Free Blood was born in a concrete room with no windows in the sweltering summer of 2003.

The conceit was simple: a soundtrack for parties gone awry.

Music to fuel awkward sexual dalliances, desperate yelled misunderstandings on the dance floor, toilets over-flowing with the night's collective regurgitation, lonesome midnight ramblings, hair-brained (possibly illegal) parlour games, stereo components fried by heat and moisture, backyard furniture bonfires, power outages, mass hallucination, etc.

The instrumentation was kept to a minimum intentionally (two microphones, bass guitar and mechanical drums) so that the group could fit into any cramped corner, with an easy getaway in case the authorities (or audience, even) took issue with the noise. Free Blood began playing smaller venues and house parties around the Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs, usually lugging their own PA to the gig so that the ear-splitting volume they were accustomed to in the practice space could be replicated. These performances were designed to leave the audience deaf, dumb and blind....and perhaps with smiles on their faces.

Since their inception they have shared the stage (and floor) with a variety of groups (Melt Banana, Suicide, Jamie Lidell, TV On The Radio), only leaving the State of New York once for a brief four-day tour in Japan. The first three years saw Free Blood as strictly a live phenomenon whose appearances were erratic and ridden with chaos. The group entered the studio to record a trio of songs in the Fall of 2005. The studio was owned and operated by a notorious production duo known as the Brothers (Josh Ryan and Eric Emm), and built into a closet in their Greenpoint apartment.

No one knew what Free Blood Music was supposed to sound like outside of the sweat-boxes they were accustomed to performing in, but they set about learning how to make their noise in a control environment. Still digesting the music they grew up on (Midnight Star, Squeeze, Chaka Khan, Stevie Nicks, Level 42, Cameo, and oldies radio) strange inspirations began emanating in great echoing belches. With the Brothers, Free Blood formulated a delicate symbiosis of electronic/mechanical and acoustic/organic elements in order to create a pop song for people who hate pop songs. A year later, they had two and half such pop songs finished (Quick & Painful and Never Hear Surf Music Again). With a new efficiency, the group set out to record two additional singles in under four months. No small feat for a band built on a bedrock of experimental lava. Once again teaming with the Brothers, Free Blood succeeded in producing four more 3 and a half minute monsters.

This music is finally seeing the light of day, thanks to the efforts of Adventures Close To Home (in the UK and Europe) and Rong Music (in the US and Japan/Australia). With actual vinyl finally available for play in living rooms across the globe, Free Blood hopes to instigate a new, home-grown party that will totally get you grounded when your parents come home. Good luck!

Free Blood are John Xi Pugh and Madeline Davy.

Free Blood Part 1 – comprising Quick and Painful / Never Hear Surf Music Again / Quick and Painful (Hot Chip Remix), is released on Adventures Close To Home on 15th October 2007.

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