BLOOD RED SHOES
The SiS Interview by Dany Sloan

Blood Red Shoes are Laura-Mary Carter (vocals/guitar) and Steven Ansell (vocals/drums), a duo hailing from southern England that is not afraid to rock a little more than their peers. Their sound lands on the musical map not too far from Hot Snakes or Q & Not U, which is pretty much the best thing ever. Steven was kind enough to take a break from the band's jaunt around Europe to debrief us on all things BRS.

SIS: Two piece bands don't seem very popular in indie rock. Why did you guys choose to go that route? Any benefits?

Steven Ansell : It was a total accident really...we got together to make some music and it ended up turning into a band really quickly, we didn't have any time to find other members, we were just playing live with these few songs we'd written in our first jam. I'm not really sure it makes life any more easy or difficult. Writing songs is faster because there's only one rhythm instrument and one melody instrument so there's lots of space to try things out. It also means both of us feel like singing and I think that's something which distinguishes us from a lot of other music.

SIS:  Each time I look at your Myspace page, I see a ton of tour dates. I guess you guys like being on the road. What are some of the pros and cons of this? What were some of your best shows/favourite bands you've played with? Any band that you would really love to support?

SA:  Well yeh we like being on the road overall but it does do you in a bit too! It can kill your brain sitting in a van for seven hours a day driving that's for sure. And sometimes it can be a bit alienating just getting out, playing, travelling, repeat repeat...but ultimately the best way to get people into the music is to go to their town and play it, let people experience it first hand. I think people can tell a fake band, especially in a smaller venue - you get a real sense of whether the band is for real and aren't just trying to look cool or get famous. So for us touring is the way to try to connect with people, see how they react to us and our music.

SIS: Tell me a bit about your record, which I've read is to be released sometime early this year. What songs can be expected?

SA:  The album was made in a month which is pretty fast for modern standards. It has about half songs people knew from seeing us live, and half new stuff. Of course now we're touring so we're working the new stuff into our set as we go, but we wanted the record to have the newest songs possible. I think it captures the raw heaviness and aggression of our shows, but we wanted it to be about the song too, I mean we write pop hooks albeit in a kinda twisted way, so we wanted to emphasise those a bit too.

SIS: If any member of Blood Red Shoes made the cover a tabloid, who would it be and what would it be for?

SA: He he well we actually have a bet about which of us gets into a tabloid or
celebrity gossip mag first. So many musicians get that shit in England, it's fucking stupid but we've got to the point where it's pure comedy....so we took a wager on who gets in one first. I think Laura-Mary would get in there dating someone famous or looking glamorous at some party or premiere, I think I'd probably be the one losing it in public or getting arrested.

SIS: Who do you often find yourselves compared to, and do you like or dislike that comparison?

SA: There's one obvious boy girl duo we get compared to who I can't even name, I'm so bored of hearing it. Safe to say they have no bearing on our music or the fact we are a duo, and we're not into their music. Other than that people do compare us to Sonic Youth and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which is way nearer the mark, and pretty flattering. At least when we're compared to them you know someone has listened to our music and not just looked at our line up.