Bloodnut paints the town red
Only a small percentage of the population would ever be eligible to join Auckland band Bloodnut.
But this has nothing to do with musical ability.
This is because the three-piece heavy metal group pride themselves on being a band of red heads.
Formed in 2012, Bloodnut play a downtuned style of heavy music known as ‘‘sludge metal’’ and have performed live consistently since their inception.
But vocalist, bassist and founding member Doug McFarlane says the band is certainly not just for a laugh.
‘‘I like to say we’re not a pisstake band but a band with a theme,’’ he says.
Drummer Ty Boniface says Bloodnut’s songwriting is taken seriously like any normal band.
‘‘I guess most of the gimmick comes out in the lyrics but musically it is what we actually like to do and we actually try and make it kick-ass,’’ the Birkenhead resident says. ’’It was a concept that turned into a sound rather than a sound that turned into a concept.’’
Their debut record Blues From the Red Sons is set for release on September 10 and contains song titles such as Drop Dead Redhead, Vitamin D and Firegiant.
‘‘I’ve got songs about vikings because we figure that’s pretty much where the ginger gene comes from,’’ McFarlane says.
Track The Amber Reign Remains is about how some people claim red hair is a dying gene.
‘‘We’re not dying out, that’s just clickbait bollocks,’’ McFarlane says.
‘‘Above all the music has to be good really and then any theme is almost secondary but it is the main image at least,’’ guitarist Doug Robertson says.
The Westmere resident has a degree in music and when not with Bloodnut regularly performs as a jazz guitarist.
‘‘These guys asked me to be in a metal band and I said ‘yes this is exactly what I need in my life at the moment, I need to get back to the old nitty gritty’.
‘‘The thing I loved most about joining this band is as a jazz guitarist for a while, you’re either playing from the heart or you’re playing from the head but you’re hardly ever playing from the balls.’’
They plan to donate 10 per cent of their album sales to the Sumatran Orangutan Programme, an organisation working to protect the endangered species.