Thanks for joining us today… Tell us bit about where you are from and how you got into music?
We’re from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. And we’ve been in music for awhile. Typical story of most of us just picking up instruments as kids and starting to write our own music. And that just expanded from there.
What’s the live music scene like there right now?
The music scene in Oklahoma City is pretty varied. We’re at a real cross roads physically within the US, so we have very active country artists, singer-songwriters, metal bands, and a vibrant indie scene.
What are your ambitions for the band?
We would love to be able to pursue music full-time. It’s always been there, so make it a career. But ultimately, we want to write great songs, be able to perform.
Whats your favourite social media platform to use and why?
It’s varied over time. Instagram is our favorite right now. But TikTok is interesting as well. The visualness of those is our favorite part of it.
We believe its essential to have a presence on Facebook, Instagram and X to introduce yourself to all the different types of audiences out there, what’s your thoughts on that?
It’s the primary way to get the word out. It gets exhausting having to manage so many different avenues and try and make things that make sense on every platform. A post on Facebook doesn’t necessarily work on TikTok or vice-versa. We’ve honestly spent the least time on X, but we do have one.
What’s your view on the Music industry today?
Fractured. It’s great that anyone can create. At a certain level, we would love for it to always be about music and not the image or followers. But it is a business, so you have to balance all those aspects. We were told point blank a year or two ago by a mid-size label that we weren’t visible enough nor had enough followers on social media.
Whats your thoughts on AI generated music?
The immediate gut reaction is negative. I think the more thoughtful take has a lot of caveats. If it’s been trained responsibly and ethically, it’s another tool for people to use. Recently the CEO of an AI company made a ridiculous claim that musicians don’t enjoy making music – for us that’s incredibly wrong. We love those parts. Learning the in’s and outs of an instrument, why notes make sense together, and putting in the time and practice was just part of it. It’s hard to remove some very challenging ethical, moral, and financial aspects but if someone is using AI as a tool to augment their skills it’s a slightly different conversation.
Whats the biggest thing you have learned recently as you progress with your music?
Keep at it. Keep writing and performing.
What’s currently in your ears and on rotation at the moment?
The new NIN/Boyz Noize album, Silversun Pickups, and Pink Floyd
What was your worst experience on stage? Any funny stories to share?
We’ve all had bad shows, most of the time bad for us just meant we couldn’t hear anything. The great irony of being on stage playing is that oftentimes we couldn’t hear things. When you can’t hear the vocals or other instruments it’s usually a bad time. But on the flipside, the joy of 1,000 people singing a chorus back to you from the audience is exhilarating.
Got any fun, funny stories from life on the road?
Nothing that we can share!
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
Dark New Days is our new EP. It’s 6 songs. We set out to record an EP as the follow-up after our last full-length album Neon Circuits and the Mission of Hope. With that album we started from over 40 songs and whittled it down to 16. With this new EP, we wanted to work faster, be more deliberate, and have a sense of urgency. We wanted this EP to be an evolution, maybe not drastic but evolving our song writing, recording and everything in-between.
What was the recording process like?
It was recorded in and around Oklahoma at a few studios. We were able to experiment with sounds and had some time to shape things the way we wanted. All these songs started with a raw idea that we just continued to add to until we got to the finished “song”. Once we did that then it was time to just get the final version down.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
It’s a moment in time that’s now sort of “locked” in place. I’m sure there’s always moments we could rethink, but we prefer just to keep moving forward.
Is there anything else you would like to share with the world?
Be sure and visit blueprinttokyo.com for links to our socials, shows (be sure to request a show), merch, and all of our streaming links.
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