It’s like a Hitchcock film come to life, or something. Joie Blaney, once the leader of NYC’s Dead Blonde Girlfriend, now celebrated Los Angeles solo artist, has morphed, again, into Dead Blonde Girlfriend.
“It’s schizophrenic marketing” Blaney laughs. “I started as Joie Dead Blonde Girlfriend, years ago, then it was Dead Blonde Girlfriend when the band came together, then it was just me when I moved to California.”
In this interview, we chat with Joie about music, influences, the new project, and more.
Full Q&A, links, and streams below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSXKlvKxxsk
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
Well I started my musical journey playing on the antifolk scene in New York City. Antifolk is a terrible name but the people and the music we were creating down there at the sidewalk café was really really really fantastic. I’m a big fan of a great song because it resonates in my heart mind and soul. They’re almost like incantations or secret messages that unlock certain emotions and thoughts.To me songs give a blue print to freedom or permission and ammunition to rebel from school, family and social norms. To me the American dream seems more like the American nightmare I like the energy of punk rock music and the musicality of folk music. So basically I just sort of combine them into what I do today
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
I love the creative process taking a blank piece of paper and turning it into something. It might be Great or it may not be good but it’s not a blank piece of paper anymore. I think it’s about creation and putting things into the universe that didn’t exist before. To me I would rather write an honest song that comes from my heart. I never write about something that I have no business writing about. My musical heroes inspired me to do music the Ramones Bob Dylan the replacements Tom waits you name them. They made sense to me in a world where nothing made sense growing up. And I hope I can do that for somebody makes sense to that broken heart they’re broken home the love they wish they had what to ease the pain of the love that they wish they didn’t lose. Maybe A song of mine can help them identify what they’re feeling and at the end of the day everything is going to be OK. As an artist all I can do is write and create art. Painting pictures with words. The world needs honest good music. Not some Coca-Cola commercial that is made within MacBook Pro that kids are being force-fed today. All the rock stars are dying and it’s a bold statement but I would like to carry the torch or maybe inspire someone to carry the torch. The great rock stars are the individuals that write from thier heart. To me it’s all about the song. If you can play it on an acoustic guitar it will stand the test of time.
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
Life is the biggest influence in my creativity I’ve lived in the East Village for years then I moved to Hollywood and then to the Westside of Los Angeles and I see the world around me and I take it in and I spit it back out. I’m not a big political songwriter but I’m a big fan of the underdog and the unsung hero. I think playing solo and then playing with a band and then playing solo and now playing with a band again my music just keeps evolving I have certain periods of musical moods that set a tone for a record and it’s just basically that a record where I am and who I am at that time and what I see and feel and I put it down and I put it out. Songs of love and pain and the in between spark my creatively. I could list my musical influences but I like leaving that up to the listener.
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
I really don’t have an expectation or endgame. The only thing I am doing is trying to find the next great song that lives within me. I like making videos. I plan on with the help of future wax records putting out 4-5 videos off love letters and suicide notes. The first 2 are out and the response is pretty good. Horror show and hello goodbye girl were inspired by a very magical relationship that I had in Nyc that was to big for both me and the girl. The songs are not love songs or breakup songs but songs about the relationship to love. Love can be intense and somewhat scary. Maybe not for some but for me I fall in love hard. And I fall out of love hard. Sometimes the experiences are a great catalyst to write a song and get some insight to what’s going on inside of me. It’s challenging to make music videos. But I think they are very important to have.
What was the last song you listened to?
Believe it or not I just saw guns and roses at dodger Stadium both nights. So I have been on a GNR overload. I woke up today and found an old cassette tape that had some songs from David Johansen ,Hanoi rocks, Johnny Cash, Peter Paul and Mary,hank Williams and the Ramones so I’ve been letting that play in the background all day. I don’t know what possessed me to put it in today but I found it in an old draw with an old Walkman and plug it into my speakers
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I like mp3s. I don’t like clutter so it’s an easy way to get music and to listen to music. I do miss the artwork but I do collect concert shirts, so that makes up for the lack of artwork that doesn’t come with MP3s
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I hate streaming. Nobody really wins when you stream music. The quality kind of sucks you have to watch stupid ads and the artist doesn’t get paid. I miss record stores a lot just the smell of them and the community and the atmosphere. I like Bandcamp because it’s really helpful in promoting music. It’s super user-friendly and you can dictate and have more control over how much you want to charge your fans. iTunes is just a necessary evil. But I think YouTube is really raping the artists more than anything. Followed by the streaming sites that I will not use to listen to music. Even though my music is up on all the streaming sites.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
To me I don’t try to get fans I just make the music available. you know I don’t really worry about that too much. If people find it they find it it was meant for them and those who don’t know about it I guess they’re missing out.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
I have two music sites.www.deadblondegirlfriend.com and www.joieblaney.com. They get updated pretty regularly. Facebook and instagram is other places you can find me. There is a personal Facebook page but I keep that to the people I meet in real life or make a connection online. I don’t do twitter. There is a twitter account but it only updates when I do a periscope show. Sometimes I do live.me shows or Facebook live. Kinda like a hit it or miss it kinda show. Very unannounced.
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
If you make music make it your own. Don’t follow trends. I love songs and songwriters. Put more art in the world and let it fly. You never know where it will take you or where you will end up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCxmH8S5gMQ
