Bassist. Vocalist. Toy Pianist. Trumpeter. Cave Burper!? This edition of Fistful of Questions goes out to Blight House’s F.O.G. and F.L.B..
What is your full name?
[F.O.G.] Frank Owen Gorey
[F.L.B.] Frank Lloyd Blight
Do you have any aliases?
[F.O.G.] Ivan Reyskalnikov
[F.L.B.] Dimitri Myshkin
What bands are you actively involved with?
[F.O.G.] Blight House, Tovarish
[F.L.B.] Blight House, Tovarish
What was the first instrument that you played?
[F.O.G.] Toy piano
[F.L.B.] Trumpet
Tell me about one of your first musical memories?
[F.O.G.] The breakdancing boom of the ‘80s and absolutely wearing out the Breakin’ soundtrack.
[F.L.B.] My parents listening to Grateful Dead records at home.
What was the name of the first band you were in?
[F.O.G.] Hell’s Jesters
[F.L.B.] Oblivion
Tell me about the genesis of Blight House.
[F.O.G.] I had a terrible fever one summer, so I was stuck sitting in the basement to stay cool. I picked up a guitar to pass the time, and wound up demoing a bunch of material that didn’t fit with our other projects at the time.
[F.L.B.] Frank sent me a bunch of weird guitar tracks that needed vocals. After a few quick listens I started coming up with ideas for vocalizations and lyrics. One recording session later and we knew we were on to something.
What inspired the name Blight House?
[F.O.G.] Being stuck in the basement, too sick to do anything but riff through the illness.
[F.L.B.] Walking around our city early in the morning, noticing all the abandoned and forgotten buildings among shiny, new skyscrapers and monuments to capitalism. What once was beautiful and had meaning was now empty shells where most fear to tread. Being of the world, but not necessarily in the world. That’s Blight House.
How long did it take you to write and record Blight the Way?
[F.O.G.] As something of a side-project, we worked on it off-and-on for 3 or 4 years in between other work.
[F.L.B.] We try not to rush things so we work in little bits. Each time, we look back and see how we feel about things. Songs can start as one thing, but will change and evolve to the final product. By the time we’re done, years have gone by and we’re already thinking towards the next album.
If you could insert yourself into any one band what band would it be and why?
[F.O.G.] Depends on which instrument, but bass is my primary so I’d choose Anthrax because those were some of the first metal songs I learned to play and because they look like they’re having more fun on stage than any band I’ve ever seen live.
[F.L.B.] Gwar so I can dress up like a monster and cover people in bodily fluids without getting arrested.
Have you ever heard a song and immediately wished you had written it? If so… What was the song and artist?
[F.O.G.] The original version of “Big Barbecue” from Sam Black Church’s Unincorporated. Everything about it grabbed me. The transition from a disco beat into a slow churn built on distorted bass and funky drum fills, the bizarre, overly expressive vocals that twist between something like a reggae delivery to voice-cracking shouts with too much reverb on them, and the lo-fi production. It sounded like nothing else, and it still does, but it also sounded like something I could do with my friends on a 4-track.
[F.L.B.] Rob Zombie’s Dragula. Who doesn’t want to write a silly as hell song about driving around in some sort of vampire car that sells a million records?
Do you have any non-metal musical inspirations?
[F.O.G.] I got into K-Pop by playing rhythm games. I don’t know much about the scene, but there’s a ton of songs that stick with me.
[F.L.B.] Metal is the majority of what I listen to, but some of my favorites are extremely not metal. Alt rock, ska, J-Pop. I like what I like, so there’s no guilty pleasures.
What’s a non-metal song that you'd like to do a cover of?
[F.O.G.] For K-Pop, Twice’s “TT.”
[F.L.B.] Berlin - Take My Breath Away
The year is 2006. Where are you at and what are you listening to?
[F.O.G.] I’m in Pittsburgh listening to local rap mixtapes.
[F.L.B.] I’m living on the coast listening to metalcore on MySpace.
What advice would you give young musicians that are just starting out in the music business?
[F.O.G.] We have no interest in participating in the mainstream music business. If you want to do that, I guess you should decide what kind of hot sauce, coffee, perfume, or whatever you’re gonna shill to make ends meet, because the money isn’t in the music.
[F.L.B.] You make the rules. Don’t chase trends, don’t try to emulate what’s popular now because it will change in 3 months. Get everything in writing and have someone smarter than you look everything over. And don’t sell tickets for your shows.
What is an absolute band killer?
[F.O.G.] Capitalism.
[F.L.B.] Capitalism.
Have you ever recorded a song that you really didn’t like, but somebody else in the band really did?
[F.O.G.] No.
[F.L.B.] Never recorded, but an old high school band had a song with no chorus. It didn’t even really have verses. It just went on for 4 minutes. When I pointed out that it didn’t have a chorus, the guitarist said something like “It’s kind of like Tool” to which I replied “We’re not Tool.”
If you were to start your own music festival what would be the name of that festival and who would be the three headlining bands?
[F.O.G.] No Drummers Allowed f/ Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Godflesh, and Anaal Nathrakh.
[F.L.B.] The Scene Is Dying And Only These Bands Make Money featuring Metallica, AC/DC, and Iron Maiden.
What’s the longest time you’ve gone without bathing?
[F.O.G.] 13 years.
[F.L.B.] Maybe a week.
What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
[F.O.G.] I lie about how often I bathe.
[F.L.B.] I am sad and mad all the time.
Is the Fistful of DOOM show in the top 10 of your favorite music podcasts?
[F.O.G.] Yes, of course. I never lie.
[F.L.B.] Fistful of DOOM was number 10 at the start of the interview, but now it’s number 9 1/2.
Do unicorns sleep standing up?
[F.O.G.] Trick question. Unicorns never sleep.
[F.L.B.] Sure.
Give me three albums that I should listen to immediately, if not sooner.
[F.O.G.] You should check out other Syrup Moose artists. I enjoy Youth Pastor’s The Cars Greatest Hits Vol. II, Shedding Velvet’s The Blood Rite, and Chloe Dancer’s The Hum of an Eternal Midnight. There’s lots of great stuff in the catalog, and these are some highlights that Blight House fans might also be into.
[F.L.B.] Throw in Megafaun’s EP, Asvnder From The Ocean, As Tall As The Sky, and Espi Kvlt Denies My Tongue To Tell
You’re driving cross-country and you can only listen to one album the whole time. What album will it be?
[F.O.G.] Zappa’s Joe’s Garage.
[F.L.B.] George Carlin’s Brain Droppings
You are writing a book about your life thus far. What is the title of that book?
[F.O.G.] I Had a Better Title, But My Publisher Changed It.
[F.L.B.] Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Shut The Fuck Up, J.K. Rowling
What is your favorite song by Taylor Swift?
[F.O.G.] “You Belong With Me”
[F.L.B.] The one where you’re cheer captain or I wear t-shirts or whatever.
Slipknot or Static-X (if you had to choose)?
[F.O.G.] Slipknot
[F.L.B.] Static-X
Doobies or Boobies (if you had to pick one)?
[F.O.G.] I think the real question is “loogies or boogies?”
[F.L.B.] Dogs running fast aka Zoomies
Waffles or Pancakes (if you had to pick one)?
[F.O.G.] Pancakes
[F.L.B.] Pancakes
Star Wars or Star Trek (if you had to choose)?
[F.O.G.] Star Trek (TNG)
[F.L.B.] Neither, so I guess Star Trek.
Favorite band t-shirt you own?
[F.O.G.] The Legendary Pink Dots dancing skeletons.
[F.L.B.] Frank got me a shirt based-off a critic's description of my vocals. It says “Cave Burper”
Favorite meal?
[F.O.G.] Baby buffet.
[F.L.B.] Whatever is about to expire in my fridge.
Favorite book?
[F.O.G.] Avid Pro Tools manual.
[F.L.B.] C. Montgomery Burns’s Will There Ever Be A Rainbow?
Favorite movie?
[F.O.G.] Begotten.
[F.L.B.] The Decline Of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years
Favorite album?
[F.O.G.] Def Leppard Hysteria.
[F.L.B.] Opeth Damnation
Favorite video game?
[F.O.G.] Taiko No Tatsujin
[F.L.B.] Parasite Eve
Favorite Professional Wrestler?
[F.O.G.] George “The Animal” Steele
[F.L.B.] The Gobbledy Gooker
Yuge thanks to F.O.G. and F.L.B. for taking the time to answer my questions and being so colorful while doing so. The rest of you should click on the link so generously provided below and purchase Blight House’s new release Blight the Way. You will be eternally glad that you did!
~El Pedo Caliente (aka Uncle Jameson host of the Fistful of DOOM show)
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