In honor of Valentines Day, Gypsyblood has unleashed two Free tracks, a b-side and an alternative slow groove version of their track In Our Veins - Free for download, for lovers only …..

(Source: gypsyblood.bandcamp.com)

Remix of the Gypsyblood track Superstition from the album Cold In The Guestway

(Source: soundcloud.com)

Don’t Trust Your GPS In The Southern Appalachian Mountains: an Interview with Gypsyblood
By Ryan Donar

Waiting outside of El Cid II; an out-of-place Mexican restaurant in the heart of Logan Square beside a comic book store that I promised myself not to go into. It’s about 6:50 p.m. when I look at the clock on my phone (early to a 7:00 p.m. meeting time of course, but only to make sure I got the right rendezvous point). I’m asked by two small, very young teenagers in backpacks and zipped up matching hoodies for a cigarette as I take a drag off of the last pre-rolled bugler I had in my breast pocket. “Are these kids for real? Maybe they are older than I think,” I say to myself as they hold out their hands as if they were expecting a snack. I say, “nah, this is the only one I have.” They put their hands down to their sides and kindly said, “fuck you,” then strutted away on their scooters. Confused and misplaced I hear a door open behind me and some male voices asking if and when a certain friend (Kyle) would arrive. Ignoring the conversation and keeping to my nosey self inspecting the nearby cops across the street at the train station I hear, “Ryan? Are you Ryan?” I turn around and am face-to-face with Chicago’s very own pop-garde masterminds, Gypsyblood.

The El Cid hostess leads Adam, Ryan, Chris and I upstairs where we thought would be a little less noisier in order to conduct the interview properly but instead arrive in a bar area with people chatting on both sides of our table and a mariachi band playing overhead in the speakers. The waitress brings out chips and Ryan White (bassist of Gypsyblood) discreetly whistles, or so he thought, as the waitress takes our drink orders. Margaritas and rice water. 

Ryan Donar: Who are you guys and where are you guys from?

Adam James: We are Gypsyblood from Chicago, Illinois. Actually right next door to El Cid is where we practice, that’s also where we recorded half the album. 

Ryan Donar: Where did you record the other half of Cold in the Guestway?

Adam James: We wrote the songs in the summer of ‘09 and recorded them that fall/winter with the album officially being finished in summer of ‘10. We recorded half of it in what we’ve referred to as “The Lost Inn Spaces” as it’s this enormous warehouse that was built by Frank Lloyd Wright but now houses a massive amount of band practice spaces. But there are no windows when you go in, so you completely lose track of time. I loved recording in that environment, but i can see how some people wouldn’t.

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Thanks to Audiotree Live in Chicago for having Gypsyblood in for a great live session playing songs from their album Cold In The Guestway and hear their answers to some interesting questions. Click the picture to listen to the session and interview. 

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In 2006, I was introduced to a band by Dave Davison of Maps & Atlases out of Chicago called Karma with A K. I fell deeply and madly in love with them. They never even got around to releasing an album before they disbanded.  I was so sad when I heard they called it quits without ever having really left Chicago. But I kept dibs on the boys of the Karma unit for years waiting. Then one day Dave Davison emailed me two demos of songs that blew my mind and he said “Remember Karma with A K ? Well this is Adam and Kyle’s new band GYPSYBLOOD. The rest is history. I signed the bloods and this my friends is that story.

So, May we Introduce you to GYPSYBLOOD? All this week their album Cold In The Guestway is FREE for download HERE. They have mellowed, my Karma boys but oh what sweet tunes they make. So, what have you got to lose? Get turned on, I know I did. And if you love our “May We Introduce You” Free downloads thing make sure and help us spread the music! - SARGENT HOUSE /CP

 

(Source: sargenthouse)

Dave Davison and Erin Elders 
The band members discuss their biggest influences 

and they give props to Kyle and Adam’s old band Karma with a K and recommend Gypsyblood as a new band to check out. Very nice. - below are excerpts. Click to read FULL interview.

Maps & Atlases formed in 2004 at Columbia College, and soon gained notoriety for their frenetic musicality, impressionistic lyrics, and lead singer Dave Davison’s unique vocals. The band’s experimental math rock-influenced sound gave way to a less abrasive folk approach on its debut full-length, Perch Patchwork, released last year on Barsuk Records. While the band may have scaled back its overt musical flair over time, it remains one of the tightest, most interesting musical acts going.

The A.V. Club caught up with Davison and Erin Elders, (guitarist-lead singer and lead guitarist, respectively) in advance of their set at A.V. Fest this weekend, to talk about some of their favorite local bands, as well as their experiences as musicians and music fans in Chicago.

The A.V. Club: Sure, plenty of young bands struggle to understand how to go from playing warehouses and basements to playing shows at larger venues like Metro.

DD: Yeah, there were a lot of shows that we saw that were really cool and interesting. These shows were fun, most of the bands we played with don’t exist anymore. There’s something fun, looking back on it, to romanticize that time. These shows where you see a band that’s really fun and crazy, and it’s pretty unlikely that you’ll ever see them again.

Karma With A K
DD: The one band that we played with a lot, that we still listen to, this band called Karma With A K. (Whose two key members went onto become Gypsyblood) They broke up in 2007, but they were absolutely wild. We started playing nearly every show together for a couple years. They had a Les Savy Fav-meets-MC5 thing, so every show we had with them, there was a story that came out of it. They’d use the space during their set in a really scary, exciting way. I still listen to the handful of demos they recorded that Shiraz [Dada, Maps & Atlases’ bassist] produced.

AVC: Are there any local groups starting up that you’ve been into lately?

DD: Gypsyblood is a new band featuring members of Karma With A K, and they’re great. The other band with a few members of Karma With A K is a band called Thin Hymns. They’re both definitely worth checking out.

Thanks Dave. 

Gypsyblood is playing The Hideout in Chicago, IL on Friday September 16th at 10:00PM. Tickets are $8 and can be purchased here. 

Gypsblood will be performing LIVE on Saturday September 17th at 2PM courtesy of Audio Tree. Check out Facebook for more information and be sure to tune in at Audiotree.com! 

Gypsyblood playing a FREE show as part of the Pitchfork After Parties brought to you by Sailor Jerry it’s FREE with RSVP on July 17th at Cobra Lounge and just another awesome poster by the one and only Ryan Duggan. Hit That. CHI TOWN. 

(Source: facebook.com)

Rock A Rolla Magazine reviews Gypsyblood’s Cold In The Guestway in this months Issue #32 with label mates Boris on the Cover. 

gypsyblood

Cold In the Guestway (Sargent House)
When it comes to the genre of “garage rock,” most listeners take the “been there, done that” attitude. It’s just hard to find something new — or rather, a new take on the genre. Chicago’s Gypsyblood blow that attitude out of the water with their debut, Cold In The Guestway. Their garage rock is combined with some noise pop and the best elements of surf rock (part of a recent trend pioneered by the likes of Surfer Blood and The Drums). There is even some Rolling Stones era bluesy-twang thrown in the mix for good measure (“Dirty Thieves”). Even though this is their debut album, it is clear that the band has fallen into a good groove.

From the reverb-heavy “Take Your Picture,” which starts off the album on a bombastic, Midwestern rock note (the influence of fellow Midwesterners Guided By Voices is apparent), to the frenetic “In Your Blood,” Gypsyblood flex their guitar-swinging muscles. Throw in the oddly creepy “2-4-6 IntheDark,” and the anthem “My RKO is M.I.A,” and it solidifies: there is no doubting that Gypsyblood has created an album worth talking about. The occasional pop-driven swingy tunes like “A Song Called Take 2” and “Superstition” provides the pre-requisite accessibility, but there is no mistaking the fact that Gypsyblood don’t mess around when it comes to boisterious garage rock.
Reviewed by JUDY NELSON 

A while back we turned the spotlight on Chicago’s Gypsyblood, a noisy little combo with a history of in-fighting, codependency and a snazzy debut in the form of, Cold In the Guestway. Today we’re happy to report that the band is still alive and well, and what’s more, we’re pleased as punch to be premiering the video for Take Your Picture, a noisy little number that starts with an innocuous-sounding U2ish riff before taking a hard right into more abrasive, albeit still pop-friendly, territory.

Chicago’s own Gypsyblood play a FREE show TONIGHT May 16, at the Empty Bottle (9:30pm, 1035 N. Western Ave.) in support of their newly released full length LP Cold In The Guestway. We recently caught up with Gypsyblood guitarist/vocalist Adam James, and got to ask him a few questions about the record. We’ve also got a copy of the new LP to giveaway to one lucky person, so keep reading to find out how to win!

The Vinyl District: The new record just came out last month on Sargent House, what’s the meaning behind the album’s title Cold In The Guestway?

Adam James: To us, it speaks more to color and tone. When everything has lost its meaning, you can only know how you feel. The viscerality of being in a place at a moment. Like an old soul who knows their being is true when everything is telling them otherwise. When reality has been proven to be the variable within society, we are here to tell you that your being is true and Cold in the Guestway.

TVD: How’d you get hooked up with Sargent House?

Adam: We’ve been in bands playing in and around Chicago for quite sometime and along the way we’ve gotten to know some remarkably talented people. Musicians, artists, vagabonds, mercenaries, hobos, and visionaries. In saying, we’re both pretty bad at self promotion, you just do what you love and the rest will come.

So Kyle was driving around giving one of the album mixes a car test, and ran into longtime friend Dave Davison of  Maps & Atlases/Cast Spells. Dave liked what he heard and got a copy with which he sent over to Cathy and Marc at Sargent House and that was that.

The great thing about Sargent House though is that they are a genuine family. Before they make any moves on a band they spread it around the office to get everyone’s take, and if everyone’s jazzed they go with it. That kind of atmosphere has always appealed to us.

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Catch the outtakes from our Live Studio session with Gypsyblood, including the songs “Take Your Picture,” “Superstition” and “In Our Blood.” The Chicago band talks about their love/hate relationship and why creepy basement bars are just more fun.

For these and all the songs performed during our Live Studio session with Gypsyblood, stream and download DJ Maia’s full audio podcast

Chicago’s Gypsyblood know how to rock. Watch them perform “2-4-6 in the Dark” from their debut album “Cold in the Guestway” live in from the Breakthrough Radio studio.

Adam James and Kyle Victor front Gypsyblood, a band that has generated buzz (literally) for being what one blogger called “uncommonly loud.” But the band is more than just decibels, as the songs from their newly released album “Cold in the Guestway” (Sargent House) prove. Catch them live this coming May 16 in Chicago at the Empty Bottle. 

For this and all the songs performed during our Live Studio session with Gypsyblood, stream and download DJ Maia’s full audio podcast HERE