BLED, the creative collaboration between anti-art artist Jamy (Red) and songwriter-producer Leo (Blue), emerged from a chance meeting in a Bristol club. This pairing has quickly distinguished itself in the local music scene with their innovative blend of art and music. Known for their theatrical and energetic performances, BLED has not only supported acts like Walt Disco and Cumgirl8 but has also featured on BBC Introducing in the South West. In this interview, we explore the origins and inspirations behind their project, which revitalizes the bubblegum goth-pop and darkwave genres, echoing the flamboyant spirit of New Romantic and contemporary glam icons.
How did BLED come to be and what inspired the formation of the band in Bristol?
Basically we met in a club smoking area having both just quit other projects to move to the city. We figured we’d look cool as a band so we started one.
What’s the origin of the name ‘BLED’ and does it hold any special meaning for you?
Its just Blue and Red mashed together, Rue didn’t have quite the same ring to it.
What drew you to the North East after starting in Bristol, and how has that influenced your music?
Jamy (Red) is originally from the North East and wanted to move back so we moved the band with us.
What are the biggest challenges and advantages of being a two-piece act?
Just being the two of us makes it much more affordable for us to tour. Less people to feed and no need for a big van full of people and gear, also we can easily squish onto a couple of local sofas on route. It does, however, mean there is no mediator between us. Sometimes it would be nice to have a drummer to stop us from killing each other, they’d never fit in the Honda Jazz though.
How do you keep your performances so energetic and rave-like? Is it something you consciously work on, or does it come naturally?
For us, the live show is a huge part of the project so it’s important to us to keep the energy up. It’s mostly fuelled by copious amounts of caffeine in the car on the way to a show and EXACTLY 2 (no more no less) glasses of wine before a set to get us feeling just the right level of spicy without forgetting the songs.
Can you describe the creative process between the two of you? How do you collaborate on writing and producing your music?
Leo (Blue) comes from a more musical background whereas Jamy (Red) is an artist. We tend to work separately with Leo producing the songs and Jamy creating artwork and ranges of DIY handmade merch to go with them.
How do your individual personalities and musical tastes compliment each other in BLED?
We both have pretty varied music tastes and definitely enjoy whatever the other is taking inspiration from at the time but I’d say a big part of where our sound and style comes from is Leo’s synth pop/synth wave/dark wave interests mashed with Jamy’s goth/punk/industrial tastes. Also as we mentioned one of us is a musician and the other is an artist so it’s a fun collaboration.
How does your stage presence and visual style reflect the music you make?
Its all just a bit hectic, quite fun, and a little bit spooky.
You’ve been described as creating a “rave-like euphoria” in your performances. What’s your approach to engaging the audience during a live show?
We want the audience to get involved. They have to sing some parts for us and if they won’t come up front to dance with us we’ll go get them. It’s like sitting in the front row of a pantomime.
What role does experimentation play in your music? Do you push the boundaries of goth, disco or other genres on purpose?
The music we listen to is pretty varied so we’ve never purposefully aimed for a genre as such. We take inspiration from all sorts of places so the genre gets skewed naturally to an extent.
How has your music evolved since you first formed, and where do you see it going next?
Our music has changed a lot since we first started out, we’ve even had a name change since then. We started with some floaty dream pop songs but quickly headed in a pretty different direction after our first show. We’re aiming to keep moving with the more ravey goth style and will be adding a lot of new stuff, especially for the live show which is what we’ve been really developing for this tour.
What’s your favourite part of the creative process – writing, recording, or performing live?
I think we both enjoy different parts of the process. Leo has always been more of a song writer whereas once the recording starts Jamy starts the art and merch to go alongside and definitely works better there. We both love performing live though and that’s where we always have the most fun. We work pretty separately up to that point and a show is great to see it all come together.
As a duo do you ever collaborate with other artists, either in the studio or on stage? If so, how do they influence your sound?
Its not something we’ve experimented much with in the past but its definitely something we’ve discussed. We keep everything pretty DIY at the minute to keep costs low but would love to one day try working with a full live band or making music with other artists.
What are the essential elements of a great BLED performance? What do you want people to walk away feeling?
I think a good performance is a combination of loads of different elements and they all have to work together. We are always really grateful for a good sound engineer and a fun crowd. We hope people walk away feeling maybe a little scared but also kinda sexy.
What is the most unexpected influence on your music that fans might not realise?
Mika. But maybe that’s obvious.
How do you balance the darker, goth elements of your sound with the more upbeat, disco vibes?
I guess the same way we do in all the other areas of our lives. We refer to ourselves as “Crayola goths”. I think you can see it in how we dress as well. Its all the elements of goth but colourized.
What’s next for BLED? Are there any upcoming releases, collaborations, or performances we should be excited about?
We’ve just taken down all of our old work to make room for a new direction after this tour. Our next release will be a live video of our new song “Orgy” which will give an idea of what we’re up to next. There’s a few shows on this tour in new cities for us including our first 3 dates outside of the UK in Germany so we’re really excited for those.
