The Bloodclots are Maddy Matt - Guitar/ backing vox, Terry Heretic - Lead vox, Squints - Bass/ backing vox and Nicky - Drums/ backing vox. They have been around the Seattle club scene for some time but have been announcing some major band news over the last few months. The band will be releasing a full length album in September on SOS records which is the same label as major bands, such as The Exploited. They also will be playing two high profile shows in the month of September, which are opening for the band Rancid September 12th at The Showbox SODO and The Bloodclots album release show September 19th at King Cobra. Both shows are all ages. Incidentally, King Cobra has just begun all ages shows. Check the King Cobra listings first, because obviously not all of the shows are all ages.

I have wanted to interview the Bloodclots for over a year, and with two cool shows coming up, plus the album release this month, September seemed a logical time. The Bloodclots are a band I have watched from a distance for some time, but in recent months I have gotten to know a couple of the members personally, Nicky and Terry Heretic. These are two musicians I respect, simply because they live and breath The Bloodclots 24/7 and literally put the band and Punk above all else. They also understand what it means to be "punk" as you will read in the interview below and Terry has no problem explaining the concept. They are also not a group of poseurs using Punk as a fashion statement.

Terry is an interesting and rather quiet guy, with a four year degree in sociology, which probably helps him understand the band, the lifestyle and the audience he is playing to. One quick way to break him out of his shell is to mention Punk or rock music in general. He and girlfriend Tiffany Shimmers, a well known Seattle model, had themselves a healthy baby girl a couple weeks back and I want to congratulate them on that good news.

If your in the area at the time of the Rancid Show or the Bloodclots album release concert, please stop in and show support for the Punk scene which is an important part of the Seattle rock music community.

What's this I hear about a new member of the Bloodclots family these days?

I'm a daddy now! Saturday August 23rd my girlfriend Tiffany Shimmers gave birth to Vivian Danger, a beautiful baby girl! She's a healthy 7 pounds, 21" long, and she's got her daddy's long legs. We're hoping she will get her mom's boobs and she'll be set for life! Seriously, this is one of the most amazing things that has ever happened to me. Three out of four Bloodclots now have kids!

Tell me about this new album and the record company involved.

The new album is a 12 song full length, all originals, none of which have ever been released. It's fast, hard, heavily political hardcore PUNK FUCKING ROCK! Even through the line-up changes in the band (Nicky Nightmare now on drums and me singing), the new album has the same feeling, drive and message that the band has always held. It's being released by SOS records, which is a huge deal for us. We're now on the same label as Conflict, G.B.H., The Exploited, the Varukers, Broken Bones, and the Addicts. Basically all the bands that got me into punk rock in the first place!

Tell me about the big show at King Cobra in September.

Friday september 19th, one week after the RANCID show, will be our official cd release show. This is a really big deal for me. It's the first album I've ever sang on, not to mention the first time the Bloodclots will be available on cd. The last full length called Clot You To Rot and the EP Chaos Day Is Almost Here were only available on vinyl. Since King Cobra just got approved to do all ages shows, the kids and the drunks can come out! We've also got the Insurgence and Cyanide Destruct on the bill, so it'll be a good mix of punk styles. I can't fuckin' wait!

What defines Punk as a musical genre and makes if different than Rock?

It's all semantics. You'll always hear those who claim that punk is dead. That the disgust and rejection of mainstream culture that the movement once stood for has now been commercialized, marketed, and sold in a pretty little package as teenage rebellion to mall kids with nothing better to do with their parents' money. While there's no doubt that punk has changed immensely, it is by no means dead. Like any culture, movement, or ideology, punk has evolved with time. For example, while Swastikas were once standard punk gear, but nowadays wearing a swastika will most likely result in you leaking blood and spitting teeth. While pop-punk has been commercialized with bands like Green Day and Good Charlotte, the under-ground DIY punk scene has survived the test of time, ever-evolving, playing faster, harder, more political, and more offensive.

Punk Rock will always be around. It's the necessary voice of dissonance and an outlet for anyone who feels disillusioned and disgusted with the status quo. As long as people are being oppressed, be it by racism, sexism, government or anything else, there will always be kids who think for themselves and say "hey, this is wrong, I'm pissed, and I want to scream about it!"

So, to answer your question, while punk is a sub-genre of rock, what separates it is the message behind it. Punk tends to be more political than standard rock. Much of punk rock is protest songs against war, racism, sexism, homophobia, and the general state of resignation and ignorance so prevalent in our culture. Standard rock generally emphasizes getting drunk, partying, and getting laid. While most punks are guilty of this behavior (we're all rockers after all), the difference is that punks use their music to spread awareness or take a stance against a specific issue, while maintaining the idea of equality between fan and performer. We're all punks, no one is a rock star.

What sets you and Nicky down this Punk road rather than a traditional Rock path?

For me, it was being an army brat. Having to move every few years of my life forced me to try and fit in with constantly changing fads in drastically different places throughout my youth. This inevitably led to alienation and depression about not knowing who I was or where I fit in. At this low point, my brother unloaded a bunch of his old punk cds on me and changed my life. The music was hard, fast, and said all the things that I'd always thought but never had the balls to say. I was hooked. I let go of worrying about what other people thought. Who the fuck are they to tell me what clothes, music, and beliefs are acceptable? Fuck 'em. It opened my eyes and made me realize that there's an alternative to living a life dictated by what others think is appropriate and socially acceptable.

I've found that many punks, Nicky included, have similar experiences of being the weird kid, the loser, the outcast, and have eventually gotten fed up and rejected the society that rejected them.

What's the state of the Punk music scene currently in Seattle?

Misunderstood and underestimated. When I moved here from New Orleans, I'd never seen so many punks in one place, and never heard so much bitching about how much the scene sucks. It's now eight years later, and every time I'm downtown or on capitol hill, or any show I'm at, I see punks I've never met. Coming from a scene where I was one of four people with studs on their jackets, I'll gladly tell anyone, Seattle punks should feel lucky to live in a city with such a large and diverse scene.

I think the main reason the scene here is so under-estimated is that there is so much diversity and variety within the scene that on any given weekend there are multiple shows going on simultaneously, each catering to a different punk sub-genre, be it hardcore, crust, folk-punk, glam-punk, metal punk, grindcore etc. The result of this is everyone ending up at different shows, wondering why there aren't more people there. I'd like to see more shows booked that have totally mixed line-ups like a crust band, a street punk band, a folk band, and a metal band together, with the fans dropping pretenses and just having a good time. I feel that separating shows based on sub-genres is splitting hairs because it's all punk to me. So to answer your question, in my opinion, the Seattle scene is kicking strong, it just needs a little more unity.

Are there any people who have helped the band along the way particularly, and what would you like to say to Bloodclots fans?

Every single one of you who support your local bands, clubs, and the over-all scene and everyone who dances at shows. Come on, you're never too cool, or old, to let go and dance like idiots! People in particular: our girls (you know who you are!), our respective children, who are a never ending source of inspiration, Roy to the Oi! Oi! for being our all-around-go-to-for-anything-guy/super-friend, Jeffro, and all of you for taking the time to read this!

To all of our fans, we'd just like to say keep up the fight. While our goals seem unreachable and our foes near invincible, remember that without the voice of dissonance, we're all merely sheep. And for dog's sake, have some fucking fun while you're at it!

"Some may tire and fade away,
their anger spent, their rage decayed,
but I won't fade to ignorance,
and I'll maintain my dissonance
and in the cogs I will remain,
just like a cancer in the brain of this institution."

-"Let This Be Your Reveille"
THE BLOODCLOTS