Not Blood Paint

Tuesday night I witnessed one of the most entertaining shows I’ve seen in a while. It was the annual Miliken Family Reunion, hosted by the Miliken family band, aka Not Blood Paint, at Rough Trade.

The night started with the electro-jam sounds of Starlight Girls. While their synth-heavy, harmonic songs filled the room, the Miliken family band walked through the crowd handing out Miliken family name tags to all those on hand.

Next up was Philly’s funky-as-hell Johnny Showcase & The Mystic Ticket. Decked out in fantastic 70’s era outfits, these guys and gals had the entire room dancing. Their songs were entertaining and amusing as well as funky, songs such as “Cocaine Sandwich” and “Hit it from the Back.” My favorite song was “Sorry Michael, Screwdriver,” a song about Johnny being bullied as a teenager, and an unfortunate mishap with a screwdriver that ensued. The whole time, never breaking character, the members of Not Blood Paint continued to entertain everyone between sets as the Miliken family.

Not Blood Paint took the stage all dressed in drag to chants from the rest of the Miliken family (everyone in attendance) of “Mil-i-ken, Mil-i-ken, Mil-i-ken.” These Brooklyn via Michigan boys surely have attracted quite a ‘family’. Their live shows definitely need to be experienced to be appreciated. According to their website, “our shows are about bringing together people in a space and breaking it down…where rules are created on the spot, unspoken. A temporary tiny society where anything is possible.” Check out our recent interview and video premier of “I Am An Angel” here. - Pancakes & Whiskey

Brooklyn’s own, Not Blood Paint, is ending their tour tomorrow night at Rough Trade (8-16) and for many reasons, we are truly geeked for this gig. While they’ve been meandering their way through the south, the art-rockers have issued a credo of sorts, and I think it is something we all can agree on when seeing any gig whether it be pop, rock or rap.

We live in an age of distraction; whether it is posting to Instagram while the show is still happening (guilty), or checking your favorite sports team’s progress because we can, leaves us not fully engaged with the performance in front of us. Whether you know it or not, those little actions affect the band, your fellow concert-goers and in the end, your own reality of what just happened. So with this simple list, Not Blood Paint urges you to follow the steps below so you can be fully engaged and at the end of the night, happy that you lived in the present.



Take the following steps at the upcoming shows to BE WITH US:

Step 1: Pick a show that you can attend. Commit to being there no matter what.
Step 2: Before getting to the show, choose a way in which you can alter yourself for the experience.
Step 3: When at the show, try to not anticipate what will happen next. Try to receive impulses through the other free human beings in the space with you, and act as fully as possible through these impulses. Avoid being analytical but pay attention.
Step 4: If there is music, allow your body to be conducted by it. Try to trust that sounds have the power to transmit meaning directly through the body.
Step 5: Be playful with yourself and others. Try to silence your inner narrator and focus on what is happening right now. The world outside and the world you are currently inhabiting are both real and correspond to each other.
Step 6: When the experience has ended and it is time to leave the temporary meeting space, pay close attention to what happens on your way to home base. Are there indicators that you are currently ‘in limbo’ between two worlds?
Step 7: Take time to reflect on your experience. Look around for reasons! Take a bird’s eye perspective and treat it as a puzzle to be solved: what patterns or principles can be discerned? What motivations? Where could things have gone differently? Can you assign qualitative differences between options?

It is our hope that the more we do this together, the more we store up the will power to create out of suffering as opposed to shutting down. BE WITH US. Let’s look each other in the eyes. – Not Blood Paint



We were intrigued about the steps above so asked the guys what it all means and more in this Q&A:

1. There’s a lot of storytelling woven into your new album, Believing is Believing. What kinds of real-life stories/art/experiences inspired the ones that came to life in the album?

Joe Stratton (guitar / vocals): I saw a homeless man on the subway holding his head and shaking saying,”I am an angel, I have a halo, white power, white power, tampons!” and then the rest of it I just assumed he meant

Seth Miller (drums/vocals): Neighbor was written after Hurricane Sandy, and that sort of was a processing of our experience with that. We experienced it indirectly, there were a lot of people close to us who experienced it very directly and we visited some places that experienced it even more directly than that and the song came out of that process.

Joe: Play Nice was based on a relationship I had with a man who used to tie me up. He would tie me up when he went to work and let me out when he got home.

George Frye (guitar / vocals): Clearly, Imbalance comes from the events we’ve been seeing transpire in the police and black communities in our nation and our frustration with that dynamic.



Reference the track by track. : https://spillmagazine.com/spill-feature-not-blood-paint-believing-believing/



2. A couple publications have described you as a “terrifying” band. Does this surprise you at all? Do you think it’s a good descriptor for you?

G: It doesn’t surprise us and yes it’s a good descriptor. Next question.

J: It hurts my feelings.

S: I feel like if someone were to call us terrifying that maybe it means we’re doing part of our job right. I think we’re trying to scare ourselves a lot of times, or throw ourselves off balance in some way. And we’re trying to get something out of that process, but perhaps it would be even a greater sign of success also saw the playfulness that came with that. It’s not mean spirited in any way. It’s a playful violence.



3. What was the biggest challenge in the studio when working on Believing is Believing?

G: Working with Jim Bertini

J: Working with Kahan James

Mark Jaynes (bass / vocals): The two people that weren’t us were the worst part about it.

S: I would reverse that entirely and say they were the saviors of the projects.

M: So you’re saying the other three members of Not Blood Paint were the worst part?

G: SETH was the worst part!

S: I would say the biggest obstacle was our own sense of perfectionism. We rehearsed everything to perfection to be exactly as we wanted it in every detail. If we would have been able to just hang out in a room and do that, we would just do that over and over again till we went mad and still wouldn’t have an album. So we had Jim and Kahan playing the important roles of poking fun at us when we took ourselves a little too seriously, I thought that was kind of nice. We set some rules, after 8 takes we had to do a hard cut, no more takes. Which we mostly failed to follow.

M: Sure, but it’s good to have a number. What’s the thing Kahan would always say?

J: “Hullabaloo!”

(laughter)

M: Yes, “hullabaloo!” He’s an extraordinary producer. No, it’s…a piece is finished when it can only be made different, not better.



4. Alternatively, what were the highlights? Are there certain parts of the album you guys are especially happy with?

G: The tambourines in the breakdown from Borderline.

S: The entire song the french song.

G: Kahan worked wonders on that one.

S: Yes, he was the spark for one of the most successful parts of that song, composition wise. Also, really happy we found a really great shape to it, even though the album wasn’t written with any sort of shape in mind.

G: And weirdly, it wasn’t a parallelogram, which is what we were expecting. But it turned out to be…fairly rhombus.

J: So rhombus.



5. How was life on tour? Which cities or venues were the best?

G: Snug Harbor in Charlotte

S: Savannah

M: We love the south

S: When it come to spaces and venues who are doing cool things that are exciting to us that have their own sort of ethos, RowdyDowdy in Atlanta was awesome, Be Here Now in Muncie, IN is awesome. Electroganic in Norfolk is awesome in that regard. oh and the pretty pit.

M: I’ll throw down for the storied PJ’s Lager House in Detroit, MI. Sounded great, people were lit. Live late night. Juju.

S: Snug Harbor in Charlotte had that kind of juju, we already said that. What else, Savannah.

G: Big time juju in Savannah. And Baltimore, greatest city in America, really whipped it out in the last leg.

J: So basically everywhere that isn’t chicago.

S: And there were some mystery ones, too–don’t know quite what’s up in Pittsburgh but we’re excited to go back, something’s going on there.

G: We can feel the spirit there.



6. We’re pretty intrigued by the instructions you guys provide for those attending your show. Can you explain a little bit about the experience you’re aiming to create?

S: we’re trying to offer people tools to turn a show into an active conversation, you can come and watch a show if you want but hopefully we’re giving you some touch points to enter in and make it a conversation. that’s a goal.

G: I think the points are pretty clear.

M: We already said it, we don’t need to say it again.

G: And we can’t say it any better than we said it before

M: Do we want to say the word Goldsmith?

(Mm’s, ah’s and nodding)

S: We’re going to manifest the Goldsmith, that’s a goal. But it’s only going to happen if we decentralize the sense of power. The band Not Blood Paint is not going to make the Goldsmith happen and you as an individual is not going to make the goldsmith happen, but if we work together, if we work harder together, the goldsmith might just show up.

M: How do you know when the goldsmith shows up?

G: When we can’t hear our own thoughts anymore.

S: Good indicators: we’ll see bodies moving around, including ours.

M: Mostly you just know.

J: We know when we can communicate with the crowd without words. There’s an understanding in the room



7. What has been the audience response so far? Have you seen a change in the way people act during your performances?

J: We do see a big change in people who have never seen us before from the beginning of a set until the end.

G: Yes

S: Yes

M: Yes

S: We make people fight through a kind of skepticism

J: It goes away quickly

S: We’ve seen some examples of people losing their sense of constructed identity and just giving over to the moment

M: One time, on a night the Goldsmith was shining particularly brightly, we had this show in Munice, IN, where, long story short, there was an explosion of fried chicken from the ceiling. And we decided to feverishly pick it up and start devouring it. And then we had people from the crowd coming up to us wanting to eat it, too. It was wild. Afterward, a woman came up to us and actually said, “I’m a vegan and I just ate chicken out of your fucking hands.”

J: For people coming to see us for maybe the second time, there’s usually some eager anticipation for some kind of surprise. Something unexpected.

G: I think that goes for the people who are coming to see us for the 17th time, as well.

M: that is an exciting thing to feel. We take joy in delivering the surprise, or trying to deliver the surprise.

S: We’re also looking to BE surprised.

G: And often ARE

S: We often have people show up to the show justlookking wild and we don’t know what’s going on with these creatures, they might have a specific outer appearance that might be alien to us and we don’t know who we’re dealing with, and that’s exciting. Don’t know if we’re dealing with a hostile presence or a benign force.



We are also thrilled to premiere Not Blood Paint’s new video for “I Am An Angel,” as it’s a heavy-rocking tune that hits all the right notes. The cinematography has the perfect amount of surreal vibes to make us feel dirty, but yet wanting more of the grungy goodness. - Pancakes & Whiskey

Our favorite Brooklyn art rockers, Not Blood Paint, were at it again over the weekend. The musical mischief makers, who have a penchant for costume and all types of theatrics, hosted a faux-formal, semi-spooky ball at Bushwick’s Lot45 this time. As always, a creative array of bands invited to join and test their mettle made the show much about the community that surrounds them.

Their very late performance tonight was teed off with an introduction from the wily Mike Fox, and a capsule toast with the band and their dates. The serene veneer blew up into smithereens once things got rolling with “Promiscuous,” off their last EP and a crazy music video that I always wind up watching. People were bouncing and headbanging all around me, as good rock music properly allows. A roaring demand from the audience brought them to deliver an unexpected encore as curfew approached.

Not Blood Paint also recently announced their next album is near ready for a 2016 release, and are currently soliciting ideas on how to properly crowdfund around it. If you’re invested or intrigued, it may be worth getting your say in.

A major lure for me tonight was Starlight Girls. I’ve been a fan of them since I stumbled upon their throwback-psychedelic pop in their self-titled EP a few years back and I’m psyched that they are resurfacing with a real record, Fantasm. Maybe you heard “Intrigue” from Beet Box Radio or saw the video for “Fancy” premiered yesterday? The sounds we hear are moving in more diverse directions, and the live show and visuals are strong. It’s a little weird though that tonight was billed for them as a record release show with the official availability still months out. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

M.H. and his Orchestra, who traveled from DC for tonight’s show, win accolades for biggest sound. They may get this by default with their numbers advantage of eight, which was allegedly a stripped down count. I had a lot of fun trying to capture all the individual members at their bests, with their glamorous frontman, M.H. showing how he manages to corral them all towards a successful musical venture. Check out 2012’s The Throes for a glimpse at their sound, though this is a band that must be seen to be believed.

Spirit Plate opened the show with less frills than the rest of the performers out tonight, but still put some cool vibes out to warm things up. Maybe they’re not entirely normal; the band does have an odd obsession with recipes, offering a couple home-cooked ideas up for everyone (Vegetable chowder? Looks legit.) If you dig tropicalia or have ever imagined what garage-indie-pop sounds like, give their self-titled record a perusal. - Neet Beet

Last Friday, when I received an impromptu invite to go see Not Blood Paint in the new Bed-Stuy venue C’mon Everybody I didn’t know what to expect. My friend told me, that Not Blood Paint would… “paint” their faces but not with blood. Aha! So I was kind of prepared for “weird stuff” yet was positively surprised by the high quality of music!

The venue was pleasantly packed, and there were a lot of true fans in attendance, knowing the songs and letting themselves feel the music. It’s been years -if not a decade or two- that I’ve seen that much head banging and hair flying. Cool!

Not Blood Paint certainly stand out with their theatrical approach to live music. They forgo any stale projected images, but create their own visuals, with paint in their faces, that slowly fades as the show progresses, dressed in costumes, kimonos that night, which they take off as it fits, stomping bare foot on stage. But always playing their instruments with great skills and often singing in beautiful 3 part harmony.

George Frye (vocals, guitar), Mark Jaynes (bass, vocals), Seth Miller (drums) and Joe Stratton (vocals, guitar) remind me of some of my favorite 70s bands transported into 2015, brushed up and modernized. I am pretty sure this wasn’t the last time I saw them live. - Glamglare

BUSHWICK — New York City music fans want drama.

Fatigued by earnest, listless or aloof performances, a new crop of glamorous groups are bringing the art of spectacle back to the city's clubs.

“We don’t want to have a show where you just walk in and it’s just four guys dressed like hipsters playing boring music and you’re just staring at your shoes, waiting for it to be over with,” said Alex Chappo, of the "psychedelic voodoo rock" band Chappo.

Elizabeth Valleau, lead singer of gothic-electronic outfit Wolvves, said many people now don't want bands that just stand there.

“We’re going out of a period of, I would say, a minimalist aesthetic in terms of musical trends," she said. "That could be a group of people who think that what we’re doing is artificial, stupid or over-the-top. I think there could be a newfound appetite for folks wanting to see a show, not just hear a great song live."

With the rapid, steady drop in revenues from recorded music, members of many bands say they need to put on a good show to help pay their way. A number of Brooklyn-based bands are looking to the past to build their audience, heightening the drama by using costumes, makeup, fog machines and video projections.

Borrowing from groups such as The Flaming Lips, Of Montreal and even Kiss, this new wave of bands is creating shows that create immersive experiences, piggybacking on the rising popularity of theater experiences like "Sleep No More."

The Bushwick prog-rock band Not Blood Paint is known for asking audience members what level of involvement they would like to have in the event — passive observer, active observer or participant. They then bring people into the performance, painting their faces or giving them roles in the narratives of their songs. Each member of the band has a background in theater.

“Bands are taking back that ‘straight from the artist to their community’ kind of approach and doing it really successfully, completely outside of concerns for the music industry,” said band member Seth Miller.

“People don’t pay for the music, and so we wrote a lot of our music thinking about the live space and live performance,” he said. “Being in a room with people and having that live moment is far more immediate and transformative than the hermetic environment of creating together.”

For show bookers, the theatrics a band brings to concerts usually bode well for sales, they said.

"From my perspective, if a band does have something a little extra like that, it’s always a positive thing because it seems like they’re at least thinking about what they’re doing as a whole act and not just a few guys getting together to play music," Steven King, the booker for The Rock Shop in Park Slope, said.

"It doesn’t always make it better, but it at least tells me that the band cares about what they’re doing and they’ve got some kind of vision," he continued.

Audience members crave interaction, said Valleau of Wolvves, which makes minimalist electronica with a gothic edge.

“I’ve been so impressed by how excitable people are,” she said. “Even in a small club with not many people around, if you start talking to them or yelling at them or throwing things at them, they get super amped up and involved…Live, people are just excited to be in a room with some big energy in it and might not care what kind of music we’re playing.”

Wolvves once asked audience members to throw sand and dust into a cauldron during a show and found people kept asking for more.

The "pop cock rock" band Mother Feather bring a glam edge to their gigs. Frontwoman Ann Courtney dons flamboyant custom-made frocks, Siouxsie Sioux-esque makeup and a killer sense of bravado when she hits the stage with the four-piece band.

“The makeup is just one way we commit to something that is bigger than our everyday selves,” she said. “There’s also an important ceremonial aspect to the application of the makeup and its destruction during the performance. Think of it like Tibetan sand mandala meets demolition derby.”

The bands Dolchnakov Brigade, Bad Credit/No Credit, Hank and Cupcakes and CX KiDTRONiX, from longtime Stones Throw artist CX KiDTRONiX, also get audiences involved.

Alan 'Big Al' Yaspan, the marketing and social media manager for Glasslands Gallery and PopGun Presents, theorized that technology plays a role in the rise of on-stage theatrics.

"A lot of what used to take virtuosic talent, endless practice or great physical effort to execute in real time can now be performed at the touch of a button. This leaves a lot of time and physical freedom to direct towards other creative outlets," he said. "If an artist is heavily using automated instrumentation but doesn't provide a visual, it can be awkward for the audience."

These flamboyant bands may also be coming at a time when dour singer-songwriter types have begun to tire a public that wants to let loose.

The members of Not Blood Paint add that their own theatrics may be a reaction to the serious scene that has dominated many local clubs.

"Maybe it’s in some way a reaction to coolness, to being aloof or reserved," band member Mark Jaynes said. "A lot of the things we do on stage or the way we look on stage are pretty grotesque. It’s in some way a confrontation to the audience but it could also give them agency to work through their own stuff and step out of themselves in that way."

New York City itself frees bands to create a dynamic image and performance, said Sagit Shir, who formed the band Hank and Cupcakes with her partner Ariel Scherbacovsky.

“Being here pushes you to your own creative place,” the Israeli immigrant said. “Not only is there a lot of creative visual inspiration and stimulation, but also something special about this city is that no one gives a s---, in a great way. You come here and you realize that you really can do anything and be anyone and dress any way you want and people will just accept it.”

Mother Feather, Not Blood Paint and Wolvves will be playing the Cameo Gallery in Williamsburg on Nov. 1. For more details, check here. - DNA info

If there’s any band that can make me want to do a striptease, participate in a sacrificial ritual, and join a gospel choir in the span of a single album, it’s Not Blood, Paint. This band terrifies me. I saw them live once and I thought I was getting initiated into some crazy cult (the band name was a comforting clarification, though, especially when I saw all four band members dripping in red liquid). The recorded version doesn’t do that cult-joining feeling justice, but it’s close enough. - Vice Magazine

That’s it. I’m just going to go ahead and do it: I call conspiracy.

I am absolutely convinced that there is some secret warehouse somewhere in Brooklyn in which local bands congregate. There they learn to play that one, chiming guitar progression (you know the one—I think The Pains of Being Pure at Heart first busted it out in “Higher Than the Stars”). Then, after practicing how to grow appropriately floppy hair, they congregate around a seashell, which, as in “The Little Mermaid,” contains one slightly whiney voice that they all use in turns. Then, finally, they sign a contract, likely in plasma, that ensures that they will never play in front of a crowd that would stoop to dancing during a show. Thankfully, it seems, Not Blood Paint was not in on said conspiracy.

Last night, my blog Stuff Hipsters Hate celebrated its one-year anniversary at The Woods in Williamsburg, and we asked Not Blood Paint to kick off the evening with a set. The crowd wasn’t that thick when 9 p.m.—the designated start time—rolled around. Folks were set on being appropriately Brooklyn-late, and there were tacos to be eaten out of the patio.

I didn’t even see the band take the stage, so it seemed as though they appeared, gargoyle-like, on the raised platform in the back of the bar—completely and utterly covered in gold paint, glistening branches bursting from their backs, their faces stony and set. “Does anyone have the time?” they mysteriously intoned. The sparse crowd laughed nervously before someone offered up “Nine oh eight.” “Thank you,” they said, and launched immediately into an operatic performance of one of their jams, “Tommy,” which may or may not be about a girl… a guy… a freakish roommate of yore.

Not Blood Paint sounds like Man Man mixed with Queen mixed with a whole bunch of paint-huffing theatre camp kids. You know how we were talking about that BK band conspiracy before? Well, here’s how they differ from that mess of mediocrity. First of all, they bust out with fucking multi-part harmonies. Who does that in Brooklyn? No one. Most dudes in the hood have not yet been visited by the Voice Change Fairy, or so it would seem.

Secondly, their songs are bizarre—yeah, there are love songs in there, but they’re hardly of the “Hey lady, let’s frolic in the surf and then discover what our changing bodies are for” variety —like, you probably wouldn’t include them on a mixtape for that chick you’re trying to sleep with (unless she’s awesome).

No, they’re more along the lines of “Watch Your Mouth,” in which band members Joe Stratton and George Frye argue, “The Boy is Mine”-style, over the same girl. How can you not be into a jam that begins with a dude stealing another dude’s girlfriend at the laundromat? (“How do you wash your pantyhose?” would so be my pickup line if I were a guy).

Finally, and most importantly, these guys put on a show. That’s right—they don’t stand woodenly on stage, decked out in appropriately tight jeans and appropriately plaid shirts (Did I mention all the BK bands share communal closet as well?). If you didn’t catch this before, the dudes were fucking covered in gold paint and togas for our show. And this isn’t a one-time deal, either. Every time Not Blood Paint plays, they come out with a different theme: blood-soaked garments, camouflage, leafy trees, etc. They actually visited the venue beforehand so as to get inspired for this performance, which was decidedly Dark Crystal-like in nature.

And you know I said the crowd was sparse when they first took the stage? Well, by the time they segued into “Army,” a cadence-heavy jam about not being cut out for the military, the room was packed. The denizens of the taco truck had wandered inside and lined up against the walls, and friends were shouting in my ear about how “Fucking awesome” the band was. Then, rather miraculously, a cadre of folks near the front of the stage started to, wonder of wonders, dance. Yeah, they’re totally not getting into that secret BK band club now.

Brenna Ehrlich is the News Editor of Mashable.
- Death + Taxes

By Chloe Bass

My evening with Not Blood Paint was honestly unlike any experience I’ve ever had before, or am likely to have in the future.

Not Blood Paint, called the band “most likely to start a cult” by FREE Williamsburg, is four adventurous men who are often found in skirts and glitter: George Frye, Mark Jaynes, Seth Miller, and Joe Stratton. Their music is a stunning combination of tight harmonies, complex rhythms, and a heavy dose of fun.

After a succession of emails, I made plans to meet the boys at Saint’s Alp Tearoom in Williamsburg, which fit their request for a place where they would be out of their comfort zone. Recalling their sweat-soaked extravaganza of a show at the Loom in June, I somehow couldn’t picture them sipping cups of bubble tea.

But at 10 PM, their desired witching hour, I was not greeted by the members of the band. I sat alone at a table for five and waited. At 10:07, a grimy gentleman came through the door, holding a manila envelope. A manila envelope with my name on it.

Inside was a letter, which began, “We apologize, but Not Blood Paint has left the space-time continuum and is unable to attend the interview as such.” It went on to inform me that due to an attempt at manipulating orgone energy, the members of Not Blood Paint had left the perceivable plane. In their stead, they would be sending representatives to meet with me.

Five minutes later, the representatives arrived: in white shirts, dark leggings, and dark overcoats, they were a solemn and impressive bunch. They sat down with me, we ordered five teas (three fruity black peach black teas, and two fruity passion fruit green tea), and the interview began. Naturally, they introduced themselves as George, Mark, Seth, and Joe, and assured me that they were equipped to answer my questions.

We had just completed a warm up lightning round (zebras or leopards? – they all chose leopards), when an alarm went off, and before I really realized what was going on, we were all running outside. I realized that I was no longer an interviewer, and but rather the audience for whatever scheme was about to unfold before my eyes.

On Bedford Avenue, in the rain, the representatives of Not Blood Paint took out a toolkit that included what looked like mini light sabers and a spray bottle, and attempted, somewhat successfully, to receive a message from the true members of Not Blood Paint. This mission was repeated several times throughout our conversation: the message took the form of a string of numbers that the representatives promised me was the return date of the band.

We discussed high school superlatives (the representative for Joe is most likely to be angry), their pending Halloween costumes (they’re planning to dress up as themselves), and the recipe for creating a Not Blood Paint show (any number of ingredients were offered as options, including baking soda, vinegar, glitter, and fire). We swapped bubble tea for beer when it became clear that the patrons of Saint’s Alp were less than thrilled with our entrances and exits. The grimy gentleman who had delivered the initial letter paid our bill.

Not Blood Paint defies lineage. They’ve had a MySpace music profile since June 2008 and a steady stream of shows since then. But they’re as much of a strategy as they are a band. The representative for Seth summed it up in a few words as “the New Suits” concept. The band members are constantly putting on new suits (literally and metaphorically) as an attempt to access different ways of looking at the world around them and interacting with their own music. To say that they never put on the same show twice is perhaps the understatement of the year. I’m not even sure I could recognize them out of makeup.



Our evening together resolved itself with an interpretation of the message: 10-21-10, N. 7 and Bedford, 00 o’clock – fear not, music lovers. The true members of Not Blood Paint are due to arrive just in time for their next show. I’ll certainly drink to that.

A few days later, I received an invitation to a hypnosis session at NBP headquarters. I wasn’t able to attend, but I look forward to seeing the results on Thursday night. With or without hypnosis, I’m mesmerized by this band.

Not Blood Paint @ CMJ
Spike Hill, 184 Bedford Avenue, Williamsburg
Thursday, October 21, 12 AM. Free!
Prepare for hypnosis, disguises, and sweat. - Brooklyn Based

Long before you arrive at a Not Blood, Paint show the rumours reach you. They are music, they are spectacle, they are hit ’n run theater, car crash club night, they are a disorientating re-imagining of what four men, five coats of make-up and accomplished musicality can do with a six by ten space.

Once Abe Lincoln showed up to assassinate an impostor Lincoln on stage, there was a duel, it was 1865. At Bizcon 2009, posing as businessmen sprinkling the secret to their success, the band were removed from the stage and cussed-out by an irate venue owner, suspicious that they weren’t really a band.

And it can be confusing, casual observers leave tonight not sure what just happened, some feeling like NBP have been inside their heads moving around the furniture, others wondering aloud: “have I just been punk’d?”

Tonight begins with sacramental wine, occult chanting and a swelling audience. Before long we are guided on laundromat flirtations, pantyhose washing one-liners, we get a how-to on histrionic four-part harmonies, witty interplay and languorous bass-lines and that’s just in “Watch Your Mouth”.

Beyond the immersive physical theater, beyond the site-specific improv and pageantry NBP sound as much post-punk as post-prog, as much pastiche as parody, they are a guided tour through a minefield of ambitious, dynamic melodies and assorted guilty pleasures. Not since the Horrors pillaged krautrock and post-punk has a band’s Vinyl collection been a subject of such insatiable scrutiny.

Tonight there is no need to preface your secret love of King Crimson’s “House of the Crimson King” with qualifiers, tonight you need not defend your “Mr Blue Sky” ringtone to indignant friends, tonight even Toto’s ‘Africa’ is welcome. Tonight is post-irony, let the chips fall where they may.

Following a directive from the band the NBP faithful, the so-called Not Fans, Painters or Paintbuckets, dance their asses off in glam, in glitter, in various metallics, in fur, in jewels, face-paint and masks. Rumor has it that a Bomb Squad producer is here tonight as a precursor to what one can only imagine would be a show-stopping future recording.

Somehow, behind the costuming, the breathtaking four part harmonies, beyond lead vocalists Joe Stratton and George Frye’s assured stage manner, the band manage to share the dynamic time-changes and dueling harmonies of the Dirty Projectors, the spastic inventiveness of neo-prog acts Yeasayer and Of Montreal, and the bombastic histrionics of MUSE or Queen all without falling into knowing clever-clever Pitchfork revisionism.


Prog, imbued with humor; a tour-de-force of revisionist 70’s psychedelic adventurism, Not Blood, Paint remind us that cocaine is one helluva drug.

Download Not Blood, Paint’s latest offering ‘Shooter’ here. - FREEwilliamsburg

Formed in 2008, Bushwick-based rockers Not Blood Paint roots go farther back than their New York base. The quartet actually went to the same school in Michigan. As for their current incarnation, the band has a knack for the theatrical, which is expressed in their sound. We're premiering their "Play Nice," which has the flair and confidence of a band that's been together for nearly a decade. Delicate, melodic and haunting, "Play Nice" has a deliberate pacing before ramping up the intensity.

"A dark, slow song about an abusive relationship. The submissive narrator, long silent, now realizes the consequences of a life spent in emotional servitude, and fantasizes about a reversal of power and release from mental captivity," the band says of the tune. "The repeating theme of the plaintive guitar hints at the character toying with the possibility of a violent escape."

Not Blood Paint's Believing is Believing, the band's fourth album is out on June 17. - PureVolume

...Ladd has already booked several neighborhood bands including Not Blood, Paint, whose intricate guitar playing and four-part vocal harmonies are matched by theatrics that include multiple costume changes and choreographed dance routines. They will be performing more than once.

“Every time I’ve seen them they’ve done something crazy and different the music is mind-blowing but they have great theatrics,” said Ladd. - New York Post

"OK -- Brooklyn band Not Blood, Paint are definitely different from the majority of bands that are playing around town.

I watched a couple videos from the band and still don't know what to think -- Zappa acolytes, art-rock weirdos, The Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo performance art fans?? (All of the above...???)" - brooklynrocks.blogspot.com

"...Not Blood, Paint have created a new breed of rock that is at times earthy, at others cerebral while remaining melodious and true to its roots. The band's sound evokes various musical influences, ranging from 60s progressive rock to current psych rock all the way to hip hop. Frye’s precise enunciation of every word he sings gives the band some sort of "proper" character, although their nonsensical lyrics subtly challenge this impression. Their best and more linear song is Poor Nicholas - a Morriconian ride that takes us to a romantic far (indie) West place. “Codes Swans Tigers” - on the contrary - is a track that succeeds in encapsulating rhythmically complex but somehow lyrical verses, angular choruses a la' early King Crimson, and 2 or 3 other structural elements (including a funky rhythm guitar part and an out of the blue hip hop-ish ending. I can just see these guys singing with fists clenched and twisting and twirling in anxious passion."
- www.thedelimagazine.com

Bushwick rock band Not Blood Paint’s newest single, “Neighbor,” is full of sensible time changes, spastic vocals and nasty guitars, which makes for an adventurous tune. While the rolling song is firmly rooted in the rock genre, it’s more of an operatic adventure with witty vocals and harmonies reminiscent of Queen or even System Of A Down. We’ve been privy enough to have been listening to the new LP called Believing Is Believing for a few weeks now, and are really excited for when you all get to hear the full thing, it’s quite an impressive array of work.

“Neighbor” is off their upcoming LP called Believing Is Believing which is due out on 6-17-16 and can be pre-ordered HERE



Follow Not Blood Paint on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram - Pancakes & Whiskey

Make no mistake, Brooklyn’s Not Blood Paint is not a metal band proper, and therefore some of you more warthoggish readers might question their inclusion on this site. But the band is now streaming their latest album, Believing Is Believing, and it has a lot of metal elements and atmosphere to it, and you know what, it’s fucking incredible.

What makes Not Blood Paint metal by proxy? Maybe it’s their moments of heaviness, which are reminiscent of Melvins, Shining, Thin Lizzy, and most definitely the works of Mike Patton, but will also probably appeal to fans of the World/Inferno Friendship Society or Muse. Maybe it’s their attitude, which has a lot of that tooth-licking indulgence one finds in classic satanism; “I Am An Angel” is an especially Luciferian track, perfect for spitting bourbon in God’s eye. Or maybe it’s something else, something that you can feel in the moment of listening but can’t really put your finger on. Does it matter? Not really. This is a cool record.


Stream Believing Is Believing below, and then blast it while driving stoned with the windows down in the hot sun. The record drops tomorrow, but you can pre-order it at their Bandcamp. You can catch the band on tour at the dates below the stream - MetalSucks

Brooklyn quartet Not Blood Paint traverse the entire spectrum of the rock genre (and parts of other genres as well) on their upcoming full-length, Believing Is Believing. As one of the most dynamic releases of the year, the record offers bluesy soul, headbang-inducing heaviness, soaring doom, groove, epic theatrics, and virtually every imaginable niche in between. Mirroring the exuberance and thematic variety of the band’s live show, Believing Is Believing has it all, and we have all 10 of its tracks for you to stream below. Lucky you!

Attempting to describe some of the ideas behind their newest release, Not Blood Paint explains:

“‘Believing Is Believing’ is not a concept record and these songs are not ‘message songs’—they’re process songs, time traveling feeling vehicles. This music was written to be fully experiential, much like our live shows. Each song is a new suit to try on when venturing out into the world, capable of shifting drastically in feel depending on listening context. All in all, we hope these songs provide both the instantly recognizable and the genuinely surprising.” - Substream Media

Nothing will be routine about the Not Blood Paint performance today.

The band is a cut above. Clever lyrics, sharp harmonies and rock that drives hard and surprises often with elements of prog-rock, Zappa, psychedelia, name-your-poison and pop. And – it’s a very big And – theater. These four art-rockers from Brooklyn get into character, or characters, for their songs. Maybe four or five a night, with different costumes and makeup. They check out each venue before deciding which characters they’ll use. They call it “environmental sussing.”

I talked to them by speaker phone about their shows and the drive for audience participation, or at least immersion, which they call “Manifesting the Goldsmith.” That term refers to the moments, they said, when distinctions between the audience members and the band dissolve in the flow.

“Manifesting the Goldsmith. We can feel that very distinctly,” drummer Seth Miller said.

“We want to create an environment where anything can happen,” he said.

Mark Jaynes: “Expect to have an experience … to be moved in some way.”

Joe Stratton: “To get your mind changed a little.”

Or, you can just kick back and take it all in. “This sort of tends to scare certain people … but we do not mess with any observer,” Miller said.

They try to keep the mood playful and joyous. “We’re not trying to get out our demons,” Jaynes said.

Things can wobble a bit, sometimes.

Once in Muncie, Ind., the whole crowd was really getting into it. It got very chaotic, and there was “a fried chicken explosion.” Chicken was everywhere. The band was eating it. One woman said she was a vegan and she had eaten chicken for the first time, and the band launched a Whitney Houston-style rendition of “I Will Always Love You.”

At another show, a guy got up on stage and started singing with Stratton. Things got out of hand and someone tackled him and pulled him away.

“We must be present,” Miller said, and there for each other.

The tight harmonies are a reflection of that. In a chaotic environment, “It’s a way to tune into each other, literally.”

Aside from the band’s distinctive style, the venue is out of the ordinary, too. Electroganic, the Norfolk recording studio and band space, is hosting Not Blood Paint. It’ll be a sort of concert/live recording session that will give a little-known but high-quality band a chance to play in Norfolk with the emphasis on the music rather than selling tickets and booze.

Put Not Blood Paint on your get-to-know list. - Virginian Pilot

“We’re usually jarred out of our comfortable sense of normalcy anytime we stop at rest areas and gas stations along the way. We still feel like average mid-westerners on the inside…”

…But I believe they are aliens that have tuned into some performance frequency rarely witnessed by our generation. Who is to tell me my beliefs are wrong, especially when I have seen it with my own eyes? The first time I saw Not Blood Paint perform they literally peeled their own faces off right there in the basement at Webster Hall.

“We then become acutely aware that our caked ear makeup, silver toenails, and banter with one another is highly irregular.” Well, yeah dude, not to mention they play highly irregular music. Yes, there are prog-rock guitar riffs a la King Crimson, and yes the vocal harmonies are reminiscent of Queen, and the drums at times harken back to Q And Not U…but more, there is a fully-constructed theatre in the music. There is a unique world for their music to live in, with its own fundamental gravity and man when you see it live… you fucking believe it.

Not Blood Paint is a rock band from New York City, but I picture them more like a traveling troupe of actors. They’ve been performing together for almost a decade but it could also be centuries. Who knows?

From what I gather, each album is a thematic platform, each song is an opportunity to develop a character or characters, and each live appearance is it’s own play or production. Music is the tool they use to design and build their sets, to present the scene if you will. The actors wield guitars, bass and drums like prop-swords and shields and their lyrics give them dialogue to tell their incredible stories.

For example, one of my favorite Not Blood Paint songs is about a schizophrenic airplane passenger having a meaningful debate with the birds on the tarmac over whether or not to blow up the plane. Yet another classic is the guy who is willing to submit to being made into a rug for his beloved and her family to walk on – a beautiful love song. The characters from their songs are never average. Instead they are highly irregular, sexualized, outspoken, tormented, and sarcastic commentators on all things absurd, or better yet absurdly normal. Add to this elaborate costumes that are rarely worn twice and you have a huge undertaking that would make most touring bands squeamish. Like I said before, aliens. “I have caused grown men to physically jump out of shock upon my entrance to a men’s rest stop bathroom. Many times. It’s quite fascinating.”

Not Blood Paint is currently touring in support of their latest release entitled Believing is Believing. Wait a second. Did they really do that? Did they create an entire world with which to suspend our disbelief and then call the album that? Does one hand really wash the other? Because, follow me for a minute, belief is not only the trust that something is true or that it exists, making real and palpable our emotional connection to the characters and stories in their songs, but belief is also a tenet or set of tenets held by a group, not unlike a crowd of people at a concert or an entire fanbase or (Alice down the rabbit hole) a group of musicians. The band itself! The play within the play! They believe in each other. Not in a cheesy way, that’s the only way a band stays together for 8 plus years. They believe in the art because why else would they load up and drive thousands of miles to sleep in strange places for little to no money. Their fans believe in them because they show up in real-life real-time to fully display this world they’ve created. Every piece reflects the convictions of every other piece and believing is believing. I personally believe they’re aliens because I’ve seen it with my own eyes. - Hissing Lawns

Once named the Brooklyn band "most likely to inspire a cult," Not Blood Paint brings its flamboyant concert experience to Maxwell's on Saturday, June 25. Buckle your seat belts, fans, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Not Blood Paint has steadily built a following in Brooklyn and environs with a live show that includes makeup, costumes, and all manner of strangeness, along with complex songs that mix the prog-rock extravagances of Queen, the psychedelic Music Hall mishmash of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the theatrical excesses of Alice Cooper. The band hopes that the release this month of its fifth album, Believing Is Believing, will help the establish Not Blood Paint as a national act, not just a local curiosity.

George Frye, Mark Jaynes, Seth Miller, and Joe Stratton started by putting on avant-garde theatrical projects, which gradually morphed into a band in 2010. But the group remains committed to making each Not Blood Paint performance a unique experience, changing costumes, makeup, and effects for every show. Currently on an East Coast tour that will bring them to Hoboken on June 25, the band checked in between gigs en route to Charlotte, North Carolina.

"One of our strongest drives in making this record is that we really wanted to go into a studio and do it right," said drummer Seth Miller. "We've been doing home recording up to this point and while we've gotten really good at it, we were really excited about the notion of going into a studio for the first time and working with a producer. And it was cool because the producer was in the room with us for a lot of the songwriting as well, so we got a head start on trying to shape the songs."

With a band as theatrical as Not Blood Paint, though, the question becomes, what comes first? The concept or the music?

"We always figure out the costumes first, and then we write all songs in costume and record in costume," deadpanned Joe Stratton. "Seriously," countered Mark Jaynes, "one of the driving factors for us to want this record to really make an impact is because we've heard for years that the live show is such a thrill, it's visual, it's drama, but the recordings just didn't end up doing the live show justice. So with this album, we really wanted to lean into moments and narratives and character drama with the songs that would truly create a moment where these particular characters would come to life.

"In the past, the way we'd approach a show is to look at the characters in a song and ask, what do they look like? How do they move? How do they dress?, and then transpose that to the stage," Jaynes continued. "With this album, we wanted all those ideas to be in the songs themselves so the album could speak for itself."

"It's all about belief," added George Frye. "People have to believe the songs and the characters for them to work."

"This album took about two years, maybe more, for each song to be written," noted Miller. "There was never a single organizing theme, this isn't a concept album in the classic sense. It was definitely more production and process based, in terms of what holds these songs together. But once it was finished, we do think it's a very cohesive album."

"We're grateful for the audience we do have, but we're our pushing this record harder than we ever had in the past," said Jaynes. "The desire is definitely there to reach more people with his record. But we do realize that our best touchpoint to reach people is still the live show. Getting people in the door has always been the most important thing to growing this band. So we're not going to change what we're doing, we're still dedicated to making every show we do an experience. Now it's just a matter of bringing that experience to the people."

IF YOU GO:
Not Blood Paint will be at Maxwell's Tavern (1039 Washington St., Hoboken) on Saturday, June 25, with Boy Named John and Wight Lyre. Doors open at 8 p.m. and admission is $10. - nj.com

Not Blood Paint show off a slew of new, great ideas in their latest release. Shocking jump cuts, a ridiculous number of distinct riffs and the most dynamic pulse I’ve yet encountered make every song on Believing is Believing an adventure. This record is full of things I’ve never heard before, pulled off in a style that’s as competent as it is creative, and it certainly has me believing!

Not Blood Paint produce a fierce sound with strong guitar lines and heavy bass riffs. In between badass eruptions of groove, the band keeps thing sly with crisp cutoffs and phenomenal builds. Vocals drive the sonic exploration and turn rapturous as backup vocalists thicken and accent just the right chords at just the right times. Each song is full of surprises: riffs I never expected, interjected where I never expected them, each so apropos yet so distinct that I’m often amazed that I’m listening to the same song from one section to the next.

Every song on this album maintains a shockingly dynamic pulse. Sections transition unexpectedly, often changing tempo and orchestration. It’s music that I’m forced to bang my head to because of how deep the energy is, yet it’s music that is inherently difficult to bang one’s head to—the groove keeps changing so dramatically and so often that I end up looking like I’m having a hard time trying to sneeze as I shake my head back and forth. Many riffs appear only once before being lost in the sea of catchy guitar licks, which leaves me with the impression that the band simply doesn’t like repeating itself!

Not Blood Paint’s music demands attention and usually keeps things flavorful enough to hold that attention. I felt a little lost when the mix got too bare, like in “The French Song,” but every song features a massive build into something that is invariably groovy. The band is great at going from sneaky, palm-muted riffs to full-throttle explosions of chaos in the blink of an eye. Rhythmic kicks and jump cuts meld each song into a journey that consistently takes me further than I’m expecting. Some songs begin slow and somber, while others get right up into your face—every song, though, climaxes into something epic, unexpected and extraordinary.

Not Blood Paint write songs that don’t fit any of the conventional song structures. As a result, they aren’t stuck replaying a verse or coming back to a familiar chorus. Instead, each transition brings new riffs—new flares in a colorful flow of groove. Every verse is catchy, every chorus is better than the last and there’s always something new happening. The band keeps it flush tight between choppy transitions, keeping the pulse alive and pumping no matter how extreme the shift is between sections.

From mathy fills to head pounding builds, Not Blood Paint make it all sound smooth and natural. Believing is Believing is a feat of style—a style I’d never even imagined possible. These catchy songs got stuck in my head quickly, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to the album since. If you’re looking for a new take on the rock album, this is where to find it—full of chaos, full of groove, full of flavor. - Slug Magazine

When sitting down to write this review, I had to double-check that Not Blood Paint’s newest EP, Calm Down, was indeed an EP and not a full-length album. It had nothing to do with the length (the 26-minute runtime speaks for itself), but more with the oomph; the record comes loaded with the same amount of proggy weirdness and dramatic weight as La Normalidad, the 2012 debut from the Brooklyn art-rockers. The trick is that they accomplish this with less songs and more stripped down arrangements. As freakish and addictive as it was, La Normalidad was also a bit on the long side.

Admittedly, I’m either not intelligent or aggressive enough to connect with Not Blood Paint’s ideology and politics, which, judging from the songs themselves and a fascinating Tumblr account, veer on the conspiratorial side (although I could be wrong). I’m more drawn to the reptilian aspects of their music — the paranoid squelch of “Don’t Wanna Talk About It” and the tribal climax of “People of the Rock”, a fire-walking call and response between George Frye’s manic operatics and the rest of the band’s sunbaked harmonies. It’s a prehistoric desert song, and despite Not Blood Paint’s almost indescribable live show, I’m thinking “rock” refers to a habitat and not a concert.


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But Calm Down‘s strongest moment is the eye of its post-whatever storm. Two-and-a-half-minutes long and consisting solely of slow, ’50s dance guitar and gorgeous four-part harmonies, “Family First” stands out just by being short and simple — only it’s not. Lurking beneath the gentle plucking and singing is a profession of masochistic devotion: “Your family could treat me like a rug / I wouldn’t scream / I would be seen but never thought of.” More specifically, “I’d lie on my face while they dug heels into my spine / I wouldn’t fight, I wouldn’t gripe / I’d take it in stride.” When placed alongside the oedipal squirminess of opener “Help Me, Mother” and the horror-movie cuckolding of La Normalidad‘s “Watch Your Mouth”, “Family First” is Not Blood Paint’s latest exploration of abuse, of being both the abused and the abuser.

Everyone’s been one of those things at some point in their lives, and with the band’s tightened grip on accessibility, hopefully more and more people will listen, regardless of who they voted for or who they’re hiding from. - Consequence of Sound

Most concerts start with a song. A Not Blood Paint show starts with a sacrifice. Before a set at New York’s Living Theatre this past fall, the band’s four members lined up in front of the audience, clad in matching disheveled suits with Ash Wednesday crosses smeared on their foreheads. They smiled at the crowd as one of them held up a stuffed animal and slowly disemboweled it with a hunting knife. Dark, red wine poured from the creature’s insides, streaming into a bowl that was ritualistically sipped by the musicians, who each convulsed and giggled before taking the stage.

Bizarre theatrics such as this have garnered Not Blood Paint a small cult following, but the spectacle would mean nothing if it wasn’t backed by a sharpened pop sensibility. This principle of hell meets hook is the thesis of the band’s debut album La Normalidad, a record that owes just as much to the FM classicism of The Beach Boys and the Stones as it does to the psychedelic vaudeville of Of Montreal. Sunny four-part harmonies interlock with constant signature shifts, proggy guitar solos, and tribal wails. And that’s just in the second track. While this could easily make for a sonic mess, every song ropes in the listener with an homage to a familiar genre or oft-covered musician before subverting expectations with an abrupt change in gears. Ominous guitar twang propels the Western showdown of “Shooter” until the bullets morph into tiny disco balls for the dance-worthy finale. “Army” recalls Graceland-era Paul Simon with its bubbling bass line and choral exclamations, then descends into an off-color soundscape of panting and military orders, causing one to wonder if the song’s patriotic protagonist (or any of us, really) is truly cut out for the armed forces.


But Not Blood Paint is most fascinating when exploring the realm of strange lust, a topic that creeps its way into several of La Normalidad‘s songs. “Watch Your Mouth” starts off simply enough, with lead vocalists George Frye and Joe Stratton trading barbs about a girl. As things progress, we discover the former’s made a cuckold of the latter, having flirted with Stratton’s lady at the laundromat and, in a bizarre turn, gotten high with her as she poured wine into his ear through a tube. “Now I know you’re lying, because she’s allergic to wine and she don’t use tubes!” protests Stratton. The song works both as a piece of macabre comedy and pop bliss thanks to the dueling vocalists, fractured keyboards, and a chorus that taunts lyrics from “Beast of Burden” while still celebrating its ubiquity. Whereas most bands falter when it comes to this sort of copious genre-bending and experimentation, Not Blood Paint thrives. The art never overwhelms the pop and the pop never overwhelms the art. - Consequence of Sound