Blackmarket Democracy
Blackmarket Democracy is a rock/metal band from Chicago that barrows from the years of punk, yet adds ingrients of their own flavorings. The live band features two guitars, a bassist and a fantastic drummer. You can watch them live on youtube and the titles below . . .
(click on a title to watch a video . . )
Blackmarket Democracy is a rock/metal band from Chicago. They are being marketed heavily on facebook and have several youtube videos that will knock your socks off. If you're into Black rock music and love Living Colour and Bad Brains . . .you'll want to hear Blackmarket Democracy. I was lucky enough to speak with their drummer, Glover Washington. He's been playing the club scenes for quite some time in the jazz and fusion genres . .and came to know the members of Blackmarket Democracy via facebook, as well. I had a conversation with him . ..and here is what Glover had to say . . . Azur Mag: ok . I'm speaking to Glover Washington . . .Thanks for joining us. I was wondering if you could go over the members of the band? Glover: ok we have Mike White . .. he's our vocalist and guitarist in the band . . .We have Steve Gaede . .he's our guitarist . . . .we have OT . .we just call him OT . . .OT is our bass player . .and of course myself and I play drums . . . . Azur Mag: Excellent . . .How did you guys find each other? Glover: It was interesting . .I was'nt playing with anyone at the time . .and I saw Mike White had put something on facebook about being in a band or if anyone was interested in jamming . .and I said cool . . .let me check him out . .and I got in touch with him . . and i said . .you know what . .I've got couple other guys I know . . .and there was Steve -- he was in a band called Ill As I Am . . .they were in a band together . . . .so I said hey . . .I always wanted to jam with these guys . . .let me call them up and see what happens. They were available one day . . .we all got together one day and boom! It was like . . instant connection . . Every body was on the same page . . .and everything worked out just great. Azur Mag: Wow . . .What about Shattered Monkey Records . . .How did that come about? Glover: (Laughs) Shattered Monkey Records . . .I think that's something Mike just invented Azur Mag: Oh ok . . I see . . . Glover: . . it was like some little game . . .every body got this little . . .I'm in association with something. . . but Shattered Moneky Records . .I really don't think that's anything important . . .You might want to ask Mike about that one. Azur Mag: Alright . . no problem . . .ok . .Where do you guys record? Glover: We've been recording at Uptown Records . . .that's on the north side of Chicago. Azur Mag: OK . . . Glover: They do some good work there . . .we've done all our recordings there, so far . . .and they've been pretty good . . .We are satisfied with what we've been hearing. Azur Mag: What kind of equipement do you have out there . . at the recording studio . . ? Glover: You know . .that one I do not know . . .you'd have to talk with them on what kind of equipment they use . . .I just play drums . .and if it sounds good . .I just go with that . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .Do you know how many tracks or channels the mixer has? Glover: I think they did 32 . . . Azur Mag: 32 . . that's good . . .Alright . . how long have you been playing drums? Glover: Oh boy . .let's see . . .I was . .probably like 9 or 10 . . .and the interesting part about that is . .I'm probably going to date myself . .or tell you how old I am . . .you remember Karen Carpenter? Azur Mag: Yeah . . .(laughs . .) Glover: OK . . .That's the reason I started playing drums . . . Azur Mag: You're kidding . . . Glover: No stuff . . . I saw her on T.V. . . .and I said . . .I can do that . . .and I told my father . .I said hey . . .I want some drums. . . .and back then . . . it was like hey . .ahh you know this stuff cost money. . . and I don't want you to get them . .and a month later . . you go . . .I don't wanna play them no more . . .I don't want it . . .but that didn't happen. . .and he kinda like .. put off some things . . .then . .to get me the drums . . .and . .man! Ever since then I've been playing them. That's it! Azur Mag: Yeah .. you just didn't give up . .(laughs . .) Glover: Yeah . .Karen Carpenter . .I saw her playing drums on some special . . .some variety show .. or what ever . . .I was like . .wow . .I like that . . . and I guess . .all the attention was on her . . .so . .why not be in the spotlight, too. . . . Azur Mag: I had forgotten she played drums . .I knew she was a singer . .but . .she was a drummer? Glover: Karen Carpenter . .She was a drummer and a singer. Azur Mag: Wow . .I totally forgot about that . . . Glover: Her brother played keyboards . . and they had the group called The Carpenters. . . Azur Mag: Right (laughs . .) Glover: Yeah . . . Azur Mag: I totally forgot . .I remember she died of the anorexic thing . . Glover: Yeah . .yeah . . . Azur Mag: It's amazing you had remembered all that . . .Like the Donny and Marie show . . and all the shows that came on around that period in time . . . Glover: . . .and of course . . Buddy Rich was on T.V every so often . . .more as like late night T.V. . .so . . .you know . . I was in the bed asleep . . .so . .I didn't really get to see him. . . Azur Mag: Right . . . Glover: . .and now with youtube and all that . .you get to see all these guys and some of the incredible stuff they were doing . . .and there's a lot of Karen Carpenter stuff on T.V. now . . .and youtube . .so you get to see it all the time, now . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .Buddy Rich . .so . .how's the touring going, anyway, with your band? Glover: . . ..going good . .. We don't go out again till the 22nd . . .22nd of August . .this month . .so . . we're going to be doing what we called a Juwenalia . .like an out door festival . . .it's a Polish festival. . .and it last . .like . .for three days . .it goes on from Friday . . .to Sunday . .and out door's . . .you bring your tent . . . you have a ball . . .you stay out all night . . .The music is going until like one or two o'clock in the morning . . and it's in a giant corn field. . Azur Mag: (Laughs. . .) Glover: There's nothing but corn and soy beans . . .and every body's having a good time . . .you know - you stay over night. . .so you're meeting a lot of people . . .people are setting up tents . .they have their acoustic guitars . . .or something . .and they're out playing . .. every body is socializing . .and it is fun . . .It's kind of like a Woodstock thing . . .it's not as big . . .(laughs . . ) Azur Mag: Yeah . . wow . .Well . . .what kind of gigs do you guys normally play? Do you guys play regularly . . . Glover: We play a lot of gigs like that . . .We're playing St. Louis. . .we're going to Iowa . . .Ohio . . we're going up to Wisconsin . . .and Michigan . . .so it's a lot more mid western type of touring . .We got the Revival . .. that's another three day thing we're about to do . . .that's coming up in Illinois here . . .so . .those kinda things . . . Azur Mag: Well . .who have you guys played with as far as the gigging's concerned . . .Have you opened for anyone .. or has anyone opened for you? Glover: We opened for a band called Saliva . .that was a pretty big one . . .They're a big national touring act . . They've been around for some years, now. . .Blue Felix . . .another big national act that's touring all over the place . . .we opened up for them . . .We were hoping to jump on opening up for Buck Cherry . . .and that's going to be up in Madison . . .but I think we missed the boat on that one . . .I think that one would have put us in a real good position to get a lot more bigger gigs . . Azur Mag: That's really good . .you guys are working. . .getting gigs . . .It's nice to see that your band is active . . .How do you feel about other rock bands like Living Colour, Bad Brains, and, possibly, Follow For Now . . .if you can remember them . . . Glover: Living Colour and Bad Brains are probably one of the bands we almost modeled after . .a little bit . . .Living Colour . .because they brought that social aspect . .they went and said . .here's what it's really like in our hood . . .our neighborhoods . . .and what we perceive . . not what you perceive . . .Sometimes social media or T.V. looks at our neighborhoods as run down and no good . . .and no good people . . .and other ones who live there call it home . .and it's their place. It might not be the greatest neighborhoods . . .no . .we don't have a "silver spoon" in our mouths . . .but it's ours. We try to make it better . . or we want it to be better . . . but you can't . . .Bad Brains gave you that. .you know what . . .let's have a good time . .let's have a good time . .make it ours . . .forget about worries right now. . .Yeah . .we know we got problems . . we'll talk about problems, too . . .but you know what . .that's not the only thing in the world . . That's how we look at them . . .but you know . .Bad Brains . .Living Colour . . .especially Living Colour . .they just have longevity . . .They're still touring . .they're still doing it. . .and those are one of the bands that we really look up to. Azur Mag; How about follow For Now? Glover: You know . . . I'm not sure . . .not sure . . Azur Mag: Not too sure . . . Glover: You'll have to ask Mike about . . . Azur Mag: Yeah . .I'll leave that one alone . . Glover: (Laughs . .) Azur Mag: Are you guys looking for any kind of record deal or any kind of major record deal . . .or anything? Glover: That would be great . . .(laughs . .) Yes sir . . we've got a lot of original music . . .We only do maybe three cover tunes . . .total . . .and . .a lot of times people want you to . . .ahh . .you guys do any covers? We really want to hear covers . .cause a lot of people do covers . . Azur Mag: Right . .. Glover: So we got a few covers . .ok . . .but . .we have a lot of originals . . .and we're all set to go in with somebody and put them down. . . and get something going . .that's what I want to do. I would love to be. . .working as a full time musician . . .only . . . Azur Mag: Right . .definitely . . Glover: I could sit at home, now . .and just play on the drums every day until we go do something . . .That would be great. (laughs . .) I would love to do that . .Until the right situation presents itself . .or . .that's what we would love to do . . . Azur Mag: Do you know what kinds of labels your looking for, or . .what kinds of labels are you interested in recording for . . .? Glover: . .That's interesting . . .a lot of people want to know . .what is it that we're actually playing. What are we . . .We call ourselves a rock band . . .we are a rock band . . .and . .labels . . want to classify you in a particular genre . . .They want to say . . . well . . this is what we think you are . . .and here's what we think you are . . .and . .we just let every body know . .we're a rock band . . .If it were an R&B label . .they'd try and do something different . . .but we want every one to know that . .first . . we are a rock band . . .A lot of people see a Black band playing rock . . .and they gotta be . .you know . . put them on an R&B label . . . .put them on this label because they're not rock. . . and we are heavy . .what ever you want to call it. . that's what we're doing . . .So . . .we're looking for a label that will say . . if you're not afraid to get into that realm of metal and rock . . fine . . .if you are a metal or rock label . . we want to do this . . . Azur Mag: Right . . .Well . . my last question. . . . is Chicago condusive for Black rock musicians. . .you know . .has the situation been agreeable or has it been kind of rough? Glover: Musicians . . .in Chicago . . . man. . .there are a million musicians . . and every body is pulling or tugging . . trying to get that spot. . .to get in . .or step in . .some where. . . and . . it's cut throat here . . .yeah . .it's cut throat. Every body wants to play in the club . . .A lot of club owners now . . instead of seeing one band a night . .that want to get three or four . . and their thing is . .how many people can I get in here . . and get the maximum. . .the money . .I want the money . . .I gotta get folks in here . . .and . . that's what they're doing. So . . .musicianship here . . .you've got to get your stuff together. Bottom line is . .that's it. . . you're going to have to be good. The othe guys coming out are judging you . .musically . . .they're trying to get labels to come out here . . .and Chicago's got great musicians. . .in fact . .it's a known fact . . . most musicians come from Chicago . . .They go to New York and LA . . .and . oh . .I'm from New York . .I'm from LA . . .they're telling folks that I'm from Chicago . .and I know a bunch of them . . .Lester Thurow . .played for Robert Cray band . . .he's from Chicago . . .Oscar Seaton . .he's out there . . He's playing with . .Lionel Ritchie . . .They go to New York . .and set up shop. . .and I keep getting phone calls and they say "Glove" . . .if you come to LA . . all you gotta do is sit down . .and you'll be playing with who ever . . .They love musicians from the mid west. Azur Mag: So . .is Chicago your most favorite part of the country? What part of the United States is your favorite place to play? Glover: I still love my Chicago . .Another place I'd like to play is Atlanta. Atlanta, Georgia. Man . .that's the place to be. . . .I like that. . .and . .Atlanta's diverse. . .gotta a lot of people there . . .a lot of different types of people . . .and . . .I think it would be a great place to set up shop. I don't know what kind of labels they have out there . . or what they do . . but . .If I had to be some where . .that would be another great place to perform in . . .and I use to perform there all the time . . .when I was playing the jazz stuff . . . Azur Mag: Now . .that's a whole other realm I need to go into . . Glover: (Laughs . . )I was playing there . . .in Buckhead . . at the Sanbooka club. ..and I was playingn there . . I would fly in . . .at least once a month. Play Sanbooka that weekend . .and then . .go back home . . .and that was fun . . I enjoyed that . . I love a variety of music . . .I love progressive . . I love fusion . . and rock . . .Those are probably the three big ones I love the most . . . My tape ran out around that point in time . . .but Glover and Mike White really helped me understand the culture surrounding Blackmarket Democracy . . and what they've gone through to make it as a touring band. They seem to be doing well . .and only have one more obstacle to face - the record label. It'll happen soon . .but until then . . they can hone their skills in the rock world and market themselves as big as LIving Colour or possibly Bad Brains . . .
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