A very special Blue Cross interview

If you like HIM or the Birthday Massacre, you will love Blue Cross. If you like played-out, passé bands like Madhouse, Part 1, or Rubella Ballet, you won’t.

In this very special interview, during which Blue Cross guitarist Jo recounts his role in the Catholic Church child sex abuse scandal, as well as the band’s involvement in laundering Nazi gold, the tape had to be stopped a few times. Many in the room would get too choked up to continue. I realized there were repressed, Satanic daycare ritual abuse memories coming to the surface. It was intense, and I feel privileged to have been a witness to this special time. Listening to the Blue Cross story I began to understand why people watch the Lifetime Movie Network. Of course, by “tape,” I mean “email.” And by “laundering Nazi gold,” I mean “transporting Asian sex slaves.”

Blue Cross have a new LP coming out, I Am Death, on Noxious Noize. Proceeds from the sale of the LP will go towards the Mitt Romney 2012 Presidential campaign, so please support. I hope they get to tour with Cradle of Filth or Aiden very soon. I would certainly suck off my own grandfather to see that.

Interview below the jump cut. Sensitive trigger warnings abound, so please use caution.

Q: When did Blue Cross start, who’s currently in the band, what instruments do they play, etc.?

A: We’ve been at it since 2009. Jo plays guitar, Paul plays bass, Richard plays drums, Jean-Guy plays synths, and Jess sings!

Q: You all have a really well-developed, and exceptionally well-produced sound. The album art on the first LP was good. The “Mass Hysteria” LP had a very driving punk vibe to it, and from what I have heard off the new LP, “I Am Death” (specifically, the song “Driving Spikes into Flesh”), the sound seems like it might be a little slower, a more subtle style of postpunk. What new sounds are you exploring on the new LP, and what were your goals with how the songs sounded, as opposed to the first LP?

A: Well its not ‘postpunk’ …well at least i don’t think so. We really like scary organs and vampires and stuff like that,so we went for a more moody sound. We spend alot of money on the studio. We’re really hoping our album can get picked up by a larger record company. Studio fees have made us max out our credit cards and student loans. Maybe i should talk about this ,but its really stressing me out. I sell weed and sometimes speed for the guys in the projects down the road. I think i’l be fine soon. We’ve actually recorded a Marilyn Manson cover of “The Man That You Fear” for this new album.

Q: As far as punk and hardcore bands turning to this more deathrock-style sound nowadays, why do you think a lot of bands are doing this right now?

A: Well bands have been playing Death-punk-rock stuff for a long time now! Have you ever heard of A.F.I.?? its like really dark punk! another band people should check out if they’ve never heard it! Im sure theres other bands out there playing punk-death-metal-gothic-heavy stuff like us and AFI.

Q: Do you all plan to tour soon, or anything? Have you played in the US much? What are some of the best shows you’ve played?

A: This guy had hooked us up playing Hartford,Boston,NYC,and Philly with “My Chemical Romance” ,but he screwed us over at the last minute! we had got all our work visas in order and new tour van and then a few days before the tour he never replied to our calls and even emails! We headed for the first gig in Hartford and once we got there the venue said he never heard of us and that we couldnt play and all of this! We totally got conned by this guy! we payed this guys almost $2500. Theres alot of bad people in this business. We learned alot from our mistakes in the past!

Q: I haven’t seen any lyrics off the new LP, I Am Death. Do they tend toward the political, or will the lyrics be about personal events in your personal lives?

A: We sing about personal stuff .. you know, like problems with our parents trying to run our lives and just not understanding. Paul mostly writes songs about his girlfriend leaving him and Jess seems to bring up her addiction to phone sex 1 900 numbers. We used to make fun of her,but we now realize that its a real problem for many people out there and we hope that our music will make people realize that theyre not the only ones out there!

Q: The story that’s out there is that “Blue Cross began as a side-project of Germ Attak.” Is this the correct way to put it? How did Blue Cross start, and what motivated you start the kind of dark, deathrock-style band that is Blue Cross?

A: Well Germ Attak was more into Rancid and NOFX, but then we got more into gothic stuff like Marilyn Manson. That guys such a bad ass! He tells it like it is. He is my favorite underground artist! During the Germ Attak days the other guys didn’t wanna go for that style. They where more into Rancid, Skrewdriver or Hatebreed…. more hardcore punk stuff you know!

Q: A related question – if you were to describe to someone who’d never heard you, what your band sounded like, how would you describe yourselves? Goth-punk, deathrock, postpunk…?

A: Well i would tell him gothic metal like Marilyn Manson, although most people wouldnt know what that meant. Im not sure what you mean by Deathrock and we’re not pre or post punk.In fact were not really punk.This is a bit confusing.I mean,we have nothing against punk ,after all we’ve been going to warped tour for years now! Jess is really into The Distillers and I’m into more hardcore stuff like Rancid you know.

Q: What has been the sort of response you’ve gotten from listeners about Blue Cross so far? It seems there is a growing number of dark punk bands with female vocals – Arctic Flowers, Dekoder, Pleasure Leftists, Crimson Scarlet, and some others. Do you feel like you are a part of that scene of bands in anyway?

A: Well i havnt heard of any of these bands, but like i said ,Jess is really into The Distillers. Also i know Lady Gaga is more rap/hip hop, but we think she is a good singer even if its not gothic like us. We’re open minded people you know.My brother is friends with a black guy. My dad listens to this old tape in his car….this girl names Blondie. Ive grown to really like her! You should look it up!