Interview by Morticia
(Attention this interview is from 2018, and the Bass player is no longer in the band. Please enjoy!)
The blood wisdom started in 1996, around 22 years ago? The name is quite interesting, what's behind it?
Eaden: Yes. Although I have been dabbling in music as far back as childhood, the first recordings that I felt truly proud of and emotionally connected with enough to share with the public was in 1996. I created an album of Lo-FI experimentation with guitar, synth, and vocals that I called EVP. I recorded most of it in one day on a cheap dual cassette karaoke machine but as minimal and amateur as the songs sounded, I truly felt that I expressed something of personal value and therefore really became instantly invested in the power of words, music, and art combined. The name derives from the concept of D.N.A. and the written codes, instincts, and genetic knowledge contained within. It also has to do with ancestral worship and the generational lessons passed down from one family member to the next. The idea that even though we lose members of our tribe to time and death, their influence, their experiences, and even their flaws live on within us and shape the living family's existence through memory and through blood is a fascinating notion. I think its important to acknowledge that information, to learn and grow from it until you are ready to pass on into the great beyond and offer your life as an collaged version of the lineage's wisdom.
What type of music genre is The blood wisdom?
Eaden: In traditional terms, the Blood Wisdom can fall into a lot of genres because this project has evolved into a hybrid beast of sorts and covered alot of different types of material. From early on it could of bounced from Folk, Experimental, Industrial, Rock, Post-Punk, Goth, Noise, Ambient, etc etc. Anything that came as an inspiration up to that present moment. In this present moment, under the current lineup, it has taken on a Psychedelic Post Punk sound, but tomorrow it can become a country music vessel. That's the whole point of the Blood Wisdom, never stop evolving, never refuse an new experience, push the artistic and spiritual boundaries to avoid stagnance and to expand conciousness.
How many band members have there been through all the years? Collaborations? Current members?
Eaden: It has changed quite a bit since its origin. A lot of that is based on my nomadic urges and me moving around constantly. Some of it has to do with creative necessity. At first, it was primarily a solo project with occassional one off collaborations, but then it grew into a band format in order to perform live. The longest standing member besides myself, has been my friend and collaborator Ed Dymek. He played drums with the band since 2008 when I was living in New Jersey. He recently switched to the Blood Wisdom's guitar wizard. Since late 2014, the Blood Wisdom has consisted of Myself, Ed, and Michelle "Michi" Vokes on Drums, Magdalena on Bass. I met Michi and Mag once I moved to Los Angeles and decided to reboot the band on the West coast.
What has been your biggest challenge as a band through the years?
Eaden: The normal stuff that any band struggles with... trying to create a presence in the digital age. Financial struggles, very little distribution, maintaining a record label, blah blah blah. Thankfully for me and everyone currently involved in the project, we just love performing music. The spiritual connection I personally get through creating and swimming through sound is priceless and in itself a success.
What has been your favorite place to play? If you could play at any venue anywhere, where would it be?
Eaden: The Complex was amazing but they closed thier doors . The Mint has a great staff and Lynchian atmosphere. I really love the Viper Room down on the Strip to. It's small enough to build and connect with the crowd, but with a history bigger than its walls. It has a haunted air to it. The ghost of a place really adds to the live ceremony for me. I would have loved to play the Mower Shack in Temecula, owned by Kettle Cadaver's Edwin Borsheim. I have been greatly inspired by Kettle Cadaver and would have been honored to perform a ceremony with them in that time and space, but unfortunately Edwin just recently died and the Mower Shack has been out of commission for years as far as I know, so that will remain a dream.
What are band practices like?
Eaden: We are all friends first and foremost, so it's like getting together with your buddies and having a few beers. The only difference is that we also weave a spell of sound together and speak through a musical language to one another...and drink beers.
Ed, so you've been playing on and off with Eaden? How has the journey been through the years?
Ed: Great! Eaden and I have been playing together for a really long time, back to when the band was called TDM and the ghost on sound. When we started playing together it was just him. I told him I played drums and we started messing around with stuff in his bedroom.
I could go into great detail about it, but we’d be here for hours
So you played drums, but now you play guitar? That's super rad! Are you multi-instrument talented?
Ed: I guess I am now, I faked it until I got good. Back then he played guitar and sang, I played drums and dabbled on bass. We would run over some old tunes, rework them into this whole new sound.Bc the early stuff was very synth based, but he wrote everything, usually, on acoustic guitar. After a few sessions we got really comfortable with each other and wanted to grow, so I called upon my close friend Cole, who was in another band with me, to play bass. Between the three of us, we could pump out a song and transition to another without any cues and it would work. It’s almost as if we shared a brain. And we all had a crazy appreciation for different genres, so nothing was off limits. We played our first show at a hot topic in NJ...hold back the laughter
Morticia: That is so rad, the history behind the music and you two collaborating.
Lol wow hot topic haha that's still cool. Probably back when hot topic wasn't that bad. I don't think they do shows in hot topic anymore.
Any advice for musicians starting a band?
Ed: Never be content with learning one genre or one instrument, there are enough bands that play the exact same song for an entire album, you have to venture into the unknown.
You are very spiritual, can you tell us about that?
Eaden: Yes, even though I don't suscribe to any religion or get too deep into new age concepts, I do have a spiritual understanding of existence and place great importance to ritual. Like my art and music, my spirtual approach is very eclectic, I was raised partially Catholic but also with a heavy Pagan influence. Both sides of my family had different beliefs and I was curious in both. I was lucky enough to have parents that were open minded enough to allow my exploration. Some of those beliefs and iconography are a still a part of spirtual lexicon along with some other practices I have picked up through my journey, but Blood Wisdom is my truth. Not only the band but the philosophy behind it. It is ever evolving and challenging me to grow as an artist and as a person, offering altered states through music, divination through art and prayer through word. It's all about creation...molding chaos...and when something is finally destroyed, it is about the new beginning afterwards. Everything done with full intention.
The lyrics you write are so beautiful. You are a true poet. Can you tell vampirefreaks your process of writing? Do you have any suggestions or advice for writers out there?
Eden: It is very automatic most of the time. I can get one line in my head through an emotional response to my environment, and then it all pours out of me. I think the seed of my writing is very deep with emotion but sometimes it is so cold and alien to me that I only feel like a vessel for some other intelligence. I won't try to speculate on that. Sometimes mysteries are better to be lived rather than be solved. Either way I always love hearing how others interpret the poems. Another persons translation of my lyrics is much more exciting to me. It offers a unique intamacy that is hard to describe but it is very profound. It's hard for me to offer my advice to other writers because the way it comes to me and the way I approach writing is so unorthodox. I feel like it's different for everyone. I'd say if it feels right and natural, write and capture the story of your life, both in its fictional and realistic aspects.
Mag! When did you start playing bass? And do you play any other instruments?
Mag: Let's see...I started playing at 17, upside-down on a right-handed ibanez owned by a friend. It was picked up on a whim with absolutely no regard for previously established conventions. I love to feel the reverberating tension on thick metal-wound strings .
So, Mag can you tell us a little about your tarot reading, and your spirituality?
Mag: I started studying tarot many years ago as a divination tool. Its a deep world with new truths and understanding to be unlocked. Even to this day, I am still learning new things about every card. They are like paths. I enjoy doing readings for friends and meditating on a randomly pulled card each day . It's a potent system.
Eden you are also an artist and your poetry and art has been published in a magazine. Can you tell us about this.
Eaden: Yes.Creating in any realm or medium gives me great pleasure. Art definitely comes the most natural for me. It's almost effortless followed by complex results and answers. It has appeared in many publications over the years but most recently I had the honor to be featured in my friend Javier Vessel's magazine called The Beyond. It is a must read for anyone with occult minded interests or those who think outside of this worlds borders. Truly a majikal experience the way he puts it all together.
Hey Michelle! When did you start drumming? And do you play any other instruments?
Michelle: I fell in love with drums 12 years ago. I enjoy dj'ing spinnin records. I studied voice and would play acoustic guitar. I then went on to play bass for a couple years. With my dance background drums just seemed to be the right fit for me!!!!!
Eden tell us about your collections and oddities?
Eaden: Yes I am a collector of trinkets and what could be considered morbid items. One of my prize possession is a black bear rug that my grandfather handed down to me. I love taxidermy and specimens. I also collect manniquins, old photos, tribal masks, and knives. haha. It is a wide range. My living quarters is always set up as a temple to the creative spirit. If you were to walk into my place you would see these collectibles mingled with my art and other installations. Everything in my life serves a purpose and has alot of meaning attached to it. Everything I own is a talisman and piece of the larger puzzle of the current temple in which I reside.
Do you have a Motto for the band? Or a superstition?
Eaden: We create in order to destroy, and destroy in disorder to create, so that a new experience beyond our present reach can grow like a r/Evolution flower from our dirty hands into fists...HERE AND NOW!
Do you have any advice for bands that are just starting out and forming?
Eaden: If you love it, do it. The industry is very hard...almost impossible, but the industry isn't what the essence of music is about. Its about what you born to do on this planet, what you feel from creating it, the beauty of sound flowing through your body, and the connection to other people. If you truly can't live without it, then you are truly doing it for the right reason.
In February of this year you guys released another record "Death Poses Of A D . N . A. Idol" do tell!
Eaden: Honestly, it was a very trying experience. Everyone in the band lost someone close to them to death and It took almost two years to record. We didn't perform one live ceremony within that time. WIth that said, I think the suffering and the endurance that went into making it was well worth it. It encapsulates a special moment in time that will never be repeated. Forever written into the metaphorical stone tablet that is the Blood Wisdom. It is avaiable on CD format with my artwork at Blood Wisdom live ceremonies and it is also available digitally at www.thebloodwisdom.bandcamp.com along with all other past Blood Wisdom releases.
Fan questions
Fan question: When Eaden sings, there's so much emotion in his voice. Do you put all your heart in that music? It seems like ya do.
Absolutely. I lose myself and find myself simultaneously. Sometimes when I'm onstage, it's like everything I have experienced throughout my life forms into one presence and possesses my body like a demonic force. All that is concious is the voice and the heartbeat. This has caused me to black out, destroy things around me and even injure myself on many occassions. I don't pass off the responsibility but I do realize the experience is one removed from mundane life. That's why I refer to our live gigs as ceremonies.
Fan question: Michelle where do you get your style? Also, you're a badass drummer any tips for me? I've seen you mostly in videos but I'm trying to learn how to play. I wanna play like you
Thank you ! I'm self taught and tried playing sitting down for 2 years and just felt awkward. So I stood and would play to alot of House music. I'm a raver at heart. Post punk really moves me . I would just play everyday and pick out the parts, high hat, snare, toms, symbols etc. A good friend told me when I was starting, " No matter what, play at least 10 min everyday. " It becomes a habit. Now it's a lifestyle. I thank God everyday for my addiction to drums!
Fan question: When is your next show and will you be touring anytime soon? If so where?
We will be performing a ceremony at the Redwood Bar in Los Angeles on July 12th. There may be a gig or two between there but that is what's lined up at the moment. We are considering doing a small west coast tour next Spring but time will tell.
Any last words? Or quotes you'd like to leave us with?
Eaden: Thank you so much for your support Morticia. You are a true friend. Long Live The Blood Wisdom!!!
Morticia: Of course Eaden! You are a dear friend and fellow poet. LONG LIVE THE BLOOD WISDOM!! This all needed to be shared. Thank you for all your time and for letting Vampirefreaks interview you guys!
Links: https://m.facebook.com/thebloodwisdom/
https://thebloodwisdom.bandcamp.com
https://m.soundcloud.com/thebloodwisdom
https://www.reverbnation.com/thebloodwisdom