- (Photo Source: Icky Blossoms on Facebook)
By: Cynthia Todd
Icky Blossoms is bringing its dynamic sound home.
The Omaha-based trio has actively been involved in the local music scene since 2011 and has two albums under its belt. Members Sarah Bohling, Nik Fackler and Derek Pressnall will hit the Slowdown Friday to play new songs off “Mask” and give audience members a whole new experience.
MavRadio sat down with the Icky Blossoms’ front woman to talk about the band’s creation process and what attendees can expect from the upcoming gig.
MavRadio: You guys recently released “Mask.” How has the reaction been to it?
Sarah Bohling: I think it’s been really solid. I haven’t heard any negative responses to it. People just say that it sounds a lot different than the first one in the way that it sounds more vibrant, more “live sounding.” The first one was very dark and spacey, where this one kind of comes alive.
MR: Would you say going into making this one, you wanted it to be different or did it just happen?
SB: We wanted it to be different. It’s good to change it up. We wanted to make a record with more live instruments. Our focus with the second record was to put one foot in the electronic world and one in the more punk/ rock and roll world.
MR: I noticed the previous album came out in 2012. Has this one taken longer or did you guys plan to wait a few years?
SB: It was the slow, sneaky passage of time, you know? One year happened and we were like “holy crap you guys it’s been a year and we haven’t made any songs.” We did individually, but we never shared anything so we started blocking off these weekends where we would go to this cabin and hang out together for like three days in a row with no Internet so we would just write songs together. We did about four weekend trips and the record was written over the course of six months.
MR: Speaking of writing, how does the songwriting process work for you as a band?
SB: I think this record was a little different than the last one. We all kind of went off in our own separate rooms and came up with a hook or lyric, and then we would build upon that. Once we got to a point where we thought it was presentable we would pass it along to another person. Like I would give a song to Derek and he would toss stuff out or add stuff in and then pass it to Nik until we worked on it together. It was hyper collaborative, which is hard because we have different taste in music but we learned how to give really good constructive criticism so no one felt offended.
MR: Do you think having different musical taste helped you come together to create songs as one collective group?
SB: Oh yeah! For example, in the opening track of the album, “In Folds,” the beginning synth line was all crazy and dark sounding. Nik gave it to me and said, “do something with this,” but I could not think of anything. I just started putting keys on it, bells on top and the song just happened in a day. I didn’t give up on it and “boom there it was.” It never would have happened if Nik didn’t pass it along.
MR: Speaking of “In Folds,” the music video is very unique. How did that come about and what inspired you guys to make it?
SB: We were on tour and we had a long van ride. We were talking about some cult and someone mentioned doing a music video about a cult, but no one knew what to do. We wanted to be in the video so we were like “alright what if it’s a cult of burly men who are obsessed with our band and want to dress like Sarah?” We made this whole concept like two years ago and we just made it happen.
MR: How’s the reaction been?
SB: People have told me they get pretty freaked out or they can’t watch the one part where I get my arm cut off.
MR: Aside from arms getting chopped off, what can people expect from this upcoming show?
SB: A wicked show. We’re going to play our whole new record and a couple songs from the first record we don’t normally play. We have three rad opening bands: Thick paint, Erin in Outerspace and BOTH. They will all do an amazing job setting up the tone. There will also be light projections and special surprises.
MR: What will make this performance different from the ones you’ve done in the past?
SB: We are redesigning everything. Like we’ve had the same light show ever since we started, so we have new lights. We have new projections. We’re just taking a bigger step forward than we normally would. We are doing something bigger and better.
MR: Have you played new songs off “Mask” yet?
SB: We’ve played, the most at a single show, about four songs just because we haven’t practiced until this month. They’re brand new to us too.
MR: What do you hope people get out of this show or hearing your music for the first time?
SB: Well I hope they dance! My favorite shows have always been when you get lost in it and don’t really care about getting another beer, where your friends are or what time it is. I think it would be really rad if people go “this is exactly what I needed right now” and relish it. That’s what I would hope for an experience.
MR: What would you tell someone who is debating on going to the concert?
SB: We’ve been working so hard to make everything right. We are making sure that on day of show we don’t let anyone down.
Icky Blossoms
When: Friday, July 3
Where: The Slowdown
How Much: $10
