The Blood Arm
Attention span: LA's fine, the sun shines most of the time, but rock audiences have become a little jaded, and bands often find themselves playing to bored- looking crowds who've seen it all before. But one local band is determined to change all that by bringing excitement, energy and audience participation back onto the setlist. The Blood Arm are bucking the trend thanks to the animated onstage persona of singer Nathaniel Fregoso, who's not afraid to dangle from the lighting rig or climb up on the roof if it will grab the audience's attention. Fregoso has always shown an aptitude for climbing, and scaled many a school flagpole during his high school days, but now he's using his skill to shake the LA scene out of its complacency. Luckily, The Blood Arm have the tunes to back up the acrobatics, and once Fregoso has the audience's ear, he can thrill them with such beat-driven rock'n'roll tunes as Stay Put!, Suspicious Characters, Mass Murder and Do I Have Your Attention?
Talent scouts: Five years ago, The Blood Arm was little more than a soundtrack in the head of Fregoso, then a UCLA film student. That didn't stop the young cineaste from extolling the virtues of his non-existent band to all and sundry, and promising to take over the world - just as soon as he got some musicians and wrote a couple of songs. After meeting up with guitarist Zebastian Carlisle, Fregoso began to turn his conceit into a working script. His idle boasts reached the ears of glamorous, classically trained keyboard player Dyan Valdés, who asked to join. The line-up was completed with the addition of drummer Zachary Amos, who Fregoso knew since the two were in the Boy Scouts. Rock'n'roll, eh?
MC five: The Blood Arm have a fifth member, master of ceremonies Ben Lee Handler, who has introduced the band onstage with vaudevillian pomp since their first gig (on the porch of a friend's house). The Blood Arm quickly gained a reputation as one of LA's more exciting live acts, and audiences let down their aloofness and joined in the fun. Soon they were supporting such acts as Franz Ferdinand, The Killers and We Are Scientists, and bagging a month-long residency at cool LA venue Spacelands. Their debut album, Bomb Romantics, was a collection of 13 self-recorded demos. They released a 7-inch single, Do I Have Your Attention?, on UK label Loog Records, signed a UK deal with City Rockers, and played well-received slots at last year's Reading and Leeds festivals.
Rigging out: The Blood Arm's new album, Lie Lover Lie, is out now on City Rockers, and the band celebrate with gigs on this side of the pond, including one at Dublin's Crawdaddy on December 4th. We advise the stage crew to check that the lighting rig is properly secured, because its sturdiness will be sorely tested on the night.
