Interview: The Bloodshots

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What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

When I was a kid I would endlessly watch Music videos. I came up in the early 90s with bands like Nirvana and the grunge scene, Green Day and theOffspring so those bands kind of molded me as a musician.

I also work as an educational assistant when not doing touring or writing/performing so I guess I'd probably just be miserable working haha.

What do you like to do when your not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I keep myself insanely busy, I work as organizer for 2 music festivals in Canada, I'm a father of one and I enjoy most sports.

How long has your band been around?

The Bloodshots came to fruition as a thought is 2013. We got the ball rolling in 2014 and in 2015 we recorded our debut ep in Toronto Canada with legendary punk rock producer Steve Rizun (The Flatliners, NOFX)

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

Home base is a small town called Selkirk, Manitoba smacked right in the centre of Canada. Cold COLD winters where there isn't much else to do but write and jam music with the boys!

Our single "No Way Out" pays some homage to this.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you.

"The bloodshots" actually started out as a song simply titled "Bloodshot!" and it was born from a guitar riff I had swimming in my head for a while. (Which became "No Way Out" when we released it under Golden Robot Records).

Tell me about the best and worst shows you have played.

Oh much like many artists I'm sure, we've had our share of brutal experiences. Driving all day while Touring and getting to the city and the venue is a shitshow with no sound guy haha. But the good shows drastically outweigh the bad ones! We've had great shows/tours with Danko Jones, Finger Eleven, Buckcherry, Steel Panther was fun, getting to open for and meet SLASH was definitely at milestone for us growing up idolized GNR.

Tell me about your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you haven't already?

Recently between COVID-19 waves we were able to get on stage at The Burton Cummings

Theatre in Winnipeg Manitoba with Buckcherry and Bif Naked and playing that storied stage was a real treat. Just knowing all of the legendary acts that have rolled thru that old style theatre was chilling in a good way!

Our main goal as of right now is to get an opening slot on a big tour so we can discover more venues/arenas.

If you could play any show with any lineup who would be on the ticket?

Ooooo that's a tough one. I'm a big fan of top many bands to name!

Foo fighters would be cool. GNR, I think a traveling festival could be great too.

What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band?

Don't stop. It's going to get hard or seem like it's dead in the water but just keep that foot on the gas.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

If you ever travel back in time, DO NOT touch anything. For even the slightest change can affect your future in ways you can't even imagine.

Just kidding. I don't know. Eat more vegetables?

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

We have a song titled "Every time I Die" which will be recorded in the near future for release and everytime we play it, it's like a therapy session going on in my head haha.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

I would have to say "No Way Out" because it's just such a banger to play live!

As for requested songs, "Gettin' Around" is a huge crowd favorite. You can find it on YouTube.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

It's all life experiences. Sometimes current events that I can't shake. But we all bring ideas to the table when writing and it just forms into Bloodshots I'm the end!

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

You're never alone. What you're going through is temporary and you're not the only one having dealt with whatever it is. Listen to our music, interpret it in whatever way you need. We've had people say that our music has gotten them though some really tough times and as a band I don't think there's a higher compliment than that.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

Oh all the time! Haha. I think being in a band is harder than being in a relationship! But we're at a stage now where we know what's best for the band, best for the song and we all know how to take constructive criticism with eachother.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that's coming up?

We have studio time on the horizon that we are working on. 3 maybe 4 new songs.

We'd live to be able to release a full length album since COVID-19 kind of limited what we could do as a band for the last 19 months or so.

And a BIG show at The Park Theatre on Friday November 26th in Winnpeg that is something like 29 tickets away from a complete sell out so that's really exciting!

Everyone can follow the Bloodshots goings on by following out Instagram and FB pages @thebloodshots204 as well as a slew of videos on YouTube!