Blues pills
| Blues pills | |
|---|---|
 Blues Pills at Reload Festival 2015 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Örebro , Sweden |
| Genre (s) | Blues rock , hard rock |
| founding | 2011 |
| Website | www.bluespills.com |
| Current occupation | |
| Elin Larsson | |
| Zack Anderson (until 2018 bass) | |
| Kristoffer Schander (since 2019) | |
| André Kvarnström (since 2014) | |
| former members | |
Drums |
Cory Berry (until 2014) |
guitar |
Dorian Sorriaux (until 2018) |
| Live and session members | |
Hammond organ , guitar |
Rickard Nygren (since 2016) |
Blues Pills is a Swedish blues rock - band from Örebro . The band is signed to Nuclear Blast and has released three studio albums so far .
history
Foundation and first publications (2011–2012)
In 2011 the half-brothers Zack Anderson ( bass ) and Cory Berry ( drums ) from Iowa played in the band Radio Moscow and met the Swedish singer Elin Larsson in California . In Anderson's father's garage, the three musicians recorded two songs as a demo and published them on the Internet platform YouTube . The musicians then received an offer from the record label Crusher Records to record an EP . They were also offered a tour in Spain .
On a concert tour in France , Anderson and Berry met the 16-year-old guitarist Dorian Sorriaux. Sorriaux was invited to Örebro by the other musicians and eventually completed the band. The band name comes from the music blog of the same name , which deals with underground music from the 1960s and 1970s. A year later, the debut EP Bliss and the 7 "single Black Smoke were released on the record label Crusher Records .
Devil Man and Live at Rockpalast (2013-2014)
Blues Pills played numerous concerts in 2013, including at the Desertfest and the Roadburn Festival . At the end of July 2013 Blues Pills were signed by the German record label Nuclear Blast. The musicians applied to the label with a simple email without great expectations and finally received a contract. In October of the same year, the second EP was released with Devil Man . The EP was produced by Don Alsterberg and received a positive response from the specialist press. The German magazines Rock Hard and Metal Hammer each chose the EP as demo of the month.
On October 18, 2013 Blues Pills played as part of the Crossroads Festival in Bonn . The appearance was recorded by WDR for the broadcast Rockpalast . This was followed by a European tour in the opening act for Orchid and Scorpion Child , a tour through Australia with the German band Kadavar and a performance at the Hammer of Doom festival in Würzburg . On March 28, 2014, the band released the live EP Live at Rockpalast with four tracks from the October 2013 concert in Bonn.
Blues Pills and Blues Pills Live (2014-2015)
With producer Don Alsterberg, the band recorded their self-titled debut album, which was released on July 25, 2014. The album contains the song Gypsy, a cover version of a song by Chubby Checker . In addition, the album contains a bonus DVD with the band's appearance at the Hammer of Doom Festival in 2013. The album reached number four in the German and number ten in the Swiss album charts. Worldwide the band was able to sell their debut albums over 100,000 copies.
On June 7, 2014, Blues Pills performed the song Devil Man in Schwerin as part of the boxing match between Jürgen Brähmer and Roberto Bolonti. In 2014 Blues Pills performed at festivals such as Summer Breeze , Rock Hard Festival , Montreux Jazz Festival , Sweden Rock Festival , Out and Loud and Lovely Days , and completed a European tour with The Vintage Caravan as the opening act . For personal reasons, drummer Cory Berry did not take part in the summer concerts and was replaced by former Truckfighters drummer André Kvarnström. At the end of August, the band announced the split from Berry. Reasons were initially not given. It wasn't until two years later that Elin Larsson stated that Berry couldn't cope with the stress of touring. André Kvarnström was then made a permanent member of the band.
December 2014 Blues Pills went as opening act with the California blues-rock band Rival Sons tour in the UK . The release of the live album Blues Pills Live , which was recorded in 2014 at the Freak Valley Festival , took place on March 20, 2015. In spring 2015, another European tour with the Truckfighters and Jex Thoth took place, before Blues Pills in the summer of 2015 at the Rock am festival Ring , Rock im Park , the Graspop Metal Meeting , Nova Rock , the Download Festival , the Elbriot , the Tuska Open Air Metal Festival , the Metaldays , Copenhell , Masters of Rock and the Reload Festival .
Lady in Gold (2016-2018)
In February and March 2016, the band went on a European tour with the support bands Pristine and White Miles . At the same time, the band was working on their second studio album, which was again produced by Don Alsterberg. The release of Lady in Gold took place on August 5, 2016. The album contains a cover version of the song Elements and Things by Tony Joe White and went to number one in the German and number two in the Swiss album charts. After festival appearances at Summer Breeze and the Hurricane Festival , a European tour with Kadavar and Stray Train as well as an appearance at the Festival Metal Hammer Paradise followed in autumn 2016 . Since this tour, the band has been accompanied by Rickard Nygren, who plays the Hammond organ and second guitar. Another European tour followed in spring 2017, before appearances at festivals such as the Rock-Hard-Open Air, the Metaldays, Rock of Ages , the Taubertal Festival , the Open Flair and KulturPur in the summer .
At the Metal Hammer Awards 2017, Lady in Gold was nominated in the category Best Album . However, the award went to Heaven Shall Burn . On November 3rd, 2017 the live DVD Lady in Gold - Live in Paris was released. The DVD contains a recording of the concert in Paris on October 30, 2016. Before that, the band played in Norway in October with The Devil and the Almighty Blues , before the Blues Pills in the UK, together with Tax the Heat, as the opening act for Black Star Riders performed. A tour through Sweden followed in December as a support act for Europe . On November 21, 2018 the band announced the friendly separation from guitarist Dorian Sorriaux, who claims to be "a little tired of rock riffs".
Holy Moly! (since 2019)
Work on the third studio album was continued and ended in October 2019. For the upcoming concerts the band signed bassist Kristoffer Schander, while Zach Anderson switched to guitar. The album Holy Moly! was announced for June 19, 2020, but the publication had to be postponed to August 21, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Holy Moly! entered the German album charts at number four.
style
Singer Elin Larsson describes the style of her band as hard blues rock with soulful vocals. Bassist Zack Anderson sees Blues Pills as a psychedelic soul band that has its roots in the blues . Larsson names classic rock bands such as Free , Fleetwood Mac , Grand Funk Railroad , Frumpy , November and Cactus , but also contemporary groups such as Graveyard or Kadavar , as the main musical influences of the band . Her vocal influences include Larsson Big Mama Thornton , Etta James and Aretha Franklin.
Felix Patzig from the German magazine Rock Hard described the group's sound as a kind of " jam session by Aretha Franklin with the band Led Zeppelin ". Elin Larsson's voice is compared to that of Janis Joplin or Aretha Franklin, while the band's bass and guitar sound is often reminiscent of that of Ten Years After .
The lyrics, mainly written by Elin Larsson and Zack Anderson, are often about personal feelings and experiences that are processed in the songs. Furthermore, the lyrics are about the search for the soul , the meaning of life, but also about the families and friends of the musicians. Occultism doesn't matter to the band. According to Anderson, most of the lyrics are spontaneous.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 FI
|
 SE
|
|||
| 2014 |
Blues Pills Nuclear Blast |
DE4 (9 weeks) DE |
AT19 (2 weeks) AT |
CH10 (7 weeks) CH |
UK68 (1 week) UK |
FI21 (3 weeks) FI |
- |
First published: July 24, 2014
|
| 2016 |
Lady in Gold Nuclear Blast |
DE1 (7 weeks) DE |
AT12 (4 weeks) AT |
CH2 (5 weeks) CH |
UK31 (1 week) UK |
FI6 (3 weeks) FI |
SE27 (2 weeks) SE |
First release: August 5th, 2016
# 2 in the German vinyl charts |
| 2020 |
Holy Moly! Nuclear Blast |
DE4 (... weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK89 (... weeks) UK |
- | - |
First published: August 21, 2020
|
Awards
| year | category | For | result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Up and coming | Blues pills | Nominated |
| 2015 | Best album | Blues pills | Nominated |
| 2017 | Best album | Lady in Gold | Nominated |
Web links
- Official website
- Blues Pills at Allmusic (English)
- Blues Pills at Discogs (English)
- Blues Pills at laut.de
- Blues Pills on MusicBrainz (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Daniel Pavlica: Blues Pills interview. The Rocktologist, accessed March 26, 2014 .
- ↑ a b c d e f Felix Patzig: Medicine for the soul. Rock Hard , accessed October 28, 2019 .
- ↑ BLUES PILLS Signs With NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS. Blabbermouth.net , accessed March 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Detlef Dengler: Heroes of Tomorrow: Blues Pills In: Metal Hammer , August 2013
- ↑ Crossroads 2013: Jonny Lang / Blues Pills. WDR , accessed March 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Mark Diggins: BLUES PILLS TALK TO THE ROCKPIT. The Rock Pit, accessed March 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Blues Pills play the anthem for boxer Jürgen Brähmer. Rock Hard, accessed August 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Laura Niebling: La Cucaracha . In: Rock Hard, June 2014, page 40
- ↑ Holger Stratmann: The Hope Bearers . In: Rock Hard, August 2016, page 14
- ↑ Thomas Becker: BLUES PILLS: separation from drummer! Powermetal.de , accessed on August 24, 2014 .
- ↑ BLUES PILLS - recap the first part of the European tour, announce the Greece show, support RIVAL SONS in UK! Bluespills.com, accessed February 28, 2016 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: Blues Pills release limited live album. Rock Hard, accessed August 30, 2018 .
- ↑ METAL HAMMER AWARDS 2017: These are the nominees! Metal Hammer. Retrieved August 13, 2017 .
- ↑ Dominik Rothe: Dorian Sorriaux leaves the band. Metal.de, accessed on November 21, 2018 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - Kristoffer Schander confirmed as live bassist for the upcoming tour. Rock Hard, accessed October 28, 2019 .
- ↑ Alexandra Michels: BLUES PILLS - "Holy Moly!" - to be released in August. Rock Hard, accessed June 12, 2020 .
- ↑ Timon Quantity: Blues Pills - Elin & Zack. Metalnews.de, accessed on August 30, 2018 .
- ↑ Michael Stalling: Interview with BLUES PILLS singer Elin Larsson. Metal.de, accessed on August 30, 2018 .
- ^ Andreas Schulz: Blues Pills: Devil Man (Review). Musikreviews.de, accessed on March 25, 2014 .
- ↑ Marlis Wimmerer: Hits in 60 minutes. In: Blast! , Issue 104, p. 8.
- ↑ Robert Fröwein: Blues Pills: "The limit is the sky". Kronen Zeitung , accessed on July 24, 2016 .
- ^ Blues Pills - Lady in Gold (vinyl). GfK Entertainment , accessed June 30, 2020 .