Starting the week with Blues Engine based out of London. It’s a cool jazzy, funky blues, makes you wanna start grooving to the beat. For all the music lovers and music junkies out there this is a big dose of the blues like you haven’t heard it before. Fantastic voice!! So sit back, crank it up and get ready for some kick ass tunes….
Hi our name is Blues Engine.
People say we sound like no one else – we think this is a good thing!
We are a Blues Band with funk, rock and soul bolted on. If you don’t think you like Blues, check us out – you might change your mind.
We are from London – at least, the band is from London. Individually, we are from three continents.
Who are some that have an influence on you?
Katya – I guess every musician I ever admired is blended in there somewhere, from R.E.M. to Shakira (apart from the ones who are so amazing that it seems blasphemous to even think about emulating them – those are idols rather than influences).
Alex C – Tom Waits, John Lee Hooker, Aerosmith.
Alex L – Glen Campbell, The Eagles, Sting, Jaco Pastorius, Bruce Hornsby.
Ovais – John Bonham, Mitch Mitchell, Lars Ulrich, Dave Grohl, Matt Helders of the Arctic Monkeys.
How old were all of you when you started to play and who plays what in the band?
Katya Chernyakova (vocals), Alex Cooray (guitar), Alexander Liutai (bass) and Ovais (drums). We have all been playing since we were kids (but we only got together in 2013).
Can you tell us about the process you use, from writing the songs all the way through getting the songs out
One of us usually starts off a song – with chords / lyrics / melody – and then we finish it off together in the studio. The songs start from all over the place. ‘For a Breath I Tarry’ is based on an A E Housman poem. We’re working on a new one called ‘Boatman’s Blues’ which is a mashup of Rachmaninov’s ‘Isle of the Dead’ and Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground’.
What are some of the challenges you face as musicians and how have you overcome those challenges?
Because we are a Blues band, people assume we are going to have a stodgy, Blues-Rock sound. Actually we’re much more like a stripped-down Rhythm and Blues act. Once people hear us, they get it; but if people think they don’t like Blues, we have to try to persuade them to give us a chance in the first place.
If you could pick any time to travel back to for music, where would you go and what year would it be?
Katya –1940s and 50s for the American jazz scene.
Alex C – The 1970s. John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters were still performing; Aerosmith and Tom Waits were doing their early period stuff. No Bjork or Tori Amos yet though…
Alex L – The 1970s – Dexter Wansell and Weather Report. I would have liked to have been around all the rare groove tracks of this period.
Ovais – The 1960s for classic rock.
Who are all of you currently listening to?
Katya – our new single:) (And right before that it was Tori Amos’s Beekeeper)
Alex C – Derek Trucks, Jools Holland, The Black Keys
Ovais – Foo Fighters; Hendrix; Beck; and always Led Zeppelin.
If you could open for any Band right now who would that be and why?
Gary Clark Junior; Manu Chao (Because we I want to see him play, and it’s impossible to work out when he’s appearing. Presumably if we were the support act, we would be told!); Jools Holland; Led Zepellin;
My youngest son is 13 and in a Band, what advice would you offer him…
Do what you love, and love it ‘til the wheels come off. If you love it enough, you will get good at it.
The one thing we want you to remember while you’re listening to us – Blues isn’t just about feeling bad.
Our plans for 2015 – Complete and release our first album
listen to some cool ass blues…
and you can follow/LIKE/keep up with Blues Engine
