An Interview With Louisiana-Based Alt-Rock Band, BLONDE ROSES!

Blonde Roses is a Louisiana based group that melds gritty alternative tunes with a splash of rock n’ roll and southern blues to create a harmonious union.

Lifelong friends, the 4-piece are strongly influenced from the 60’s and 70’s and coin these decades as a main component to their songwriting. With a little throwback mixed with personal strife, the band delivers honest and real lyrics about overcoming something and gaining strength from destruction. Off their forthcoming EP release (yet to be announced!) comes “Bullet” a song that details the fragility and beauty of life – the circle of life, death, renewal, and birth. It’s about starting a new chapter, a rebirth – into your better self.

Learn more about Blonde Roses in the following All Access interview:

Thanks for your time! Now that we are more than half-way through 2016, what are some words you would use to describe it? What were some of the highlights of 2015 for the band? 

2016 has been a year of change, heartache, renewal and rebirth for us. We’ve really grown as musicians collectively. The highlight of the year was getting into the studio and recording. It’s such an incredible process. Along the way, you learn a lot about yourself as a musician and about your bandmates. It brought all 4 of us closer as a unit. Watching baby demo versions of our music turn into a full production is so rewarding.

Growing up, did you all always want to be musicians? Can you recall your earliest musical memory? And specifically, how did Blonde Roses come to be? How did you come up with your name?

Music is such a huge part of each and every one of us. We’ve been working together as a band for nearly 7 years now, so we, in a sense, grew up experiencing music together. We went through the later end of high school, college and into adulthood as a group, so it’s really special that we get to continue working with each other.

Up until recently, we were working under the name The Wooden Wings. We went through a pretty drastic lineup change – so, we felt it was time to move forward under something new. Band names are always so tough to come up with. We went back and forth for a few months before finding the right one. Well, I’m blonde. No shocker there. My middle name is also Rose. We strangely have a lot of people in our families that carry the name Rose, so it was also a really cool way to honor the people in our life that we love. We ultimately felt like Blonde Roses was a good fit for us – a little bit sassy while also delicate and feminine.

How do you think being from Louisiana has influenced you all as musicians and, ultimately, your music? 

When you grow up in a culture that is so rich with music, it’s hard to not be influenced by it. A lot of the new music we have been recently writing pulls a lot of inspiration from the South, specifically the delta blues. It’s a direction that’s very new territory for us. We’re getting to really pull from our roots, our hometown, and it’s been a really nice breath of fresh air. We’re really excited to share everything we’ve been working on with you guys!

Very soon, you will be releasing your newest EP. The single “Bullet” is the first song out from it. Where did the inspiration for this single come from? 

‘Bullet’ was inspired by a cherry blossom tree which symbolizes how fragile life is – the circle of life, death, renewal and rebirth. It’s about clawing yourself out of the sometimes heavy, monotonous pull of life. The higher up you climb, the easier it is to clearly see what’s going on around you and what direction you need to go to get out. I wrote this as a ‘light at the end of tunnel’ type anthem.

Who are some of your favorite artists and what bands continue to inspire Blonde Roses? Who would you love to work with in the future? 

I’ve been jamming a lot of Gary Clark, Jr., Grace Potter and LP lately. Each member of the band’s taste in music varies, so we listen to a little bit of everything as a collective whole which makes writing together so exciting. I think it would be super badass to work with Gary Clark, Jr. Not only is he a phenomenal musician, our guitarist, Harry, is super inspired by him, so that would be a killer collaboration.

At the end of the day, what do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope listeners take away from your songs?

It’s really important to us that we continue to inspire strength to our listeners. We want them to find the power in their voice. There are so many nasty things going on in this world, so we need each other more now than ever. And if our music can speak to people to do better, to overcome their obstacles and move forward stronger than before, then I think we did our job as musicians at the end of the day.

Is there anything else that you would like to share with our readers about yourself or your music?

We’ve been hard at work on a music video for ‘Bullet’ directed by the incredible John Paul Summers of Infinite Focus, so be on the lookout for that really soon!