BlöödHag
BlöödHag was a death metal band from Seattle, Washington in the Pacific Northwest. They played very short songs of which the lyrics consist of biographical and bibliographical information, observations and abstractions of Science Fiction, Fantasy and seminal Horror authors.
History
BlöödHag was formed in 1996 as a 2 piece, 4-track recording project with Dr. J.M. McNulty on guitar and Professor Jake Stratton singing but soon added Sir Zachary Orgel on bass and a Drum Machine (Philthy “the Drum Machine” Taylor). After playing local Seattle clubs for 2 years BlöödHag added a live drummer (Rodd Karp) who was subsequently replaced by Ambassador Brent Carpenter. The line up has been static since.
BlöödHag was accredited by the King County Library System as fitting the criteria for a literacy program. BlöödHag has embarked on several tours of libraries in the Pacific Northwest, as well as playing in traditional music venues. BlöödHag has since toured libraries all around the country including: Chicago, Boston, Queens NYC, Athens, Austin, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Oakland and New Orleans. The band played at the 2004 Nebula Awards in Seattle, Washington.
In 2006 the band was signed to the Alternative Tentacles label who released their full length CD and Record "Hell Bent For Letters".
Members of the band have subsequently had some of their short fiction published in the compendium Mecca:Mettle, a collaboration with Thomas M. Disch and Hugo-winning artist Tim Kirk. Mecca:Mettle is published by the publishing house of Payseur & Schmidt.
In 2009-2010, they stopped touring and slowed their schedule of live performances until finally announcing their final show would be Friday April 9, 2010. They played their final show at Seattle club The Funhouse alongside Captured! By Robots from San Francisco and Stovokor from Portland.
Media
The documentary “BlöödHag: The Faster You Go Deaf…The More Time You Have To Read” premiered at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2001. It won the Audience Award for best short at the San Francisco Independent Documentary Film Festival and was chosen by The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) as one of the top DVDs and Videos for Young Adults for 2003. The documentary has been shown on PBS stations in the United States and Canada.
BlöödHag has been featured in The Seattle Times (Northwest Life main story 9-20-2002), The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger[1] and The Rocket. They have been featured nationally on the Associated Press Newswire, The Library Journal, American Libraries Magazine, The Athens Flagpole, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Thrasher Magazine and Sound on Sound. A library show in Bellevue, Washington was the subject of a NPR ‘Weekend Edition’ report. Internationally, BlöödHag has been the subject of stories on BBC Radio 4, Canadian AP Newswire, and The Guardian (London).
Members
In keeping with the literary theme, the band has conferred upon themselves both academic titles and bibliographic histories:
- Dr. J.M. McNulty (aka Deus Ex Libris the Plagiarazor), guitar
- Professor J. B. Stratton (aka Grimoire the Expectorator), vocals
- Sir Zachery Orgel (aka Logos the Rythmaticist), bass
- Ambassador Brent Carpenter (aka Codex 23 the Chronomaster), drums
Former Members
- Lieutenant Governor Rodd Karp (aka Lexikhan the Chronomaster), drums
- Philthy Taylor, drums
Featured authors
Some of the authors to have been featured in songs include:
- Isaac Asimov
- Ray Bradbury
- Octavia E. Butler
- Edgar Rice Burroughs
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Samuel R. Delany
- Philip K. Dick
- Thomas M. Disch
- Harlan Ellison
- William Gibson
- Robert A. Heinlein
- Anne McCaffrey
- Michael Moorcock
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- J. R. R. Tolkien
- Jules Verne
- Roger Zelazny
- Robert E. Howard
- Thomas Pynchon
- Neal Stephenson
Recorded work
- The Dewey Decibel System 7" EP
- Gorgeous Ladies Of Writing 7" EP
- Hooked On Demonics "Book on Tape" EP
- Necrotic Bibliophilia CD/LP
- Appetite for Deconstruction thus far Unreleased Tapes
- Mecca|Mettle (Anthology featuring text/audio works by BlöödHag, Thomas Disch, and Tim Kirk)
- Hell Bent for Letters CD/LP Alternative Tentacles
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to BlöödHag. |
- BlöödHag official site
- Hobbits in the Mosh Pit (SFWA Bulletin, Winter 2002)
- Myspace profile