We recently premiered Blesst Chest’s “Yes Minus Three“, which we were overly fond of from the first time we heard it. So you can only imagine our excitement when we were able to nab the exclusive stream of their full-length album–Wish We Were There–before it’s available to the public. (For your reference, that’s this Friday, July 29th.)
Not only were we able to grab an exclusive of this stellar album (think vintage-inspired instrumentals and guitar riffs with depth, all pulled off by a trio of men who have the best sense of humor, hence the FOMO title), but we also got a chance to interview Blesst Chest’s ery own Jay Winebrenner.
If you could make a grand entrance and introduce yourselves to our readers in any way, how would you do it?
I think it would be great if we could materialize behind them as they are reading this article on their laptops or iPhones and whisper into their ear. Maybe a Roxette lyric. And when they turned around in a startled state of panic, Jake would click in on the drums and we’d start jamming.
Please, tell us the Blesst Chest origin story.
Apparently Darrell was complaining to Jake about not being in a band, and Jake suggested they start one and they asked me. Except our plan was for me to play a MIDI-guitar, so I could be a tenor sax or pipe organ, but that would have required a lap top and I didn’t have the money for one, so we settled on the normal guitar.
You’ve got a very vintage-inspired rock thing going on, and we’re quite taken with it. What made you choose to stick with instrumentals, and not branch into vocals?
Thank you for that! Great to hear. I was supposed to play the MIDI-Guitar so it could have been wildly different. But I didn’t have the money for the set up, so guitar on my end was default. I am not a guitarist, as I’ve only played bass in bands my whole life. I kind of hate it. Strings break all the time, I’m shitty on the pedals, I can’t do what I want and get frustrated. And now it consumes my listening experience, because I’m always sizing up how the guitarist does certain tricks. Like that one metal trick where they bend the string, but it seems to blast up 4 octaves? How the fuck do they do that? I’ll probably google that after I’m done here. But I suppose it’s a fun challenge. I don’t have to lug a mammoth bass cabinet around to shows, so I guess there are perks. When I see Darrell lugging around his cabinet, I genuinely feel bad for him, but I rarely offer to help. I guess I should offer to help him more. Sorry Darrell. And we did consider getting a singer early on, and we discussed getting the female David Yow. But we didn’t find her, and we didn’t look very hard either. And I’m pretty sure we are just lazy and got complacent without vocals.
What are you most excited about with your new record release?
Hmm. I really like seeing the art work in a 12×12 format.
This “Def Gary” video… pretty stellar, if I do say so myself. Where did the inspiration come from?
Thanks a lot! I’ve always had an interest in replacing human heads with other things, and I wanted to hone my Adobe After Effects chops, so I decided to go for it. Also, it was a fun way to get people who otherwise would never want to be on camera to participate in a project. Like that girl on the couch, that is Darrell’s wife Celeste. She had zero interest in participating until I told her her head would be a human hand.
Any fun anecdotes from filming the video?
It was pretty straight ahead. It was a nice excuse to go to the river with our respective partners. I really wanted to do this scene where Bim Ditson, the dude w/ the sword and chain mail, was on top of a horse, and I wanted the horse to have a hoof head, but I couldn’t swing it. Also, it was difficult to resist the temptation to have someone give the finger, but I managed.
If your music was a pizza, what type of pizza would it be?
Noted. What’s your favorite part about making music together?
It’s pretty much the best excuse to hang out together for one. Number two, as much as I complained earlier about the guitar, it’s actually fun to play it.
What’s up next for Blesst Chest?
We’ve yet to write a ballad, and I really want to. I mean, a real tear jerker. I’d really like to be moved to tears on stage as we play it. I don’t know if we could do it, but I want to try.
“Wish We Were There” is out July 29th, 2016 on XRAY Records. It is available for preorder now. The album release show is Friday at Mississippi Studios w/ Hot Victory and Plankton Wat.
