BLIGHT TOWN
Q1. For readers who may not be familiar with you, could you please provide a little background on the band—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.? How did the band come together and what made you want to really pursue it in the way that you have?
Sure thing! We’re from Nottingham and we formed about 4 years ago, but more like 3 considering our first year was during the pandemic. Jake, Sam, Will and Scott have been playing music together casually since they were like 16, but never actually formed a band together until our previous projects all kind of broke up at the same time and we just kind of went; “Well, guess we have no excuse now.” We picked up Joe shortly later and that’s where we’re at now!
Q2. How would you describe Blight Town’s sound? What are some of the band’s primary influences?
We like progression, technicality and catchy song writing. It’s rare for us to stick to one sound for long, even during a single song. We’re a very mixed bag but some shared favourites are Deftones, Circa Survive, The Fall of Troy, Say Anything and Tera Melos.
Q3. You recently released the single “Pipe Dream.” Talk to us about the sound, the video, and the song’s meaning.
Pipe Dream is probably our poppiest song to date, it actually has repeating sections! The song is about how demoralising the music industry can be from the perspective of a musician and how it can really eat away at your resolve, but that ultimately we do what we do for the simple fact that we love doing it.
Q4. Can you walk us through the contents of your most recent prior release in 2022’s It Lives…? What was the focus of that particular set of songs?
Sure. Our first EP was super technical and progressive and after that we felt like we wanted to write with more of a focus on traditional songwriting. Love that first release but the tracks on “It Lives…” feel more like “songs” if that makes sense?
Q5. How would you say the band has evolved from its beginnings to now?
We are definitely more of a collaborative effort now. There was a point where Sam would write pretty much all of the song structures and Jake would write all of the lyrics. Our recent stuff Joe has written some guitar for and Sam and Will both have some lead vocals parts! I think we’re all a little longer in the tooth now too and a little more understanding of how this being in a band thing works.
Q6. What are some things going on in the near future for the band (releases, shows, etc)?
We have a tour coming up this February with the amazing Blue Eyed Giants and some more shows with some really special guests later in the year. As for new music, it might be coming sooner than you think…
Q7. Is there a vision for the band’s future or some longer-term goals you are aiming for?
To be honest, we feel so grateful that our music seems to mean something to people, we started this band because we’re weirdos playing weirdo music and to see other people getting behind it means the world. We want to take that to as many people as possible and hopefully they love our music as much as we love writing it.