Bad Veins won’t ditch Irene or explain band name

Posted by teibs On October - 23 - 2009

badveins 300x200 Bad Veins wont ditch Irene or explain band name @ZackTeibloom Put on a Bad Veins song and have someone guess how many people are in the band. They’ll swear you’re listening to at least a five-piece band with their full, lush sound. Come to Emo’s tonight (Friday October 23rd) to see how this Cincinnati based duo, on their first national tour, uses “Irene” and a phone to create a bigger sound than you’ve ever heard from a duo*.

It has the makings for an incredible night. RhythmSektion.com was able to get an exclusive interview with lead singer Benjamin Davis. Festival Crashers decided to post it as well.

What have you learned from your first tour? What would you do differently next time around? How has playing live around the country changed what you want to do next?

It kind of blows my mind how much there is to learn about touring, or at least touring well. All of the ways to maximize the benefit of spending just a few hours in each city. It’s easy to tear through a tour and not accomplish much, other than wearing oneself ragged. What I’ve learned is not actually a very exciting thing to get into really.
As far as what I want to do next? Sleeping in my bed through the holidays sounds nice. Then Australia?

Where did the name Bad Veins come from? What about the name was important enough to you to use as the name of your first album as well? Or do you just like the idea of a self-titled first album.

The origins of our band name is kind of a secret.. It is indeed important and has several meanings to me.

I noticed that you just started a blog on your Web site. What do you hope to do with that space?

Ah, nice! Our new site launched days ago, and you’ve seen it already! I had our site redesigned to adapt to the way we wanted to use the internet. I guess one will have to just keep checking to see what we’ve decided to do with it.

What does the phone add to your sound in distortion? What other distortion techniques do you use/want to use?

The phone was just something i experimented with, and it turned out being part of our stage show. I have several other ideas and instruments that could be just as integral down the line. If I put the word out now, it would be old news before I ever did it.

Does having to play with Irene limit your show? Knowing that you can’t play something out of order or play a cover or do an unplanned encore.

Irene has the exact opposite effect than what you’re describing. That’s kind of like saying that drinking water limits your ability to be thirsty. If we really really wanted to play something out of order, we could do it. And any cover we did that might require backing tracks would just end up on the tape anyway. And who said we don’t have encore songs on the tape, just never play them?

Do you think Irene will always be a part of the live show? If not, how would you replace her?

I think Irene is here to stay. No matter how many people are onstage, I will always want to hear more. That is Irene’s job!

Would you ever want to add more members and play all parts of your songs live? Anyone you’d like to add to the group that’s in another band or currently solo?

Ha! I kind of suggested that with my last answer didn’t I? We are open to expansion if something or someone came into our lives. But as of right now, there are absolutely no plans to expand beyond Sebastien, Irene, and myself.

*A duo without Jack White