The Blackouts Talk Chaos, Craft and “Ray Gun”

For The Blackouts, the road into music has not been polished, predictable, or carefully mapped out. That is part of the point. What began with early shows at storied venues like The Stone Pony and The Bitter End quickly became less about fantasy and more about commitment. Sparse crowds and slim returns did not send the band running. Instead, those moments helped define their work ethic, sharpen their identity, and reinforce that whatever came next would have to be earned.

That same spirit runs through the band’s current single, “Ray Gun,” and the larger world surrounding their debut album, For Ballard’s Dad. There is a loose, lived-in quality to how The Blackouts describe their process, but beneath it sits a serious devotion to craft, chemistry, and the kind of artistic risk that asks young musicians to go all in before the payoff is guaranteed.

In this interview with The Hype Magazine, the band reflects on the experiences that shaped them, the songwriting habits that keep the material alive, the live-wire energy of the stage, and the bigger legacy they hope to build.

Building an Identity the Hard Way

The Blackouts Talk Chaos, Craft and “Ray Gun” – Courtesy of The Blackouts

The Hype Magazine: When you reflect on the evolution of your sound and identity, what major experiences or phases have shaped you the most as an artist?

The Blackouts: “Those early shows we had at the Stone Pony and the Bitter End, which happened within the first 6 months of the formation of The Blackouts, were massive turning points for us. Surprisingly, playing in these legendary East Coast music venues for the first time was not the rockstar moment that we would imagine, and instead was a tough test in deciding whether we wanted to make the leap head-first into the world of music or give it all up. Low audience totals and slim ticket sales profits at those first few shows didn’t discourage a single member of the Blackouts though, and instead we just knew we had to practice harder, write more music, and spend more late nights in the studio to reach the place where we want to be. Our sound and identity over the last two years has truly been cultivated by everything that we have had to overcome as individuals with no formal music background or previous connection to the so-called local music scene.”

Songwriting Through Instinct and Competition

The Hype Magazine: Music creation is often a blend of intention and discovery. How do songs typically start for you, and what do you enjoy most about the process?

The Blackouts: Personally, I can say with confidence that my best songwriting is done the next morning after a late night out, especially a night where I may have had one too many drinks. Not only do hazy memories of the previous night help with storytelling within the lyrics, but there is almost a looseness in my half-drunk brain where there does not have to be a correct answer or direction I must pursue.

Many of the catchiest hooks and choruses in our music have just come from me strumming a guitar and humming along on a Sunday morning on the porch, while I painfully think about all the 2:00 AM mistakes and escapades that come rushing back to me from the night before. Turning those feelings into chords and lyrics on a notepad tends to put my mind at ease until it’s time to do it all over again next weekend.

Our other guitarist, John Dwyer, is another key piece to the Blackouts’ songwriting repertoire, and has also written and co-written a few songs from our upcoming debut album. We like to joke around and call ourselves “John and Paul,” because like Lennon and McCartney, we are secretly very competitive with each other. But the magic truly happens when we come together and co-write songs.

Creativity, Friendship and the Balance That Sustains It

The Blackouts Talk Chaos, Craft and “Ray Gun” – Courtesy of The Blackouts

The Hype Magazine: What does a productive, creative environment look like for you, and how do you maintain inspiration during busy or challenging periods?

The Blackouts: Working on writing music together in a creative environment with all 6 members is quite a different experience than writing solo. If we are starting from scratch, we tend to run into the problem that there are just too many cooks in the kitchen, and everyone is trying to express themselves with their instrument rather than work together as part of one shared expression, the finished product.

We have definitely gone through busy and challenging stretches of time where it has been hard to find writing inspiration, but we all consider each other friends more so than bandmates, and when those tough stretches come it’s nice to just spend time together and not think about music. Surprisingly, a trip to the bar to watch some basketball, eat greasy food, and put down a couple of pitchers usually does more for us musically in the long run compared to pounding our heads into the ground in the practice studio all night.

Staying Artist-First in the Business of Music

The Hype Magazine: The business of music can be as demanding as the art itself. How would you describe your approach to managing the strategic, financial, or operational parts of your career?

The Blackouts: When it comes to the business side of music, we are definitely still learning as we go. We obviously prefer to think of music in a creative sense, but like all good things on this earth, money and finances are unfortunately a key factor.

Because in the end we just want to always look out for our fans, especially ones that are coming out to multiple shows a month and supporting us. Ticket price gouging has been a polarizing issue in the music industry in recent years due to corporations such as Ticketmaster and LiveNation monopolizing prices on arena events, and it is not something we would ever like to participate in and disappoint our fans.

Recording For Ballard’s Dad in England with Gordon Raphael was probably the biggest financial operation our band has had. That was a big turning point for us because we knew we had to go all in and truly invest in our craft if we wanted to reach the next level and continue to grow as a band.

The Stage as Fuel

The Hype Magazine: Artists often say that performing creates an energy you cannot get anywhere else. What does that experience mean to you, and how has your relationship with the stage evolved?

The Blackouts: Live performances on a Friday or Saturday night fuel The Blackouts quite like nothing else. A hot, sweaty room with an unmistakable sense of liquor and a sound guy that smells like Snoop Dogg’s ash tray has been the primary residence for us just about every weekend over the past two years, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

It is just incredible to hear people yelling your own lyrics back at you, and even more incredible when you come to terms with the fact that these songs haven’t even been released into the world yet.

That early snow-day show at Jack’s became one of the defining moments of our live performance career. It set the tone for us in terms of knowing that we want to perform for a crowd this energetic and active at every show we play.

Finding Connection With the Audience

The Hype Magazine: When it comes to your supporters, how do you interpret their role in your journey, and what forms of connection feel most meaningful?

The Blackouts: Our supporters, whether we know them personally or not, are the most meaningful and rewarding element when it comes to being a musician.

Our music is not just for the typical American college student or young adult. It’s for anyone holding onto their youth, anyone trying to navigate through young love and heartbreak, and honestly just about everything that happens in between those two.

We’ve found a way to bottle those feelings and spit them out in the form of fun, upbeat rock music for people out there to dance and relate to.

“Ray Gun” and the Story Ahead

The Hype Magazine: Music inspiration can sometimes come from unexpected moments. What is one of the most unconventional or wild sparks that led you to create a particular song?

The Blackouts: Another quick story is the last song we finished writing for our debut album, which is coincidentally our lead single, “Ray Gun.” This song was officially finished as we were driving to the studio from our rental Leeds home at about 9 AM on the last day of our recording session.

With the unfinished final track Ray Gun looming over my head, we ended up heading home early one night, around 4 AM, and I got to work and wrote the entire bass part on the couch of the rental home in a drunk stupor. A few hours later we were on the way into the studio to record it.

Will and Dwyer also helped out and began writing the lyrics for the unfinished second verse while we were in the van. To this day I have no clue how to play the bass part I recorded for that track, and luckily we have a fantastic bassist, David, who was able to relearn the track by ear once we got back to the U.S.

Perfectly Imperfect, and Just Getting Started

The Blackouts Talk Chaos, Craft and “Ray Gun” – Courtesy of The Blackouts

The Hype Magazine: As you continue building your legacy, what themes or ideas do you want to explore more deeply, and what do you hope people take away from your future work?

The Blackouts: The favorite term we like to use to describe our album For Ballard’s Dad is “perfectly, imperfect.” We wanted to capture the chaos that is our band in regard to how we operate and perform, and turn it into a sound that is easily digestible as recorded music. Something that felt very human and not overproduced, while also maintaining the level of professionalism and perfection that we strive for.

When it comes to words like legacy, career, and discography, all I’ve got to say is, we’re just getting started.

More Conversations

In 10 years we hope The Blackouts is a name that carries weight, and for the people, the youth, who are just finding us then, we hope they are able to come back to this first album and still connect to it in ways that people are connecting to it right now.

Single spotlight: “Ray Gun” by The Blackouts

 

 

 

The post The Blackouts Talk Chaos, Craft and “Ray Gun” appeared first on The Hype Magazine.