After signing their first deal with Smart Punk Records, Florida rock band, Blessing a Curse, consists of a cohesively authentic group of talented musicians that are bringing to life their vision. Embodying the work ethic and chops to deliver, Blessing a Curse recently released their debut album, ‘Satisfaction For The Vengeful’, and I caught up with lead vocalist, Joshy Singer, to discuss their creative chemistry, tattoos and more.
You guys recently signed to Smartpunk. How how your life changed ever since?
It has been, and continues to be, an amazing journey with Smartpunk. Our team works so hard for us and have invested so much into us already, and we’re forever grateful to them. Plus not a lot of bands have the privilege of living in the same state as their label, so it’s wonderful to be able to go into the office and meet with them to discuss future game plans. They are just genuine, good hearted dudes who know how to run a business and it is an honor to work with them.
Congrats on the release of your debut album, ‘Satisfaction For The Vengeful’. Tell us about the creative and recording process within bringing this album to life.
Thank you so much! We recorded this album with the brilliant Andrew Wade at The Wade Studio. He’s an incredible producer and really knows how to bring the best performance out of every musician he records. We basically went to his studio every day from sunrise to sunset for about a month and just recorded as much music as possible. What I loved about recording with Wade is that he has no problem with letting you try every little idea you have for a song until you find the note or riff or tone that sounds perfect. He really cares about the music and that’s exactly what we needed for this record.
How long have you guys known each other? What created the chemistry throughout the band?
Brandon and I have been friends since I was in 9th grade, so about 10 years now. I remember we met at lunch one day because none of our friends had the same lunch time as us, and we were both wearing the same Avenged Sevenfold shirt. We clicked instantly and to this day we’ve never really argued about anything. I met Ronnie in 2010, we were both the frontmen in local metal bands at the time and it wasn’t long before we recruited him. He literally bought like a thousand dollars worth of bass gear and learned to play bass just to audition for us, and that’s kind of Ronnie’s personality in a nutshell. He’s that true blue guy that will always do what it takes to get shit done. We met Jorge around 2011 after my first band broke up, I remember Jorge messaged me on social media and asked if I wanted to join as the screamer for his metal band at the time. Jorge pretty much gave me my first shot at singing clean vocals on a song too and ever since then we’ve all made a great team! Somewhere along the line we all met Matty at different times, we always knew him as that one drummer that was really really good but could never seem to find a solid band that stayed together long enough, so when we were in need of a drummer he was our first choice. He’s zany, funny as hell, and has way too much energy- all the makings of a perfect drummer.
Let’s talk tattoos. Tell us about some of your favorite personal pieces and the artists that brought them to life.
It’s funny you ask that! I think everyone in this band, with the exception of maybe one of us, has been tattooed by Anthony Lara Q. at Studio 13 in Orlando. He’s an amazing young artist and a good friend of mine. My favorite piece of my own right now is probably either the Anubis on my elbow or the crystal heart on my chest because Anthony let my wife draw up the designs for both of those pieces.
If you could tour with any band in the world, who would you choose and why?
For me personally, I would be equally happy with either Korn, Avenged Sevenfold, or A Day To Remember. The vocalists for all three of those bands are the first ones I remember seeing in music videos and going “Wow, that looks cool. They make singing seem badass, I want to try that.” Plus, the fact that they pack out arenas pretty much every night wouldn’t be too bad either, hahaha.
Your song, “Cocoon”, has a very significant and emotive meaning behind it. Tell us all about what influenced that and what the song is about.
Cocoon is one of the more personal songs on the record for me lyrically. It’s about the day my dad passed away two years ago. Growing up, my father and I had a very rocky relationship. We just argued a lot and didn’t make an effort to understand each other until I hit my twenties. Something just clicked. We stopped fighting so much. I remember the day he called me to tell me he and my mother were splitting up, and for the first time I heard this vulnerability in his voice that I’d never heard before. He wasn’t trying to be right about everything for once. We started hanging out a little bit more after that, and it was really nice. He told me how much he believed in BAC and how he’d been having these “future dreams” that I was gonna go far in life. He apologized for how he’d never made an effort to see things from my perspective. It really helped things between us. But then a couple months later he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and he made me promise not to tell my mom because he didn’t want her to feel guilted into staying with him. I didn’t know what to do. In a matter of days he was gone, and I still hadn’t told my mom (and she and my dad weren’t speaking at the time). To this day, telling her that dad passed away is still the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my entire life. And that’s more or less what Cocoon is about.
What did you grow up listening to and what inspired musicians/artists in specific inspired Blessing a Curse?
I was totally that emo kid who sat in the back of the class with his hood up and his headphones in listening to Coheed And Cambria and Marilyn Manson. I think one of the best things about BAC is that we all grew up listening to similar music, and yet stylistically we’re 5 very different personalities. These days I really love vocally-driven pop music like Lady Gaga and Melanie Martinez, Brandon’s into any music with really intricate guitar work, Matty likes bands with really progressive drums like Dream Theater, Ronnie likes everything from rap music to The Used, and Jorge either listens to classic rock or really fresh new bands breaking into the music scene like Cane Hill. Somewhere in there, you’ve got the ingredients for Blessing A Curse.
Any upcoming tour plans that Blessing a Curse fans have to look forward to?
Yes! But unfortunately we can’t announce them just yet, but be sure to keep up with us on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. for tour announcements! We hope to be everywhere in 2017.
Last but certainly not least, any closing messages for your fans?
Just a HUGE “thank you” to everyone who has purchased our album, come to any of our shows, learned our lyrics, watched our music videos, or even told a friend about us. This album, Satisfaction for the Vengeful, is for every kid (or kid at heart) who has been told they’re not good enough, or that they’ll never make it in the real world. YOU are the biggest and best part of Blessing A Curse, we’re just the guys who stand on stage and make the noises.
