Freshly Pressed – The Blues Emergency “A Love Revolution”

Toronto-based band The Blues Emergency is a blues-rock four-piece creating a genre-spanning sound with socially conscious lyrics. The latest single, “A Love Revolution”, is a high energy statement of love, unity, and peaceful protest. We caught up with the band to chat about the single, how the band got started, and their songwriting process.

From The Strait: Tell us about the creative process behind the single, “A Love Revolution”

The Blues Emergency: It all started with a guitar riff that our guitar player Emir had for some time in his back pocket. He presented the riff to myself (Andy the singer) and we quickly got to work on the song by sending recorded ideas back and forth via email from our home studios . After arranging and recording the song in our home studios produced by Emir & I we sent the track off to Pete Swann of Attitude Productions for mixing who did an amazing job in bringing the song to life. Then forward it over to Noah Mintz of Lacquer Channel Mastering who in turn put his magic to work.

From The Strait: How did The Blues Emergency become a band?

The Blues Emergency: It all started as a bluesy jam trio making some noise at the rehearsal studios near Cherry Beach, Toronto with members John Brand,  Emir Halilovic & former drummer, Milan Pejcic. Initially, the band had no singer but that didn’t stop them from playing music, exploring new sounds, improvising, and honing their craft. Wanting to elevate their game, the trio decided to put an ad out to recruit a singer and found vocalist Andy du rego. The energy, vibe and connection during the first jam felt organic, genuine, and real. The Blues Emergency was born.  

Soon after, the outfit started gigging, playing in & around the local Toronto scene, and finding a home at the legendary Silver Dollar Room

From The Strait: Who were your biggest musical influences growing up, and how do they differ from your current ones?

The Blues Emergency: We draw from many influences. Growing up everything from The Blues of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King to the heavy sounds of Black Sabbath , Led Zeppelin , Guns N Roses , STP ….. Basically any heavily guitar driven band . Today the band members still love those sound but also incorporate newer sounds and production of bands like Rival Sons , Queens Of The Stone Age , Foo Fighters

From The Strait: Every band has their own way of creating songs – what is your songwriting process like?

The Blues Emergency: The songs are written by both Emir (Guitar ) and myself Andy ( Vocals). We usually begin with a guitar part , melody , or lyric idea and build off of that. Sometimes it’s brought to life during an impromptu jam or just hanging around and hearing things in our head. We get together for writing sessions where we let the phone record while jamming along to spontaneous ideas. We are all equipped with our own recording gear at home that allows us to quickly record ideas and bounce them back and forth via email until we get together to feel them out.

From The Strait: What has been the highlight of your career as a band so far?  

The Blues Emergency: So far the highlights have been recording and releasing our debut record in 2017 called The Machine . That was a milestone as it was our first recording. Two others that come to mind is getting the opportunity to open for one of our guitar heroes Philip Sayce at The Silver Dollar Room in Toronto and opening for BRKOVI, international punk folk musical sensation.

—-

Check out “A Love Revolution“, the latest single from The Blues Emergency!

Follow The Blues Emergency on Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter.

—-