If you’ve ever attended their gig, this band doesn’t need an introduction. With drone-y grooves and fuzzy guitars, they’ve managed to create a place for themselves in the Delhi live music circuit. For everyone else, Bleachead is three-piece desert/stoner/hard rock band from Delhi “comprised of three ‘+’ sized gentlemen, who see eye to eye on matters of hardcore riffage & dystopian narratives” as the band likes to introduce themselves. The band is back with a supercharged new single called ‘Fuzzpacker’ following the release of their debut album ‘Z’.
Following the events of the first album ‘Z’ we see the titular hero BLEACHEAD (as seen in the artwork) come into a different, more… ratchet world. A third of the planet is a scorched, arid wasteland. Home to a smorgasbord of surviving ‘love mistakes’, unnecessarily modified off-road vehicles and some rather inspired hairstyles. BLEACHEAD, the architect of this Mad-Maxian nightmare finds himself the object of worship as the God who greatly simplified the lives of those ‘wronged’ by pesky things like laws and civil society. They worship an ‘old world’, free of butthurt teenagers and penicillin, free of music that doesn’t invoke imagery of an eagle atop a tiger riding an ATV into an exploding sunset.
‘Fuzzpacker’ is about nostalgia in general. The idea of wanting an earlier time comes from a place of not wanting to be a part of or finding any common ground with one’s zeitgeist. It’s about being bitter that the world you wanted to exist in is long gone. Fuzzpacker is a call to arms for the delinquents of the ‘old world’. The single is sentimental but heavy, featuring a quaint introduction followed by the song opening up into a much more sinister chorus. The guitarwork and tones shine bright through the sound, supported by the clever arrangement.
On building a narrative around their releases, the band says “We look to incorporate our music into “The world of BLEACHEAD”, a dystopian narrative we have created centred around our protagonist and the namesake of the band; BLEACHEAD. Each song serves as a glimpse into this world, complete with its own unique illustration and short description.”
Commenting about how the pandemic has affected the momentum the band built with their live perforances, they say “People really love the live aspects of BLEACHEAD. We blend the pulsing elements of stoner rock with the evolving structures of prog to create something unique which has something for everyone. This time last year, having played some amazing shows around the city, we found ourselves focussing our energies solely towards expressing ourselves on stage.Since the pandemic, we’ve found ourselves exploring other ways of capturing the audience’s attention. There’s so much more to BLEACHEAD than just playing live; we’re trying to shift our focus towards the parts of us that utilize our audio, video and artistic skills. We’re looking to express our creativity through any and all mediums available to us now; be it band photographs, music videos or even a narrative based around BLEACHEAD, the namesake of our band. We also just happened to be three really good friends who happen to share a similar sense of humour and have similar tastes in story-telling and world building.”
In addition to this, the band also reveals their plans for the future. “In the pipeline is a music video for our song ‘Sedative’, using the test footage we shot right before the country locked down. What was supposed to be a huge shoot with 25 extras and a full set is now going to be something completely different that we managed between just the three of us. The new climate has also given us an opportunity to really embrace the DIY culture of our group. This being said, we’re also itching to get up under the lights again and rock a room (or arena someday) full of people. When that opportunity was taken away, it left a huge opportunity for growth in its wake but when it does return, we’ll be ready and waiting with so much more.”
