Spotlight - Pittsburgh Local Artist - Wise Blood - Edition 2

Wise Blood is our feature artist of the month. The artist just recently relocated here from Houston, TX. He creates psychedelia, electronica, pop (or whatever term you would like applied). We sat down with him this past weekend and were able to touch on variety of subjects. Below is the interview with samples of his music streaming. You can find his soundcloud site here: http://soundcloud.com/wise-blood

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it before?

I would say sample based, syrup-y, screwed and chopped even though it doesn’t have much to do with those things. That is what I have been into lately. Probably, "future music".

HERE_COMES_THE_SUN by Wise Blood

What aesthetic are you trying to capture when creating the music?

I like old Prince songs such as “Kiss”. He describes situations in a weird way such as being involved with someone sexually; he will say “I want to be your girlfriend”. Lyrically, that is what I would go for, but I usually don’t regard lyrics as being very important. With regards to my music, I like to use a minimalist approach. I try to use one droning sample and come up with a melody from that. I also really want to try and blow out speakers, I want someone’s trunk to rattle when they listen to it in their car.

B.I.G. E.G.O. by Wise Blood

Did you have any professional training growing up? What past bands have you been in?

I took guitar lessons when I was a kid. I kind of stopped after a while only picking it back up when my friend gave me his guitar. That is how I started playing again. I was in a band with a girlfriend in high school. It really didn’t go anywhere. We just kind of made music and played in different places.

I know you just moved here from Houston. What is the scene like there?

There are a couple of artists I enjoy in Houston. Slim Thug is one. He raps over some good low-end bass music. SPM is another band I have been listening to out of Houston. They are some Mexicans who are making this slow down, creepy tone music. The song “Vogues” by SPM you should definitely listen to. Besides that there really isn’t much of scene.

HANNAH MOTOWN by Wise Blood

How do you craft your songs?

I use Logic Pro when creating a song. I will use one sample or rhythm that I hear and everything will be crafted around that. I listen to something and say, “There is a song in that.” I build around it. I add to it to flesh out the melody. It usually takes me a week or two to complete. I am pretty meticulous about every sound, transferring it from Logic Pro to an mp3. You have to adjust a lot of the bass, treble, etc. so it sounds like what you envisioned.

Have you ever put out a disc? Is this something you are considering?

I have about 6 songs now that work together. I am trying to put some video to it so I can flesh it out with images. I want to send it out to different places and see what happens.

LOVE CHILD by Wise Blood

What are your influences with this project?

I really got into Panda Bear’s album Person Pitch. I love everything about that album. Slim Thug’s Already Platinum which came out 4 years ago. Polow Da Don is a producer I really like. The whole dub step scene had a big influence (Zomby, Joker, etc.).

Where did you come up with the name Wise Blood?

In Houston a lot of people use the term ‘young blood’. I read the book Wise Blood by Flannery O’Connor. It’s just a play on that term. Plus, I am really religious.