John Pugh is an illusionist mural artist based out of Los Gatos, California. His trompe l’oeil pieces grace the Oncology Wing at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation. His work can also be found on the public library in Rotorua, New Zealand, as well as the private residences of Barbi Benton AND Debra Winger! Dig around and articles entitled ‘Can You Trompe This?’ and ‘Optical Delusions’ pop up. As much as I hate to let y’all down (because you KNOW the q&a would be the shiz), he’s not the John Pugh we’re looking to interview. Nope, the one we are in search of is far more elusive, even more awesome, and in possession of just an expansive body of work. When combined with Madeline Davy (and, early on but not anymore Dan Gorman) this John Pugh makes up the apocalyptic house party known as Free Blood. It’s a red-headed step child side project siphoned off of !!! & a fabulous clothing line called Octopi. Sing these songs along to your car alarms, you’re never gonna be the same.

Free Blood : The Royal Family mp3

Hey guys! Let’s talk about how Free Blood came into play. Did your eyes meet across a crowded karaoke bar in Singapore circa 1977, or should we save that for the movie version?

FREE BLOOD WAS AN EXPERIMENT IN PARTY POLITICS AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE. WE SOUGHT OUT THE DEPRAVED AND AWKWARD IN ALL SOCIAL SITUATIONS. WE USED PHEROMONES AS A WEAPON. WE DANCED AT SO HARD WE WOKE UP WITH FURNITURE STUCK BETWEEN OUR TEETH. WE THOUGHT MAYBE A MUSICAL OUTLET WOULD KEEP US FROM REVELLING OURSELVES TO AN EARLY GRAVE. FREE BLOOD HAS SUCCESSFULLY REVERSED THE AGING PROCESS. WE RECOMMEND IT TO ALL POST-PUBESCENT ADULTS.

The 2 tracks streaming on your Myspace page have rendered us on our knees begging for more. In fact we might have *cough* declared it the biggest audio cock tease east of the East River. Is it true that we won’t have to wait much longer?

WE HOPE WE HAVE TEASED MORE THAN JUST YOUR COCK. WE HAVE OUR FIRST SINGLE ARRIVING IN MID-SEPTEMBER. NOT MUCH LONGER NOW. TWO MORE SINGLES TO FOLLOW, IN WINTER AND EARLY SPRING. HOPEFULLY OUR PERSONAL APPEARANCES WILL SUSTAIN/RELIEVE OUR CONSTITUENTS TO A CERTAIN EXTENT, MUCH LIKE THE CIRCUS CLOWNS BEFORE THE FIRE-BREATHING ELEPHANT ARRIVES.

Which brings us to the next question- how the hell does Free Blood work in a studio environment? So much of the live show feeds off the energy of the audience. It’s hard to imagine John not jumping into the crowd, but at least you won’t have to worry about taking anyone out with a pesky mic cord.

AS MENTIONED ABOVE, THE LIVE “SHOW” IS THE CLASSIC DISPLAY OF A MUSICAL GROUP DEMONSTRATING ITS ABILITY TO JUMP AND CONTORT AND PISS ITSELF LAUGHING IN ORDER TO DISTRACT THE AUDIENCE FROM THE DEAFENING PAIN THEY ARE NO DOUBT ABSORBING FROM THE AURAL ASPECTS OF FREE BLOOD MUSIC. THE RECORD HOWEVER IS QUITE THE OPPOSITE; A SONIC JUMPING, CONTORTING, PISSING, LAUGHING DOCUMENT OF THE ARTIST’S DEAFNESS. WE WILL STILL “TAKE YOU OUT” WITH A MIC CORD IF YOU ATTEMPT TO INTERFERE. NO WORRIES THERE.

Y’all were the last band added to the After the Jump Fest bill, and one of the most anticipated. Any suprises/ warnings/ precautions for your set? Do we need to add mouthguards, glowsticks, or lead aprons to the budget?

FREE BLOOD RECOMMENDS TOTAL NAKEDNESS IN THE PRIVACY OF ONE’S HOME BEFORE THE SHOW, PROCEEDED BY A CAREFUL SELECTION OF ACCESSORIES WITH WHICH TO ADORN THE EARS, NECK, WRISTS, ANKLES AND POSSIBLY GENITALS. THEN A THIN LAYER OF DR. BRONNER’S PEPPERMINT SOAP, QUICKLY COVERED BY SNUG UNDERGARMENTS. THE REST IS UP TO PERSONAL TASTE OR LEVELS OF SEROTONIN IN THE SYSTEM. ONE SHOULD ALWAYS DRESS IN CLOTHING THAT WILL NOT BE DAMAGED BY COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF SWEAT (YOURS OR YOUR NEIGHBORS).

And now for a few standardized questions and we’ll leave you alone:
(1) Benjamin Franklin is to Kites what Giorgio Moroder is to:

KNIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN

(2) The 3:07 PM train from Chicago heads north at 83 mph torwards Fargo. The 4:05 PM train from Moorehead heads east to the same destination at 74 mph. Knowing this, where do babies come from?

CLEVELAND?

(3) Peter Gabriel’s ‘previous obligations’ leaving him off the Genesis Fall 2007 North American tour : better off without him? or is this a moot point now that Nicole Richie is rumored to be Sheila E’s niece?

YOU KNOW I BET THAT GENESIS PLAYED WITH SANTANA IN THE SEVENTIES AT SOME NO NUKES FESTIVAL OR SOMETHING AND BABY SHEILA E. WAS RUNNING AROUND LAUGHING AT THE GREEN DUDE WITH A REVERSE MOHAWK SINGING LIKE A MUPPET WITH BELL’s PALSEY ON STAGE. SMALL WORLD, EH?

Totally!

***And, if you’re shallow enough to judge a band’s worth by the DJs that remix them (a-hem) look no further than Hot Chip’s rendition of their ‘Quick and Painful’ track. Think of a beat laden 12 car pileup when you’re late for a meeting, with a lil bit of sexy time thrown in. Tonight, a disco in Brooklyn. Tomorrow, the world.***

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 23rd, 2007 at 10:14 am and is filed under New Bands, Shows, Interviews, Circle of Awesome, MP3s. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.