If music be the food of love play on...
In these times of global insanity as the world hurtles to the next level of NUTS I shall refrain from engaging with it and instead take a trip down memory lane and recollections of great music and crazy times...
Party on Wayne! Party on Garth! That's only funny if you know Wayne's World and you understand the nature of what came next...
Or as my eldest daughter called us all, the rock version of the TV sitcom, Friends!
Fast forward a couple of years from part one and I find myself reconnecting with an old friend Bobysan bass player, who had joined forces with a fellow Dutch man, the new kid in town, Jozz.
Jozz had started a band back in the Netherlands in 2000 called Floodstain. This was a Stoner band with Sludge and Metal influences.
Now living in Spain, Jozz was eager to meet likeminded musicians and continue with the music and along came Bobysan...
When I had first met Bobysan many years previously he had been a young musician playing with mutual friends in various bands. My eldest daughter and I (she just a toddler!) were in a fun video featuring the guys skateboarding and making music.
I was really happy to reconnect with these old friends and even more so that there was some true quality music going on. As soon as I heard Jozz’s vocals and guitar playing, I was hooked. He is a truly versatile vocalist and I loved the likeness to one of my favourite all time ever vocalists, Chris Cornell.
And so the next chapter of Floodstain began, the Spain based chapter!
I believe the first album I ever heard by Floodstain was the 2007 album, ‘Dreams make monsters’ where I instantly fell in love with the track, You lose alone. The moody vibe that captures me every time: building up to a crescendo of heroic guitar sounds that send me into my transdimensional space goat state!
Watch the band play the track live. Link below:
https://youtu.be/veAKflPSha4?si=DAW8qdQq9AH0t1P0
I loved the heavy melodic riffs and general moodiness.
You see, I was a big Alice in Chains fan as well as Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Nirvana etc
I liked various metal bands but it was really the Grunge scene that had got me. It just felt like there was way more depth to their lyrics in response to the LA cock rock scene! The gloomy Seattle weather probably had something to do with it too...
Floodstain really spoke to me on that level and there was nothing like them in our area.
https://floodstain.bandcamp.com/album/dreams-make-monsters
I was most definitely excited to have such a great band local to me as I loved the music, the scene, and accompanying them to gigs all over the place.
And more importantly, no more attempting to be Sharon Osbourne!
I remember the first time I set eyes on Jozz, must have been around 2010, with his long hair and cowboy hat, quite a distinctive looking character.
We had some interesting chats and arguments, both of us being quite opinionated on music!
Then came the album, Slave To The Self Feeding Machine.
"New album of the band demonstrates high quality of music and professionalism of the musicians. The followers of Fu Manchu, Kyuss and Queens Of The Stone Age on the one hand fit the canons of the genre and, on the other hand, deliver original powerful tracks filled with outstanding riffs and inexhaustible energy. The album has a potential to become a gold standard of the genre and a pleasant discovery for the fans of this style." Badmood man music
I absolutely loved the epic Slumbering Titan Slayer, what a track. A Song full of surprises at every turn..deep dark heavy riffs...tempo speeds up then morphs into long drawn out dreamy blues section...then just as you bliss out..bam!
Listen here:
https://badmoodmanmusic.bandcamp.com/album/slave-to-the-self-feeding-machine?t=5
or here:
https://youtu.be/5jZatapy3K8?si=eJm-TFsuTfulJ3_L
Speaking of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, I went with Bobysan and some friends to the Mad Cool festival in 2018 to see them play. I was extremely excited to see them again. I hadn't seen Pearl Jam since 1992 though I had seen Alice In Chains in the UK around 2010 I think, without Layne Stayley of course...
Alice in Chains was amazing back then and I was a big fan of Jerry Cantrell, their set had really blown me away and so I had high hopes for this gig...
Unfortunately for me, neither Pearl Jam nor Alice in Chains blew me away this time. I loved hearing the classics but the music didn't move me as I had expected it to...
However, upon seeing Jack White, I was pretty stunned by his performance which was absolutely outstanding! What a performer!
Maybe I have changed? Or maybe it was all the wrong setting? Previously I had seen both Seattle bands in much smaller intimate settings..
Who knows?
So, back to Floodstain: We were a close group of friends that accompanied the band to their various gigs and often joked we were their loyal groupies, always by their side.
The band gigged around Spain, the Netherlands and Denmark during this time. I was unable to go further afield due to my parental responsibilities, the only one in the friend group with a young family of my own.
Like most bands, there were changes to the line up along the way. In Floodstain’s case this meant drummers, during this time we had Pablo Doom and Vesso.
I may have retired from management but there was more than one occasion where I could be found driving the band's van with erm, let’s say a rather inebriated lot rolling around in the back!
I had had 3 VW campervans over the years as had my parents, so driving a van was one of my great loves, hence I was one of the chosen few permitted to take control of the wheel, and the band!
As I have mentioned before , the area in which we lived was not an easy spot for bands with original material, particularly for bands like Floodstain and their particular genre. I guess it was more of an underground scene.
There were a few places that hosted the more alternative groups and the raves, like the infamous Mistelera, a place local to me run by a collective that used the place for the arts and to hang out. Oh, we had many a fun night there! They even had their own radio station where they once interviewed me and my dad talking about his musical past..
It was there I made friends with a local death metal group called, Malroin and I began dating the ‘vocalist’.
I have to say that was quite the experience. I strongly disliked this genre of music! Man, I found it offensive to my ears...
The guys were great fun, and though they took their music seriously they did not take themselves seriously, so very important that the ego be kept in its place!
They would put on quite a show, painting their faces and my BF would do a fire act which often ended in him setting fire to his beard!
Despite recognising their individual musical talent as musicians, particularly the drummer and guitarist, I really could not handle the music.
Just another day in the neighbourhood!
As I said, venues could be an issue but one great venue, small but rather legendary in the area was the bar Quatre in Rock Street, Pedreguer, that been hosting national and international bands for years in the small village where I ended up living for a while. Apart from Benidorm or the cities, there were few venues like this on the coast. Photo below, a few of us outside, enjoying the ambiente!
The bar is still open but unfortunately no longer hosts live bands due to noise restrictions...
https://1000milesfromnowhere.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-posies-and-arse-of-world.html
The band wanted to branch out and have a change of direction also reflecting their personal growth and evolution...
And Bluesweiser was born. It began as an acoustic set, Bluesweiser campfire experience which also made it much easier to find gigs and access the public...
Blues Weiser´s influences reach as far as the sounds of 70’s Dutch psychedelic blues rock from bands as Group1850, The Livin Blues & Focus. While growing up in the 90ties and getting heavily inspired by its grunge scene their music shifted towards the question: What if Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl jam were blues bands and how would they sound? This led to the evolution of the band’s sound
I loved this new direction, a combination of my faourite genres.
Again various drummers passed through, Sennen, Alex, Mike and at one point Lee on guitars, all adding variety and talent.
Along came the album, Booze For Blues, with some classics such as
Guardrail cruiser: Catchy, heavy, fast tempo, with surprises throughout...
and Ain't nothing I own: Another of my slow moody deep dark favourites..
Nothing boring and samey round here, testament to the versatility of Bluesweiser's sound.
https://blues-weiser.bandcamp.com/album/booze-for-blues
A combination of more radio friendly, crowd friendly up tempo, up beat, fun rock combined with blues, psychedelia then back into deep dark slower heavy riffs...
It also featured, Be Careful What You Wish for: One of the many memorable moments was the making of the video for this track.
It was filmed in the house Bobysan was sharing with his friend Carla and what can I say, it was more like a scene out of American Pie combined with Wayne's World! Except, let's face it, a lot of us were over 40! Old habits die hard...
It was meant to be a Karaoke party, the friends all partaking in the song and then the real band would take over...
It was fun and raucous : A real party which you will see in video link below:
https://youtu.be/ntzGSmS00f4?si=sJJ0EsE17F_6aiY7
I distinctly remember ending up wearing my friends unicorn onesie with my cowboy boots and not much more. I suppose it could have been worse...
Denys:
I can't remember the exact day I first met Denys but I do remember the first real conversation with him at the band's gig in the Rockstar, Benidorm. Who knows if it was a Floodstain gig or Bluesweiser? It all becomes a blur but I do remember being impressed with his poetry and amazing grasp of the English language with a better vocabulary than most native speakers...
Denys became the official band photographer and videographer.
He also loved the music so soon became my friend and fellow gig mate!
Gigs, parties, meet ups, there was a whole group of us who would coincide, share and enjoy the musical experience.
The band continued evolving and experimenting with genres and direction...
Obey The Booze was full of surprises and I absolutely loved Echoes of oblivion an amazing eclectic mix of sounds, tempos and mystic psychedelic delights...
No Input Signal another of my favourites, a driving sing along in my case...
All the above tracks and more can be found on this excellent live album:
https://open.spotify.com/album/4GAqBSfSLhGTVQ3MUV57Gv?si=yS12YrM6QuWeEE4REYBJlg
The band continued playing but things began to change...
Sadly Denys returned to Ukraine and soon after the war broke out...
I left the country for a while and not long after my return Bluesweiser parted ways after a good few years together.
This was sad but nothing lasts forever and change is important...
Recently Bluesweiser turned a new corner with jozz's talented girlfriend Nina, a great musician , joining forces with him to produce new material and new directions...
From what I have already heard, there is some exciting new material on the horizon...
New memories and experiences will be formed...
Life and people move on, things change and evolve but the love of music remains...
And that, my friends, is the end of this tale!
Follow the band here:
https://www.instagram.com/blues.weiser
https://www.facebook.com/BluesWeiserRock/
0 Comments