Black Friday

Bit of a lucky find this morning. I got a friends request on myspace from the band Black Friday and was immediately impressed by their take on the Delta blues.
So with one quick email an interview was arranged and here it is.

El Diablo - I like your take on the delta blues. The vocals give it a grunge sort of feel that takes it out of its original context and mixes it up a bit. It’s especially impressive that it was all recorded in one day.
So how did the two of you meet? What are the origins of The Black Friday?
Luca - Well basically I'm the owner of a small vintage studio so we just pressed rec and play and ran through a huge selection of delta blues standards plus "strange gal" that we wrote during a coffee break (It’s a really really simple tune) and "Jupiter" that's a kind of blues moaning layered over a beautiful guitar improvisation.
As a band we met here in Roma. In the beginning we were working on another album and the same love and involvement in folk and traditional American blues songs drove us into forming the black friday.

ElD - How popular is the blues in Italy?
Luca - Not so much, blues in Italy is just the famous "Cocaine" and most of the people don't know that it’s a J.J. Cale song.

ElD - So what is the reaction to you guys when you go out and play?
Luca - Maybe this "grunge sort of feel" that you found creates in the same time a kind of contemporary and fashionable vibe so the audience is always in a watchful, receptive and analytic mood. People asked us if the tunes are originals or not...and this is a big surprise for us.

ElD - Is it a surprise because you are so familiar with the material though, or do you think it might be because the songs do have a more modern feel to them and the audience isn’t necessarily picking up on the fact that some of them are decades old?
Luca - The second one. Exactly.

ElD - As mentioned the album was done in a day and it’s a real grass roots project from start to finish, but what are you doing about getting it out to the public. Where can people get a hold of it?
Luca - Once the artwork is done we'll place it on i-tunes and similar stores. The idea is print the record on vinyl, just in a limited edition of 1000 copies reachable at our gigs or on a dedicated ebay store.
A label could help us but we aren't in the mood to call, send demos etc. Today you can control and manage everything without stress. We are just a blues duo, voice and guitar so it is very easy plan gigs play all around and have the right exposure in the right circuits.

ElD - So what are the plans once the album is available. Are you looking to tour etc, or just wait and see how it all goes without pushing it?
Luca - the idea is play everywhere that it’s possible to AND see how it goes...It’s in the lap of the gods
Thank you so much and see you on the road!
I surely hope so Luca.
It’s well worth checking out Black Friday and you can do so here.

www.myspace.com/theblackfridayband

Get in early and keep an eye out for the album surfacing. It’s going to be good.