Raleigh, North Carolina-based Gothic rock/emo band Black Bouquet recently released their single/music video, “Run and Hide,” from their upcoming debut album, Pray to the Knife, slated for release on February 16, 2024.
According to Black Bouquet, “‘Run and Hide’ is the feeling of fleeing from decisions and a life that is not serving you. You are facing the moment of clarity when you see the consequences laid before you and turn around to choose something better for yourself.”
Made up of Violet O (vocals), Ian Jones (bass), Hunter Corrin (guitar), Michael Rumple (drums, backing vocals), Laura Mooney (viola, backing vocals), and Dan Irving (synths, backing vocals), Black Bouquet formed in 2017.
Black Bouquet’s sound merges ‘80s Goth with early 2000s indie-rock and the baroque arrangements of modern art rock.
Tattoo.com spoke with Black Bouquet to find out more about the inspiration for “Run and Hide,” gear, and their upcoming album.
What are three things you can’t live without?
Synthesizers, a Roland JC 120, and electricity.
Why do you make music?
Because we want to do it, and we all want to do it with the people we like. We couldn’t imagine not doing it.
What inspired “Run and Hide?”
The song started from Michael’s synth demo. It was the last song we wrote for the album, and we knew we needed a pop-oriented song on the tail end of the album. Violet used this as a chance to convey a missing emotional element lyrically that they knew the song could serve as the foundation for.
We got together and each tried ideas in the room, and it became ‘Run and Hide.’
The video is our take on German expressionism and slasher films. We made it on almost no budget and not much time.
What can you share about your forthcoming debut album, ‘Pray to the Knife?’
‘Pray to the Knife’ is a story of troubled lovers, and of navigating the wreckage after tragedy. It’s a concept album, and it follows the story of a pair through their radically different perspectives.
How, where, and when did Black Bouquet get together?
Ian and Violet went to high school together in Raleigh, North Carolina, and wanted to start a band after graduating. Hunter had just moved there in 2017 and quickly found their flier for needing a guitarist on a college campus bulletin board. In 2020 we wanted to dramatically expand our sound and added Dan, Laura, and Michael. We feel that’s when the band really started.
How did you get started in music?
That’s a tough one to answer. We’ve all played and been fans of music most of our lives, all of us knew that this was something we needed to do.
Did Black Bouquet’s sound evolve naturally or did you deliberately push it in a certain direction?
In 2020 when Dan, Laura, and Michael joined the band, we knew that we wanted to purposely change direction and use these members to create something bigger in sound and scope. We quickly found a stylistic common ground in things like Goth, New Wave, and Post-Punk, but shared our own individual influences with each other to create something as a unit that none of us could on our own.
Which singers/musicians influenced your sound?
New Order, The Chameleons, and The Cure are huge influences for all of us. Each of us brings our own set of influences that have all ended up touching ‘Pray to the Knife’ in some way.
Let’s talk gear for a moment. Which instruments are the band currently using?
For synths, we used a Roland JDXI, a Yamaha MX 6, a Roland V-50, a JV2080, and a Novation Peak. We used a Bridge Lyra 5-string electric violin. We used several guitars, mostly Jazzmasters, a Les Paul Special, and a Roland JC 120. We used a Hagstrom 8-string bass on the record, along with a Westone 4-string with the pickup wired straight to the jack, and a Fender Bassman 100. We also used a lot of pedals. And a set of chimes.
What can you share about your writing process?
It’s very collaborative and democratic. Each one of us will bring something, and we’ll just play off of each other. We don’t have any constraints or any preconceived ideas about what the song should be. We’re always open to whatever it becomes.
Which artists are killing it right now?
Truth Club, Black Country New Road, and Secret Shame.
How do you define success?
There are two ways we think about that. We always want to be proud of what we’re making and want it to resonate with people. We also want to be able to sustain ourselves and to be able to devote as much of our lives to doing this as possible.
Pre-Save Pray to the Knife.
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