The Bloodsugars

YELLOW: Jason Rabinowitz
BEARD: Matt Katz
HAT: Brendan O'Grady
BLUE Sweatshirt: Kenneth Salters
Cuties who look like brother and sister: Mark Smith and Alexis Baker

Bloodsugar: makes us hyper, makes us tired, but it always keeps us going. This battle is much like the music of Brooklyn-based namesake The Bloodsugars, in the studio tonight for an hour before their show at The Mill FOR FREE DOLLARS! That's our beloved plug for the unbeatable price of The Mill's Fall Semester Tuesday nights--a great way to spend an otherwise study-filled evening.

The Bloodsugars is an indie-signed pop group, and I mean this in the best sense of the word. Their lyrics, music, and arrangement are all thoughtful and technically sound, while still remaining approachable and understandable for the every-girl. After a little, how do you say, ahem, technical difficulties in the studio (hey you, whoever you are stealing our headphones--return 'em yo!), we were all prepared to get the show started. They played all tracks off of their soon-to-be-released LP (and this stands for Long Player, EP stands for Extended Player which is a shorter album) titled I Can't Go On, I'll Go On. This is the last line in Nobel Prize winning author Samuel Beckett's extitential credo L'Innomable (The Unnamable), but as lead vocalist Jazon Rabinowitz told us, they are completely unrelated: "I came up with it entirely on my own. How crazy is that?...Take 1000 monkeys and 1000 typewriters for 1000 years, you're bound to come up with the same thing as Beckett." Ok, that quote isn't verbatim because I can't host a radio show and type at the same time, but you get the gist.

They were gracious guests to one of the final installments of The Freshman 15, and it was an honor to have them into the studio. I'm hoping that after I get my homework done, I will be able to stop by and share a drink. It was really a great show--they sounded great and I felt confident and relaxed at the same time while talking with all of them. Here's a list of the Qs I lobbed--I look forward to seeing where they go.

Your music is a kind of juxtaposition: emotional and somewhat distraught lyrics set against lighter and more upbeat music and arrangement. How did this unique style develop? Is this contrast between your lyrics and your music a metaphor for something greater?

You’ve been described as making intelligent dance music. What does that mean to you? What does it take to make a song into dance music?

Who or what has been your greatest musical influence?

As music evolves along with technology, politics, shifting cultures, what does pop and specifically dance music have to do in order to adapt and keep-up to stay relevant? Is the evolution consciously forming and influencing your music, or does this change happen subconsciously?

What is dance and/or pop music for you? What does this phrase mean to you?
Iowa City: quintessential American college town. Jason Rabonitz and Matt Katz met in college: what is it about college that inspires music? Is it a fact of young age? Or the learning? Maybe both? When you return to college towns, do you feel nostalgic? Or has the proverbial ship sailed for this time of your lives?

Having released BQEP just over a year ago, what does it feel like to release a second album? Is it more nerve-wrecking or more relieving?

You have a CD release party coming up. Is this for your album? What is it like attending your own CD release party?

The latest LP is I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On. What is its connection to the Samuel Beckett novel “The Unnamable,” if any?

What does the Midwest represent for a group of New Yorkers? How greatly does New York influence your music?

Every member of the band had equally introspective and thoughtful answers to the questions I asked--a nice change from some others where the vocalist seems to dominate. They were witty, biting, while being humble and genuinely funny. Again, a big thanks to them, and to Mark for working the board. We unfortunately didn't get a recording of the show, so I hope it sounded like a success to all those listening.

See ya 'round,
A