Blinded play a style of metal-core that has almost been forgotten amidst a see of over-produced, triggered, auto-tuned, radio friendly metal. After just a handful of shows under their belt and the demo still fresh, we caught up with guitarist Peter Gasiamis for a bit of goss about the band's inception, progress to date and plans for the future.
Interview by Allan Reid. All photos by Nicole Goodwin
At what point did Blinded form and how did the band come together?
Blinded began from an idea that I had about two years ago, while I was still in my old band (Right Mind). My intention was to write heavier music because it was what I was always interested in more, and I wanted to push myself as a guitarist. James (vocals) and I got talking and decided to do it together. After a lot of procrastination we put together a lineup, wrote some songs and started jamming. We got offered a few shows and now we are here!
Would readers recognise the members from any other bands?
Like I previously mentioned, I used to play guitar in Right Mind, who broke up at the end of 2014. James plays in Rebirth and Broken as well. Christian (bass) played one show with a band called Life Of My Own, other than that, this is Otis’ (guitar) and Dan’s (drums) first band.
Blinded seem heavily influenced by late 90's and early 2000's metal core - what bands would you cite as major influences on the band and what was the goal in regards to style when starting the band?
That’s pretty true. Personally, my intention was to write music along the lines of early IKTPQ, 7 Angels 7 Plagues and Martyr A.D. I like to think I got at least in the ball park haha. I didn’t want to exactly replicate that sound, but I wanted to merge influences from those bands to make something of our own, in a sense. Already though, we’re headed in a different direction.
Melbourne currently has a fairly rich and diverse hardcore scene; where do you see Blinded slotting into the current Melbourne hardcore community?
Melbourne is so lucky and spoilt in a sense, we have quality bands and good people doing them. I do think however that there is a lot of complacency when it comes to the scene here. People get either uninterested (which is fine) or they just don’t bother actually supporting the scene and coming to shows and what not when they’ve spent all day writing on the internet about how much they love a new band blah blah blah. I do think we’re on a slow rise again, new bands are popping up regularly and I’m stoked to say so many of these people are doing it for the right reasons and everyone is becoming tighter as a scene again.
Blinded have burst onto the scene with a flurry of shows, the Mourn Her cassette on Second Guess Records as well as contributing a track to the Life At The Bottom comp tape on Don't Need You Records. Was the plan to hit the ground running or just a stroke of luck?
The plan for Mourn Her was a new band coming out on a new label. That was all intentional and I’m stoked to have had some of my best friends support us from day one and put the time and work into putting out the tape for us. As for the Life At The Bottom comp, Nicole has been our friend for a long time and asked if we’d like to be a part of it, so naturally we said yes. I think this band has been very lucky to have received such a positive reception, whether it be from our friends here or from someone overseas. I’m pretty humbled by it, purely because I didn’t expect anyone to give a shit about us.
What would be a dream line up for a Blinded show from bands past or present?
That’s a pretty intense question haha. I couldn’t speak for the others, but I would have loved to play with any H8000 band, or basically any mosh metal band from the 90’s. Or any early 00’s metalcore band from the U.S. From here I’d say Day of Contempt, easily.
As a band, do Blinded promote any particular ideals?
Not explicitly, no. Four of the five of us are straight edge, and four of the five of us are either vegetarian or vegan. We don’t push any of these ideals lyrically. James’ lyrics are quite personal so I guess you’d just have to read them and interpret them yourself. He pushes his imagery through his own words. Love is a major theme.
What can we expect from Blinded in the foreseeable future?
We’re currently writing a 7” that will end up coming out on Washed Up records sometime in early 2016. We have the comp song coming out when the Life At The Bottom tape drops, but other than that, nothing is set in stone.
Lastly, where can people find out more about Blinded?
You can find us on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/blindedmelbourne/
Keep an eye out for some cool stuff happening soon. Thanks for the interview!
