By Keith Walsh
Los Angeles-based electronica duo Blaklight are amazingly prolific, and with their brand-new set tHe pADDED rOOM, Adam Collier (synths and beats) and Brian Belknap (vocals, lyrics) traverse new sonic territory. I chatted with them at length about the inspirations, meanings and processes of this daring new album. (My review of tHe pADDED rOOM is at popularculturebeat.com)
Synthbeat: tHe pADDED rOOM was originally conceived as an instrumental album. How did it evolve along the way to become also a vocal album?
Adam Collier: All of the songs have been written for our next vocal album, The Haunting of Us. During 2022 we started playing more live shows, released singles on compilations, released our stripped-down version of Into the Void, and wrote an album for our other project, SilverScene. All of this has delayed the Haunting of Us. I wanted to keep our track record of a new album a year and started an instrumental album. Originally it was to be 4 to 5 songs. I happened to open a vocal that Brian had done and added it to the first song that I wrote for The Padded Room. I then added a vocal of myself to the next song and another vocal loop from Brian.
I thought that these would be the only two songs with vocal loops and sent some more instrumentals to Brian for him to approve. He immediately let me know that he wanted to add vocals and other voice bits to some songs. When I heard them, they were amazing. I was inspired to write more songs which turned out to be a total of 9. We knew that we had something special and by the time that we felt it was complete, it was 2023. So, we will release 2 albums this year.
Brian Belknap: Adam is so incredibly prolific and with all of our other projects and live shows, I found myself falling behind in our usual recording pace. The instrumental album was the perfect fit to keep the BlakLight train moving, but when I heard the tracks, I felt compelled to add some pieces to the puzzle.
Synthbeat: There’s something cinematic in the melancholy of the sounds plus the use of repetition, and the vocal sounds. How do you guys approach this style differently than you would songs in a pop format?
Adam Collier: The pop format is pretty rigid in that you need a verse and chorus. Sometimes a pre chorus and or a bridge. You need to get to the point quickly. With this album, there was the freedom to go wherever I wanted to and for how long I wanted to. I let the sounds dictate how long and where they were going. Each song is a mantra. A repetition of voice and music to keep your mind focused for the duration of the song. Focused on the moment of the song and the feeling it conjures for you. The title of each song points you to the place and the voice and music guides you around whatever that place is to you.
Brian Belknap: My intention was to write and record my parts as quickly as possible, letting the music steer the wheel. None of the lyrics were written in advance of recording. When I listen to Adam’s tracks, they always swiftly inspire a melody and then I’ll record a rough “la-la” type vocal on top and go back in and fill in the words. Sometimes those “la-la’s” will be words or phrases that I either keep or change. For this album, I kept all of those original words and phrases and simply went back in and recorded them a bit more properly.
Synthbeat: The brevity and nature of the titles suggests something painful, but also transformation. How personal is this album?
Adam Collier: Very personal for me. Very raw. The titles and music all represent what goes on in my mind. Brian’s vocals match perfectly. It was very scary to deviate from what we have released in the past, but it was something that I needed to get out. It is my hope that it will touch our listeners in a very intimate way.
Brian Belknap: Adam’s music speaks to me and leads me in the direction the song requires every time. As usual, I use the titles of the tracks he sends me as the jumping off point for lyrical ideas, with the exception of “This Is The Place”, which was originally titled “The Padded Room”.
Synthbeat: I hear everything from Peter Gabriel to NIN in there. Are you fans?
Adam Collier: We are both fans of Peter Gabriel and Trent Reznor. Both are unique individuals and geniuses.
Brian Belknap: Most definitely. I also tried to nick a bit of Bowie’s Low for this one too.
Synthbeat: As a symbol or metaphor, what does a padded room represent?
Adam Collier: The Padded Room is my mind. It is very chaotic there. Crazy at times. Quite depressing, intense, melancholic. A hard neighborhood to live in at times. I need repetition, like in these songs, to keep me grounded.
Synthbeat: Any different processes or gear on this?
Adam Collier: Gear has remained the same on this album using Logic Pro X as the DAW and tweaking sounds from my soft synths.
Synthbeat: Also, the new third member– who is he and does he join you only live?
Adam Collier: Omar Quiñones has joined us for live performances. He is the mastermind behind Vain Machine. He brings years of experience to our live shows and is a great friend. We are so happy and honored to have him with us. We all bring out the best in each other.
Brian Belknap: Omar prodded us to play our very first show just over a year ago, opening for his band Vain Machine. We’ve played together several times and have become close friends, and everything fell into place. In addition to helping us step up our live setup, it’s given us some flexibility with our live shows in that we’ve had times when not all three of us are available, but there are still shows to be played and we’re able to make it happen.
Blaklight Links
Review Of ‘tHE pADDED rOOM’ At Popularculturebeat.com
Vain Machine On Bandcamp
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