Black Bouquet, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based band will release their upcoming album entitled Pray to the Knife on February 16th. “No More Blood” is the first single off of the album. The band is a mix of 80s guitar rock with a new wave and goth/punk vibe. This new album is a story of survival after grief told through the eyes and in the words of troubled lovers. There are many themes woven throughout the album. The band includes members Violet O on Vocals, Ian Jones on Bass, Hunter Corrin on Guitar, Michael Rumpleon Drums and backing vocals. Laura Mooney on Viola & backing vocals and Dan Irving on Synths & backing vocals. The band spoke with Splash about their upcoming album and more.
You’re releasing your debut album in less than a month. That must be very exciting! Congratulations! What can you tell us about the album?
Thank you! I can tell you that we poured ourselves into making this for about 3 years now, and we’re extremely excited to finally put it out. We feel proud to have accomplished what we set out to do: making the biggest sound we could for ourselves, and showing off our range.
Your sound is described as “a sound that fuses 80’s goth, early 2000’s indie rock and the baroque arrangements of modern art rock.” Is this accurate?
I would say so! We incorporate a lot of separate influences that each individual member brings to the table, but we definitely lean into the goth aesthetics and indie sensibilities intentionally. We love emotional, dark sounding songs with a sense of immediacy to them.
Pray to the Knife addresses some pretty heavy topics. Can you speak to the story behind the album?
For sure. Lyrically, I was drawing from a lot of personal grief I experienced around the time we started writing the record, and some traumatic experiences from the past as well. I felt I could better convey my feelings through a story with characters that could play out the themes rather than just say “this happened in my life, it sucked!” over the refined instrumentals that the band was writing. The biggest thematic takeaway for me personally is choosing to persist and survive despite all odds, and to find the things in life that continue to make it worth it.
What do you hope listeners will take from the music and the messages you’re trying to convey through the music?
Find something to hold onto, cherish it, grow it, continue living for something! Lyrics aside, I hope it shows in all the effort and love that we put into our craft that holding things dear to your heart is rewarding enough to keep you going.
How did the band come together?
I (Violet) met Ian (our bass player) in high school chorus, and we started the band a short while after graduating. We pretty much found everybody else through craigslist or the local scene between 2017 and 2020, and with this current lineup we feel that we are the strongest we can possibly be.
What do you hope for the future of Black Bouquet? is this just the first of many albums? Will you tour?
We will be doing a short regional tour soon after the album is released, with plans to do plenty more throughout the year. We’re also definitely itching to get back to writing whatever is next in the not-so-distant future, since we’ve been working on these songs for so long already. We just want to get our songs in front of as many people as we can, and make art that feels true to ourselves.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blackbouquetband/
Twitter: @blackbouquetnc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/blackbouquetband/?hl=en
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0k32jZeu0WWl6IAv435Sa9
Bandcamp: https://blackbouquet.bandcamp.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/black-bouquet
Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM_lrxDRcseQpMFSb3lKDcA
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