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Music. & Stuff
Volume 2, Issue 3 March 1998
Interview with Michelle Muldrow by Farzana Khan
How would you describe the music of Bloodroses?
I’m trying to go for a folk roots rock approach. I’m basing it on music that I really love, from the late 60’s, like Fairport Convention, Buffalo Springfield... things that tell a story and emotions. And also basing it on California, there’s something about being out there that has a way about it...
How did you come up with the name Bloodroses?
Well, I just tried to go towards something that I was really drawn to, something visual. I don’t know, I was just drawn to it.
It has a vampire feel to it.
Someone told me that there’s a Pagan ritual poem that uses Bloodroses. And Tori Amos has song called Bloodroses, which I haven’t heard.
Your last band was Goth...
Actually it wasn’t Goth .. it was a Pixies rip-off band. The guy who wrote the bio interpreted it that way... I don’t know why
Maybe because of your visual aesthetic?
Yeah, exactly.
Do you consider yourself Goth?
I don’t think so, I mean, what is Goth these days? The whole Goth scene... the first time it came around wasn’t something I was really into. I have my own thing that I’m about.
People just think, oh she’s wearing some velvet and lace, she must be Goth.
Right. Because of the way that I dress, it has taken a while for people to become comfortable - in a lot of my circles I was made fun of...”Oh look, here comes Stevie Nicks.” I like the whole lace and long skirts thing.
Would you say that it is an expression of the romantic side of you?
Yeah. It’s partly just being comfortable being a woman. The whole witch imagery is very empowering. It’s the one place where women can allow themselves to be beautiful, but not be a sex object.
How long has Blood Roses been together?
Almost a year. I had a previous band called Eye Sore. When I broke that band up, I didn’t play for about six months.
Had you played with these guys from Bloodroses before?
The guitarplayer was from Eye Sore, but the rest of the band was formed from word of mouth - I go out a lot.
What’s the guitarist’s name?
Erik Meade ... he’s my husband. He auditioned for the band and that’s how I met him.
Does it ever get difficult being a husband and wife team?
Not really. Although, I swore that I would never do that.
I went out with a guy in my first band, and that was the reason that the
band broke up ... it was a nightmare! So, it really is against everything
I represented .. but it turned out to be really easy. He’s written two
songs for the band, but there isn’t any competition.
Back in 1993 you were in a signed band called Moth Macabre, what happened to that?
When I quit, the rest of the band just folded. I didn’t write any of the songs in that band. I was the bass player.
Why did you quit?
I was dumped a week after our record was released.
What?
Yeah! He dumped me for Kelly Deal of the Breeders. She’s a great girl, really nice. But, I was just out of there. It was weird, because I had been working for two and a half years on that project. I had been a painter before getting into music. Then, I met this guy in Minneapolis, and it was real fun and innocent, and amazing. We moved out here, got signed .. so when all of that went down, I was literally in shock. I had to move out in a week. I just sat there and thought I had put so much effort and time. I just couldn’t believe it. He expected me to stay in the band as the bass player, even though he hadjust dumped me as the girl friend. So, I did a tour! But, I didn’t share the mentality that to be a rock star you’ve gotta crush everybody. I have the view point that, you do what you do, you’re an artist in whatever way it happens.
So, did you grow up in Minneapolis?
No, I went to college there.
Where are you originally from?
Everywhere. I was born in Oklahoma, but I’ve lived in eighteen states. I was anAir Force brat. We moved around all the time. This is the longest that I’ve lived anywhere.
What keeps you here?
It feels like home. It’s weird because, it’s not the easiest place to live in. You have to rent. And you pray that your home doesn’t burn down, or that your landlord doesn’t move in.
Have you ever considered a solo career?
Not really. I like working with people. Even though I write all of the songs and sing, I like the idea of a band, rather that Michelle’s solo project.
There’s also a sense of security with a band.
Yea, I like that a lot.
A lot of your songs have a psychedelic sound reminiscent of early Jefferson Airplane...
I really loved Jefferson Airplane! I really like instruments interlaying with each other. And, to be able to just trance into the music.
Your song, Roadside, sounds lkie that Gordon Lightfoot song (Sings the riff).
Yeah, that’s so funny! We thought it sounded like Gordon Lightfoot’s Sundown, but we checked chord for chord and it doesn’t copy and of it, but it has that melody thing, and we thought that was kind of fun. There’s certain things that I model on, like with 29 Palms I said, “I want the end of this song to be like Lynard Skynards Freebird! The song, Consequence, that was my try at doing some Dusty Springfield.
Most song writers, in my opinion, have some sort of theme that threads through their album, whether it be angst, love, heart break .. do you have some sort of theme that you try and work out through songwriting?
There’s two things ... the landscape element. I’m trying to give an imprint of what it feels like to be somewhere, and at the same time I’m just trying to reflect a moment, a feeling.
So you’re not trying to be very political?
Well, 29 Palms is about how we have this California myth. For the past fifty, sixty years we’ve had the “cowboy myth,” - first of all they took over the native people, desecrated the land then we create a whole romantic imagery about it. But now, even the cowboy imagery is gone .. and we have sky-high real estate prices, and a huge amount of people on the streets homeless, and an enormous amount of drug abuse. We’re living on things that aren’t happening anymore. This world has changed. Sometimes I question myself. Why do I do this? There has to be a bigger purpose. I think that you have to bring light to it again, and try to inspire people.
So say, this isn’t going to happen, say at the end of the two years. Bloodroses hasn’t gotten signed would you still continue?
Yeah, because the songs just keep coming out. What usually happens to a band is that you lose members. Luckily I’m married to one of them.
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