/artists, I guess subconsciously it has an affect on how or what you end up writing. Life experiences can alter what you write. Happenings in the world. Anything.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We try to put a set list together based on time & where/who we’re playing to. If it’s people who come to a few shoes regularly, we put songs they like in with some new stuff to gauge a reaction. Sometimes we might just wanna play hard & fast. Cause of the varied tunings I use, a lot of the time we put songs together based off that.
TIME
TIME
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?
We try to put a set list together based on time & where/who we’re playing to. If it’s people who come to a few shoes regularly, we put songs they like in with some new stuff to gauge a reaction. Sometimes we might just wanna play hard & fast. Cause of the varied tunings I use, a lot of the time we put songs together based off that.
SHOWS
What plans do you have for the future?
Get back playing shows man! That’s the first thing. Then take over the world, musically & spiritually.