Pin-pointing genres anymore is such a hard thing to do. Every time you listen to one band, you spin around to find another, new breed of music being born from a new electronic movement that will soon die down and move onto the next. However, bands such as Bloody Knives don't create movements, but they rather take elements and arrangements from a bunch of different styles and create their own centered brand of noise. Call them industrial, call them punk, call them experimental, but what you can't do with this band is keep them caged up. Their latest LP I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This showcases that, and I have an interview with the founder of Bloody Knives, Preston Maddox, located directly below. Read on to discover history, the new album, as well as their appearance at this year's Cold Waves music festival.

Hey there Preston! Good to have you on the site. Let's start off with a little introduction to yourself, the band, and tell me which T-shirt that you own is your favorite.

Preston: My name is Preston Maddox, I play bass/keyboards/guitar/samples/vocals in Bloody Knives. I only own black t-shirts, my favorite ones being those that are not ripped up or faded yet.

Next up is a little music history. Tell me what was the first instrument you started playing. And when was it that you dove into electronic music?

Preston: First instrument was probably my parents piano and organ. Then violin in school. Bass guitar was next then guitar for a long time. I was playing in bands when I was fourteen, mainly weird punk bands, and also learning jazz, experimental and technical music. I got into making electronic music in '00 when a friend of mine gave me bootlegged software with Cool Edit Pro, Soundforge, Acid Music, and I started making my own various types of electronic music, from dance to ambient/experimental stuff. That was when I really got the idea to combine electronics and punk/thrash/metal and create what eventually became Bloody Knives, but nobody would do the band with me at the time. The technology wasn't really totally there yet, and I didn't want to be a solo act so it evolved this way instead.

Let's discuss musical influences. Which bands have influenced you the most and how have they done so?

Preston: This changes constantly so its really hard for me to point at a few references and say that those influences are what led me to this point. I was really into Lightning Bolt and Jesus and Mary Chain and Crash City Saints when the band first started. I used to listen to my friends DJ DnB all the time; I know that had a huge influence. I learned all of the horn parts on guitar from 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis when I was in high school. Lots of good times listening to Curve, Massive Attack and Aphex Twin. Played along to the first Iron Maiden record on bass a ton, same for Disentegration. Little Brother made me rethink production sampling and ambiance.

From what I understand, there is more than just yourself in the band, or at least there was. How did you meet the members of Bloody Knives? Were you already friends with them before its formation or did you find them later?

Preston: Jake and I are the founding members of the band. I met Jake when we worked at Zoo Music in Dallas, Texas way back in '98. I met Jack a few years ago when he was working at a pizza place I delivered to for work and I asked him to play bass in my goth metal band. That band broke up and he started playing guitar in Bloody Knives.

From what I saw, 2009 saw the birth of Bloody Knives. Since then, what albums have you released and how have people received your music?

Preston: Bloody Knives EP, Burn It All Down LP, Split single with Me You Us Them, Disappear EP, Blood LP, Death EP, I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This LP.

Its usually a love or hate thing, those who have been into have always been into it. The last record has been our most well received. We've also contributed songs to various compilations and when we do that its usually an unreleased track made just for the comp.

Let's skip to the present. You have an album coming out called I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This. It's a brutal title for an album, some would call it emo, but give me a little detail about the title and overall concept of the album. What made you want to write this? Was there a personal reason than just wanting to make music?

Preston: Jake found the title from dialogue in a collection of '60's horror comics. We all agreed it would make a good title. There really wasn't much of a purposeful concept behind the aesthetic of the record aside from channeling the more goth/industrial/post-punk elements of our sound and trying to push those to the forefront.

As far as us being emo that misses a fundamental thing about the music, the detachment and lack of empathy, if anything we are goth if we need to do the short cultural ID tag thing. People that feel bad about things and want to scream and yell about it like emo bands do still have hope, that is where all of the energy to yell about it comes from, we are way beyond that. Goth as fuck, darker than the coldest night, blacker that the blackest black. We just don't take ourselves seriously or have a bunch of feelings.

The reason we did the record was that we really needed to put out a full length and I was determined to wait until everything was ready for us to put it out. It came together very slowly for various reasons. There was a great deal of unfortunate things that happened during the course of writing and recording it that had an influence but not really a good one, mainly it just served to delay the release as opposed to adding anything. The recording was quick but also scattered over different times and places, so the performances are all fresh and authentic but the technical issues associated with random recording situations were more present than in a traditionally organized and streamlined recording process. Overall it wasn't as fun to make as other records have been but I think the end result was better by taking the time to get everything in its place and making something sound complete.

When it came to writing the music for the new album, how did you approach it differently from your previous albums? Did you write with renewed passion, use different techniques, etc?

Preston: We added a ton more noise, more people playing elements of the songs, and added guitar. There was a bigger emphasis on everything sounding very live, or being live in the recording, there is a tendency with electronic records to become rigid and dead, it's the hardest thing to do as an electronic musician-make a record with machines that sounds full of life. It is the fundamental struggle to incorporating electronic elements with live instruments, because nothing sounds more awkward than badly blended live/programmed instrumentation.

I have the same question when it comes to your singing; did you do anything different when it came to singing this time around that you didn't do for your previous albums?

Preston: Not really. pretty much the same thing for me as usual. I recorded all of the vocals in 2 days, the lyrics took a while though.

When all was said and done and you finally got the masters back for I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This, what did you personally think of the record? Did you think it was your best material? Worst? Did you think it could be improved upon?

Preston: I was mainly relieved to get the masters because we had a looming deadline to make sure the vinyl was ready before tour. When I heard the vinyl test pressings I did finally feel really good about it. It turned out exactly like I wanted it to: very thick and full but still distinct and clear. The performance sounds live but nobody recorded anything at the same time, much less the same month aside from when I recorded bass while Jake did drum tracks, and most of that bass wasn't used either. It was more that it was the part made in the moment it was created, and that there was no looping of anything for correction, or any of those processes applied to the record. I think that its best quality is authenticity.

Now, moving past the album, I'll take a moment to mention Cold Waves. You're going to be at the festival performing. So, first, what day will you be performing? And how did you get on the bill? Did you advertise yourself to the festival or did they come to you?

Preston: We play Saturday September 24th. We are very excited to be doing it. We were asked to be on the show by the people who put it together.

There will be a lot of bands at Cold Waves. What are you going to do to make Bloody Knives stand out from the crowd?

Preston: The lineup is amazing yeah. We stand out everywhere because we don't fit in anywhere, we are always a stretch one way or another, standing out isn't hard, sometimes it's a problem and sometimes it's a good thing. I do care about seeing the other bands play but I don't pay any attention to how we are received in comparison or whatever, I only care that we play well enough to make us happy and to make the people who like our music happy.

Aside from performing, I'd imagine you're going to take the time to watch a few other bands. Which band are you most excited about seeing at Cold Waves?

Preston: We will miss the Friday lineup. Every band on the thing is so good; I hate mentioning anyone over another, but getting to see The Cocks and on the same night on a stacked bill is pretty sick.

Now, you also have a tour in the works for Bloody Knives. When is this tour happening? Where does it start? And where can we get this information online?

Preston: We will be touring on our way to Cold Waves, starting on September 12th and ending at the fest on the 24th. Starting booking right now, we will post on Facebook and Twitter and whatever when we get the schedule down.

And that just about does it. At this time, I'd like to thank you for chatting with us and I leave the space below for you to mention anything I may have failed to mention. Cheers!

Preston: Thank you. Cheers.

Bloody Knives' I Will Cut Your Heart Out For This is available from Saint Marie Records HERE.

Bloody Knives

Jun 2016

Industrial, Post Punk