“BLOODHYPE is a synthesis of all of we experienced…” Berlin indie band, BLOODHYPE are back with their new single and video “On & On”. And they have again truly captured the effortlessly indie-rock sound which will please the listeners’ hearts, eyes and ears with warmth, atmospheric aesthetic and nostalgia. Check out their new video for “On & On” and drift away…
photography | DOP by Maximilian Kōnig
video edit and graining by Pierre M. Beecroft
What is the biggest compliment I can make to you as a band?
Great question! (laughs) I guess some kind of physical reaction to the music would be cool. Nodding with the head, finger snips, dance moves. That makes us happy!
This year your (postponed) live tour will finally take place. How big is the joy and at the same time the pre-gig stress? And do you have any pre-gig rituals?
Returning to playing live is kinda surreal to be honest. We already played a few one-off shows, and it’s a bit as if someone stored the whole band, gear, and everything in a time capsule and suddenly opened it. A part of it feels like the most normal thing in the world while the other half doesn’t understand that this is really happening. So we’re obviously super stoked and can’t wait! Some of the new songs are actually pretty challenging to play, so we are rehearsing a lot but I wouldn’t call that stress.
Pre-gig rituals – not really. Usually it’s a round of shots and off we go!
Do you actually plan to tour in some non-German-speaking countries as well?
We’d love to tour internationally but don’t have any specific plans yet. I’ll hope that the new songs and the album will open some doors for us and I guess we’d come to the UK and France next since we’re getting a lot of attention from there already.
BLOODHYPE was actually found in a shared flat in Berlin. In general – does the friendship sometimes suffer under the pressure of a band?
All of us played in various other bands for years. And we have all had the experience that being trapped with the same people in a van for a month can be extremely difficult. But over the years, we all found our ways of dealing with conflicts, and we’re really good in supporting each other when things get complicated.
We also have clear responsibilities in the band, so we’re almost never fighting about artistic differences or things like that.
“A a rock band in 2023? You’re part of something bigger, part of a legacy of many many bands that have done something similar before you.”
Your music is somehow pleasantly “classic rock”. And also the new song “On & On” follows a classic sound structure. I recently read an interesting article that a lot of new music doesn’t follow the common song structure anymore, often doesn’t even have a chorus and the songs are also getting shorter and shorter. What is your approach to songwriting and how important is it to you that music creates emotion and joy when you listen to it?
Before we moved to Berlin, all of us had been playing in punk/hardcore bands. Then we had phases where we listened to electronic music almost exclusively and tried to experience everything the city offers. But after a couple of years, we all started returning to rock music, and when we started playing together, it was kind of a natural development.
We grew up with Genesis, The Cars, and Huey Lewis playing in the radio, started our musical socialization with Grunge, then went down the rabbit hole of the hardcore scene just to return to the surface on the dancefloor of a club in Berlin. Bloodhype is a synthesis of all of that, I guess.
“On & On” is about the question if everything was better in the past. It inspired me to think about this question again and I would say, as always in life, there is no black and white. Some things were certainly better, and some were not. What would you like to bring back from the past into the present?
I can’t think of anything, to be honest – that wouldn’t make sense to me. Everything we can do is to keep on trying to be a better person tomorrow.
And what makes a rock band in 2023 for you?
I wanted to say that a rock band probably needs a guitar. But I’m not so sure about that, actually. It’s probably about acknowledging that you’re part of something bigger, part of a legacy of many many bands that have done something similar before you.
You also collaborated again with Sofia Salvo, a saxophonist from Buenos Aires. What excites you about this collabo?
She’s just the coolest saxophone player imaginable! And the saxophone is as tall as she is. (laughs)
What is one of the most important things you have learned over the years in the music business?
Fake it ’til you make it. (smiles)
Thanks so much for your time!
Thank you for the great questions!
Follow BLOODHYPE for more:
www.instagram.com/bloodhype
www.facebook.com/bloodhypeberlin
www.bloodhype.com
