Artist/Band Information

The Blood Brothers were an American post-hardcore band formed in the Eastside suburbs of Seattle, Washington in 1997. The quintet released five albums during their 10 year existence and spawned numerous side-projects along the way. All of the band members have gone on to professional careers with other bands. They officially broke up in November 2007.

Origins

Vocalists Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney and drummer Mark Gajadhar formed the band from a previous musical endeavor they were involved with when they were 15-years-old. Joining with bassist Morgan Henderson and guitarist Devin Welch the following year, the Blood Brothers were born in August 1997. The band recorded their first 7" record for $200 in a basement the following year. After replacing Welch with guitarist Cody Votolato (who is a year younger than the rest of the band), the current lineup was complete. The band left on their first tour immediately after Votolato graduated from high school. BettaWreckonize.com. Circa 2003.

Hiatus and breakup

Music website Punknews.org reported that the band was going on hiatus, though they had initially reported the situation as a breakup. Punknews.org. October 24, 2007. The news story linked to a forum post by Three One G owner Justin Pearson, who was replying to a post about the breakup of Some Girls. He only stated "the blood bros broke up."

The band officially broke up in June 2007, but kept the information from the public until November 2007. Punknews.org. October 27, 2008. Rumors of the disbandment can be traced as far back as July. The Stranger blog. July 27, 2007.

The Blood Brothers were expected to make an announcement about their future in early 2008, but instead officially announced the breakup on November 8, 2007:

In a December 2008 interview with Seattle newspaper The Stranger, Blilie gave the following reason for the band's breakup:

It was announced on October 19, 2009 that Epitaph Records would be re-issuing the band's last four full length albums with added b-sides, live tracks and remixes.http

Style

The band has been described as post-hardcore, indie rock, post-punk, hardcore, mathcore, and art punk.

The band is particularly notable for having the unique dueling vocals of Johnny Whitney and Jordan Billie. They make wide use of post-hardcore vocal styles (such as rapid shifts from singing to high-pitched screaming) and instrumentation (such as abrupt changes in meter and nonstandard chords). The style of guitar playing showcased by Votolato has greatly changed over time, most notably between the heavy, discordant sound of ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn and the minimalist lead lines of Crimes, where the energy of the drums and vocals tends to make up for the lack of thick distortion . Whitney's voice is generally accepted to have evolved from the slurred, venomous drawl on This Adultery Is Ripe to the high-pitched squeals ("like a child being tortured ") heard on Crimes, while Billie's voice has grown more distinctive while maintaining the same low, robust ferocity. The band has cited Botch, Drive Like Jehu, Gang of Four, Antioch Arrow, Angel Hair, Highway 61, True North, and Bootsy Collins among others as influences.

The Blood Brothers' last album, Young Machetes, was released on October 10, 2006, with Fugazi member Guy Picciotto co-producing it.

Other projects

Several members of the band have been or are currently involved in other projects, including (but not exclusive to) the following:

* Johnny Whitney and Mark Gajadhar released an album "Chandeliers in the Savannah" in 2005 under the name Neon Blonde after the release of "Crimes", 2004. An EP was also released earlier in 2005.

* Along with members of The Locust and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jordan Blilie and Cody Votolato formed Head Wound City shortly after the release of Crimes and released a self-titled EP.

* In 2007, Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato joined with Jay Clark (formerly of Pretty Girls Make Graves) to start Jaguar Love. The band's first release will be a limited edition self-titled EP, which will be released June 3 and only be available for sale through Matador Records website. The band will be touring Europe throughout June and July. On December 29, 2007 they announced they were to begin recording their first full length record. The record, "Take Me To The Sea", was released August 19, 2008.

* Johnny Whitney, along with his wife Amy Carlsen, started a clothing company called . To date, they have produced shirts for Panic! at the Disco, Thursday, and Rocky Votolato. They have also done the majority of merch designs for The Blood Brothers in the past several years.

* Jordan Blilie, Mark Gajadhar and Morgan Henderson formed the band Past Lives in late 2007, with original Blood Brothers guitarist Devin Welch. Their debut EP, Strange Symmetry, was made available for digital download in August 2008. They have also recorded a 5-song suite for Issue 7 of The Journal Of Popular Noise, due June 2008.

*Morgan Henderson has a solo electronic project by the name of O, Hunter. He has done remixes of some songs for some bands, such as Minus The Bear.

* Mark Gajadhar performs as DJ Gajamagic. Under this name he has formed the group Champagne Champagne with rapper Pearl Dragon and Thomas Gray. DJ Gajamagic is also one half of WEEKEND with the other half being Ryann Donnelly from Schoolyard Heroes.

Final lineup

The Blood Brothers - 07-27-2007 - 1.jpgthumbThe Blood Brothers in July 2007

* Jordan Blilie - vocals

* Mark Gajadhar - drums, percussion

* Morgan Henderson - bass guitar, guitar, keyboards, vocals

* Cody Votolato - guitar, percussion, vocals

* Johnny Whitney - vocals, keyboards

Former members

* Devin Welch - Guitar

Discography

Albums

* This Adultery Is Ripe (2000)

* March on Electric Children (2002)

* ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn (2003)

* Crimes (2004) #157 US

* Young Machetes (2006) #92 US

EPs

*Rumors Laid Waste (2003)

*Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck (2005)

Singles

* "Ambulance vs. Ambulance" (2003)

* "Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck" (2004)

* "Laser Life" (2006)

* "Set Fire to the Face on Fire" (2007)

DVDs

* Jungle Rules Live (2003)

* This Is Circumstantial Evidence (2003)

* The Fest 3 (2004)

Other appearances

* The Blood Brothers produced a cover of the song Under Pressure which appeared on the Queen tribute album Dynamite With a Laser Beam.

* The band also covered Gang of Four's "Anthrax" for a tribute album that never materialized. A remix can be found on the Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck EP.

* The band performed 'Trash Flavored Trash' on ABC's 'Live with Jimmy Kimmel!' in Sept., 2005.

* The band performed "Set Fire To The Face On Fire" on Season 2, Episode 6 of IFC's The Henry Rollins Show, May 18, 2007

Family connections

Several members of the band have familial connections to other notable Pacific Northwest-based bands:

* Cody Votolato's older brother Rocky Votolato is a successful solo folk artist and was a member of Waxwing with Cody. His oldest brother is Sonny Votolato, who plays guitar for numerous bands, including Slender Means, Bugs in Amber, and Blue Checkered Record Player.

* Mark Gajadhar's older brother is Rudy Gajadhar, the drummer of Gatsbys American Dream and formerly of Waxwing. Rudy was in Waxwing at the same time as Cody's brother Rocky.

* Jordan Blilie's twin sister Hannah Blilie is the drummer for The Gossip.

References