Beginning their career as teenagers in 2013 in former project, Reveal Renew, raised by Florida’s underground music scene, the members of The Blonde Tongues have played Warped Tour, SxSW, countless festivals, and have toured all over the world.
Formed in 2016, the Florida based outfit share members with Gouge Away (Deathwish Records) and Northbound (Goodfight Entertainment) and are no strangers to the road. In 2017, members toured throughout the US, UK, EU, and CAN opening up for bands: State Champs, As It Is, Touche Amore, Ceremony, GLOSS and Single Mothers.
The Blonde Tongues are the natural descendants of their Power-Pop heroes who ruled New York’s CBGB’s in the 70’s and dominated college radio in the 90’s. Their tattered sneakers and wild hair coupled with a primal and unpredictable live show has press deeming the band as “Euro Rock Revivalists” & “Nostalgia for 90’s Grunge”.
Below we ask The Blonde Tongues a few questions.
How did The Blonde Tongues get started up?
“Michael, Charlie, John and Mick met through playing DIY shows in Florida’s underground punk / hardcore / metal scene in past projects: Reveal Renew, The Dead Legs and Everyone’s Fault. In late 2014, we began talking about combining our members and starting a new band that takes the high-energy live show we learned from those scenes & put a new spin on it.”
“We recorded early demos – nothing too serious. At the time it was just a side project. It wasn’t until October of 2016 that we met Jared at a show in Ybor City through mutual friends and clicked immediately. We recorded what we view as the first Tongues single (“Sure”) in January 2017.”
Having a punk rock/hard rock sound, do you ever find it difficult to score a show in Florida where you are from?
“Not really because we enjoy playing with all styles & genres of bands. We also all play in separate projects Northbound, Gouge Away & Hello Joyce, where the genre spectrum is vastly different between them. Florida is very welcoming to many different kinds of punk, rock, and emo (80s/90s) too so it’s easy for us to fit in.”
How would you best describe what kind of energy or emotions your music portrays?
“It’s both salty and sweet. We love a good catchy riff but love fuzz pedals even more. We like our sound and live show to feel like a derailed freight train that is loosely under control. The lyrical content behind our record ‘Anxiety Dream’ takes inspiration from the dullest moments of life: routines, boredom and anxiety. Our music is pure energy, in every aspect.”
Who are some really big influences in your life that contribute to your sound? What artists/singles/albums/people?
We made a playlist on Spotify titled “Making The Dream” which has a handful of artists that influenced the record. Some Include
- Worm Man by Ramones
- Search And Destroy by The Stooges
- Game Of Pricks by Guide By Voices
- Love Your More by Buzzcocks
- Sheer Heart Attack by Queen
- Tax Man by The Beatles
- Beetlebum by Blur
- Cut Your Hair by Pavement
- Sludgefeast by Dinosaur Jr.
- Wal-mart Reality by Gag
- Girlfriend by Ty Segall
- Salad Days by Mac Demarco
- Seventeen by Sex Pistols
If you can remember, what did you grow up listening to as a kid? Were your parents passionate about music? If so, what did they listen to?
“The two artists we all collectively grew up obsessively listening to are Ramones & Black Sabbath. Our parents have always been super supportive of our music and are our biggest fans. Growing up, they would drive us to all our shows and luckily let us listen to anything we wanted to. Thx mom.”
When did you begin writing and playing instruments? What really inspired you to keep pursuing?
“After watching School Of Rock & Spinal Tap in middle school, we all knew we wanted to play music for a living. Anytime we need inspiration, we just put those movies on.”
If you could give some solid advice to a musician just starting out what would you tell them?
“Stop reading this and go watch School Of Rock and Spinal Tap now.”
Have you known most of your band mates for awhile? Where did you all meet?
“John, Michael and Charlie have been playing together in various projects ever since they put out their first EP in the 7th grade. After high school they met Mick at a show in South Florida and met Jared while in college at a show in Ybor City. We’ve toured all over seeing most parts of the world we’d never thought we’d see and have been best friends ever since.”
