Sight and Sound — In Conversation with Blonde Redhead

Indie shoegaze outfit Blonde Redhead played at Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw on February 21. The band formed in 1993, consisting of vocalist and guitarist Kazu Makino and multi-instrumentalist twin brothers Simone and Amedeo Pace. I spoke to the trio before the show about their influences and recording process.

This interview aired on WXYC 89.3 FM on February 24. 

I've been very interested in the visual reference representation of the band's sound through other media. You’ve homage to filmmakers like Jean-Luc Godard and Pier Pasolini. So I know you've done film scores for documentaries, like “The Commentator” and “The Dungeon Masters.” Would you ever be interested in composing another film score? And if so, what genre or director would you have in mind? 

Makino: Oh, wow. Yes, I would love to, but I don't know if we get to be so choosy. But, yeah, there are a lot. You know, it would just be great to do a movie, a soundtrack for a good, good film. I don't know what genre or who.

Amedeo: Yeah, the genre is difficult to choose.

Do you have a genre that you naturally gravitate toward in your casual viewing?

Makino: [Amedeo and Simone] watch a lot of film, I think. If I do watch, I just watch documentaries. That'd be great to do a soundtrack for a documentary, I suppose. That's what we've been doing, too.

Do you feel that there is either a film or a piece of media that already kind of embodies the sound of music that you've made thus far?

Makino: I would have to say, still Godard. Like, it's been so inspiring. 

Was there a Godard film that stands out to you in terms of content?

Makino: “Contempt,” conceptually, it's just for me, it's like, mind-boggling. I'm sure the composer made a long piece of music, but he uses, like, a very short frame of it, but he keeps repeating that section of the music. He just puts it in, [for] a moment, but it kind of seems like his usage is so stark, because he's like, no soundtrack, and then he does have it for like 10 seconds. 

Well, in terms of other media outside of music, have you drawn any particular inspiration from film or literature or painting any other medium for this latest record?

Makino: it's hard to say. Life was quite different between the three of us – we have drifted quite a bit. And then some, you know, like, dramatic social event that just kind of forced us to come back together in one house. You know, I couldn't go back to New York City because it was too difficult. 

During this time when you had left New York, where were you staying?

Makino: We were kind of house-hopping three houses in upstate New York, basically, trying to find where nobody else was around to keep safe. For what we know, today, maybe we wouldn't have done that, you know, but at that time, it felt like, you know, we had to.

Amedeo: It's always really hard to be inspired by something you, you know, we've tried [watching something] like “let’s make music like this director, let's try to get inspired by paintings,” but it never really works out. It's good. It's kind of like, you just have to kind of be open to seeing things and kind of just getting them inside you. And then kind of like, things come out of you. But it's not something that you can put your finger on and say, Oh, the record was really inspired by these events or this art.

So you think that if you try to make your music in the form of another as if to emulate another piece of art, you find that kind of restricts your creative process?

Amedeo: Sometimes.

Well, in terms of your discography, I know you've worked heavily with many classical and ambient composers. With these influences, do you think you would ever take a classical or instrumental approach to your future projects?

Amedeo: Yeah, I think we're always really inspired by classical music. I do feel that growing up, we were surrounded by it. And I think those first years of our lives are really influential in everything we do.

Makino: For me, I forget that [it’s] even classical. I just think, sometimes I'm in my head, like, “This is music.” I just think you forget the kind of instrumentation and rules of some eras, and then you just hear them for what it is, like, [on an] emotional level. I started to imagine, like, “I wonder where he was or what he was doing when he was writing this piece of music.”

I saw, Simone, that you once wanted to say that the band has taught you more than an education or school ever has. So I was gonna ask you – of course, this newest record was recorded over the course of several years, mostly in the wake of the pandemic. How is this new creative process? What has it taught you, and was it different than the past projects?

Simone: Well, it's not really a new creative process. I think it always changes. I think as you get older, it's a little trickier. You feel like you lose a little bit of freedom sometimes in being creative, So it's more about allowing yourself to feel like you can do that at full capability. But as far as the band being an education, it still is, and it's always going to be, and that's the process, you know, it's our music, and we're the only ones to play it. We're the only ones that kind of know how to play it. But we kind of learn it too, you have to go through that process as well. So every record is kind of like that. Right? It goes through that process.

Over the years, you guys have had influences of Unwound and Fugazi and Sonic Youth. I was gonna ask you about your relationship with those bands – do you rely on their influence? Or do you try to harness your own sound?

Amedeo: Camaraderie is a good thing, I think with those bands, because I think we were able to relate to them in a weird way. And they were able to relate to us, we kind of felt like aliens, a little bit, at a time. And we couldn't relate to every band that was around. We felt like we could just be in the same space, joke around [and] relate to each other in a really close way.

Makino: It's really the fact that each band plays such a different kind of music. And then liking one another is like, the maximum compliment, you know, it's like, you get us, and that's already so surprising. And you have a sort of seal of approval by people they really trust and respect, and then vice versa. You know, it's like, the fact that you get it, you get that music, it kind of enhances your mind, then that's a really great feeling.

I know, in the past, you've stated how you kind of admire Unwound’s performance because they all kind of play independently of each other as if they're singular onstage. Do you try to play as a collective unit or play more independently of one another?

Makino: I have no idea, I just try not to make mistakes. Survival.

I totally understand that. Do you know of any drawbacks or benefits of playing in each particular style? If you're playing independently of one another, do you find there are any drawbacks to that or any benefits?

Makino: I have no idea what they're going through. Like no idea. And I just hope for the best, but I don't know if they're suffering if they’re having a weird moment. Sometimes I catch him doing something [or] him playing something that he doesn’t normally do. And it's like, “Oh, you must be really feeling it today.” But at the same time, that's really not my concern. It's almost like you just need to focus. If I need to focus, if I'm able to, like, drop myself into the pocket, [there are] so many things involved. Like, how many hours did you sleep? Did you eat before? But then again, when you're most exhausted, you think, “I can't do it anymore,” then you might end up having the best shot, so it's beyond 

you, a little bit. 

In terms of your creative process for this past record – like I said, it was recorded for a few years, right? And written over a few years? At what point did you feel that there was a stopping point? What did you feel like it was? 

Makino: Deadlines. Not by the record label, but there's definitely the feeling that somebody is like, grabbing you by the neck, like, step back, you know.

Do you find yourself being a little nitpicky with your own work, unable to pull yourself away from tweaking it?

Amedeo: No, I don't think we're like that. Like, we can't wait to finish it and be done with it because it is a group. It is a tough process.

What's the fastest record you guys have ever written? 

Makino: Three days? We used to do that a lot, right?

Amedeo: Well, the first one we did in two days. The second one we did in a week. The third one we did in two weeks.

Makino: The only reason was financial. Financial challenges are the only reason, because you're basically like, illegally recording in somebody's studio somehow, like off hours, you sneak in, so that's how it happened. 

Well, that's really all I have for you guys today. Thank you so much. Super excited to hear what you guys have to play tonight. Congrats on the tour. Congrats on the record.