“We’re native Texans, and the music we were around skewed towards folk or country,” explains Bryan Mammel of indie rock outfit Blue Healer, who put a unique and experimental spin on their country roots with their eponymous debut album released in September. “Dees and I met playing country music, and we all ended up playing in a band together that imploded,” he recalls. “In the fallout of that, we decided to play the kind of music we grew up listening to, the kind that had this energy and life that excited us when we were younger.”
“We ran across a really cool synth keyboard at Goodwill, and threw that in the mix,” says Mammel of their sound, which includes putting a synthesized spin on powerfully-featured upright bass helmed by member David Beck. “Those elements grounded the sound, and we made music that was uniquely us on this new album.”
Blue Healer calls Austin, Texas home, a scene which is somewhat similar to the notoriously challenging scene here in the Music City. “The Austin and Nashville scenes seem to have a lot in common—because there is so much music in our respective towns, it can be tougher because, for fans and showgoers, the expectations can be pretty high,” he explains. “It can make it hard to make waves; for the three of us though, we don’t care, we’ll play for an audience of 5 or 500, because we love being onstage playing music, and when you think about that, it’s pretty awesome.”
The band is certainly making its share of waves; besides making infectiously synth-y rock anthems, and touring with Boston folk rockers The Ballroom Thieves (which brings them to Nashville to perform at The Basement on October 19th), Blue Healer has launched a YouTube series in which each episode is called a “BlueTube”. “It has nothing to do with anything, and the deal is, we have to shoot, edit, and post the whole thing in one day. They’re pretty ridiculous, the most recent one we posted was an allegory of sorts where I play basketball and David cuts off my hair. That’s all I’m going to say about it,” laughs Mammel. “We’re in the planning phases of a Christmas one. We’re trying to post one every fiscal quarter. I don’t know why it would be a fiscal quarter, but whatever.”
“There’s so much the goes into being a bands besides the music, and we’re trying to have a blast with every aspect of it,” he adds. “You can’t take yourself too seriously.”
For Nashville show information click here.
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