You can’t hang out with a guy who formerly played in a band called The Pints without enjoying a few cold ones. And that’s exactly what goes down when we catch up with Yo Yo Parker, drummer and vocalist from Blind Man Death Stare.
That said, a lot has changed since those Pints days, which were essentially about having a few beers and a laugh. Life has a tendency to turn to shit sometimes, but the best response is to keep pushing forward. Blokes like Parker swear by this mentality.
“You know it’s also BDSM, right?” he laughs, as he explains his band’s new name and lineup. “Blind Man Death Stare does sound a bit more serious I guess, even though at the same time it’s this impossible situation, a joke. Like the name The Pints was a joke too, but we didn’t want our name to sound like an Irish pub band anymore. We’ve grown up, we’ve lived. Some of it’s been bad, some of it’s been good. You get perspective. We’re still the same, but we’re different too.”
While Parker and guitarist Mitch Man remain, bass player and vocalist Immi KutSnake is a new addition. “Mitch and I have this thing where we’re just on the same level,” says Parker. “He’ll come up with a riff, or I’ll have some lyrics or a beat, and we’ll just write something, play it, and that’s what we record.”
Regarding KutSnake, Parker says, “He’s just a really great dude and fit in with us straight away. Plus, he’s the kind of guy that can hear a song once and then play it, which rules.”
Another major change for the band is its relocation from Brisbane to Melbourne. “Obviously one of the best parts about Melbourne is the food,” says Parker. “But from a musical perspective, there’s so much happening in Melbourne. There’s a shitload of great bands to play with, crowds are more into it and people seem to genuinely like music. It’s also heaps easier to tour down this end. You can get to Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide or Hobart basically just by driving. And playing shows are what being in the band is about. Plus, I’ll always be a Victorian boy at heart. If I had to say one thing that sucks about here, it’s that we don’t have a good beach. But at the end of the day, this is home.”
Blind Man Death Stare’s first official EP, Born A Centimetre From The Finish Line, has received a mixed response. While they’ve garnered ecstatic praise from lovers of honest punk music, the politically motivated cartoon cover art has ruffled a few feathers.
“Yeah, Vagina The Hutt might piss some people off,” says Parker. “Same deal with the Pope and Tony [Abbott]. But they’re all idiots. We’ve had posters for our shows and EP taken down in heaps of places because people complained. At least people are talking about it, though. We’ve been compared to everything from NOFX to Hot Water Music to Rancid. All of those bands are great, but at the end of the day we’re just doing our thing and hoping people enjoy it as much as we do.”
It’s the ballsy attitude that distinguishes Blind Man Death Stare from their peers. For this reason, you’d be foolish not to see them live at least once. Behind the scenes for the EP recording, meanwhile, Parker says the process was based around three vital ingredients: “Lack of practice, a good combination of beers and weed, and abstaining from the cocaine until the last track was down.”
Blind Man Death Stare’sBorn A Centimetre From The Finish Line is out now independently, and they playValve Bar onFriday October 16 with Cap A Capo, Swine, Dark Horse and Two Faced.
