BlöödHag
Encyclopedia
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band from the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
region of the Seattle, Washington. They play very short songs of which the lyrics consist of biographical and bibliographical information, observations and abstractions of Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
and seminal Horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
authors.
History
BlöödHag was formed in 1996 as a 2 piece, 4-track recording project with Dr. J.M. McNulty on guitar and Professor Jake Stratton singing but soon added Sir Zachary Orgel on bass and a Drum Machine (Philthy “the Drum Machine” Taylor). After playing local Seattle clubs for 2 years BlöödHag added a live drummer (Rodd Karp) who was subsequently replaced by Ambassador Brent Carpenter. The line up has been static since.BlöödHag was accredited by the King County Library System
King County Library System
The King County Library System is a library system serving the residents of King County, Washington, United States. Headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, KCLS is currently the busiest library in the United States, circulating 22.4 million items in 2010. It consists of 48 libraries, a Traveling...
as fitting the criteria for a literacy program.
BlöödHag has embarked on several tours of libraries in the Pacific Northwest, as well as playing in traditional music venues. BlöödHag has since toured libraries all around the country including: Chicago, Boston, Queens NYC, Athens, Austin, Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Oakland and New Orleans. The band played at the 2004 Nebula Awards in Seattle, Washington.
In 2006 the band was signed to the Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles
Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label originally based in San Francisco, California and was established in 1979. It was originally used as the label name by the Dead Kennedys for the self-produced single "California Über Alles", and after realizing the potential for an independent...
label who released their full length CD and Record "Hell Bent For Letters".
Members of the band have subsequently had some of their short fiction published in the compendium Mecca:Mettle, a collaboration with Thomas M. Disch
Thomas M. Disch
Thomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...
and Hugo
Hugo Award
The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
-winning
Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist
The Hugo Awards are presented every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
artist Tim Kirk
Tim Kirk
Tim Kirk is an American fan artist. He has been a senior designer at Tokyo DisneySea. Previously, he was an Imagineer for Walt Disney, and an illustrator for Hallmark Cards. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Commercial Art, and his Master’s degree in Illustration from...
. Mecca:Mettle is published by the publishing house of Payseur & Schmidt.
In 2009-2010, they stopped touring and slowed their schedule of live performances until finally announcing their final show would be Friday April 9, 2010. They played their final show at Seattle club The Funhouse alongside Captured! By Robots from San Francisco and Stovokor from Portland.
Media
The documentary “BlöödHag: The Faster You Go Deaf…The More Time You Have To Read” premiered at the South by SouthwestSouth by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
Film Festival in 2001. It won the Audience Award for best short at the San Francisco Independent Documentary Film Festival and was chosen by The Young Adult Library Services Association
Young Adult Library Services Association
The Young Adult Library Services Association , established in 1957, is a division of the American Library Association. The mission of YALSA is to advocate, promote and strengthen service to young adults as part of the continuum of total library service, and to support those who provide service to...
(YALSA) as one of the top DVDs and Videos for Young Adults for 2003. The documentary has been shown on PBS stations in the United States and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
BlöödHag has been featured in The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times
The Seattle Times is a newspaper serving Seattle, Washington, US. It is the largest daily newspaper in the state of Washington. It has been, since the demise in 2009 of the printed version of the rival Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle's only major daily print newspaper.-History:The Seattle Times...
(Northwest Life main story 9-20-2002), The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger
The Stranger (newspaper)
The Stranger is an alternative weekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, USA. It runs a blog known as Slog.-History:The Stranger was founded by Tim Keck, who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion, and cartoonist James Sturm. Its first issue came out on September 23, 1991...
and The Rocket. They have been featured nationally on the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Newswire, The Library Journal, American Libraries Magazine, The Athens Flagpole, The San Francisco Bay Guardian, Thrasher Magazine
Thrasher magazine
Thrasher is a monthly skateboarding magazine founded in 1981 by Kevin Thatcher, Eric Swenson, and Fausto Vitello. It regularly publishes articles , skateboard photography, interviews with professional skateboarders, interviews with and reviews of musical groups, skatepark reviews, and miscellaneous...
and Sound on Sound
Sound on Sound
Sound on Sound is an independently-owned monthly music technology magazine published by SOS Publications Group, based in Cambridge, UK. The magazine includes product tests of electronic musical performance and recording devices, and interviews with industry professionals...
. A library show in Bellevue, Washington was the subject of a NPR ‘Weekend Edition’ report. Internationally, BlöödHag has been the subject of stories on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, Canadian AP Newswire, and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(London).
Members
In keeping with the literary theme, the band has conferred upon themselves both academic titles and bibliographic histories:- Dr. J.M. McNulty (aka Deus Ex Libris the Plagiarazor), guitar
- Professor J. B. Stratton (aka Grimoire the Expectorator), vocals
- Sir Zachery Orgel (aka Logos the Rythmaticist), bass
- Ambassador Brent Carpenter (aka Codex 23 the Chronomaster), drums
Former Members
- Lieutenant Governor Rodd Karp (aka Lexikhan the Chronomaster), drums
- Philthy Taylor, drums
Featured authors
Some of the authors to have been featured in songs include:- Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
- Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
- Octavia E. ButlerOctavia E. ButlerOctavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.- Background :Butler...
- Edgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice BurroughsEdgar Rice Burroughs was an American author, best known for his creation of the jungle hero Tarzan and the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, although he produced works in many genres.-Biography:...
- Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
- Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
- Philip K. DickPhilip K. DickPhilip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
- Thomas M. DischThomas M. DischThomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...
- Harlan EllisonHarlan EllisonHarlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...
- William GibsonWilliam GibsonWilliam Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
- Robert A. HeinleinRobert A. HeinleinRobert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre. He set a standard for science and engineering plausibility and helped to raise the genre's standards of...
- Anne McCaffreyAnne McCaffreyAnne Inez McCaffrey was an American-born Irish writer, best known for her Dragonriders of Pern series. Over the course of her 46 year career she won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award...
- Michael MoorcockMichael MoorcockMichael John Moorcock is an English writer, primarily of science fiction and fantasy, who has also published a number of literary novels....
- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- J. R. R. TolkienJ. R. R. TolkienJohn Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
- Jules VerneJules VerneJules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
- Roger ZelaznyRoger ZelaznyRoger Joseph Zelazny was an American writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for his The Chronicles of Amber series...
- Robert E. HowardRobert E. HowardRobert Ervin Howard was an American author who wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. Best known for his character Conan the Barbarian, he is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subgenre....
- Thomas PynchonThomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
- Neal StephensonNeal StephensonNeal Town Stephenson is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction.Difficult to categorize, his novels have been variously referred to as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk...
Recorded work
- The Dewey Decibel System 7" EP
- Gorgeous Ladies Of Writing 7" EP
- Hooked On Demonics "Book on Tape" EP
- Necrotic Bibliophilia CD/LP
- Appetite for Deconstruction thus far Unreleased Tapes
- Mecca|Mettle (Anthology featuring text/audio works by BlöödHag, Thomas Disch, and Tim Kirk)
- Hell Bent for LettersHell Bent for LettersHell Bent for Letters is the second full-length album by the Seattle, Washington-based literary-metal band Blöödhag. It is their first release for Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles label. It was produced and recorded by the band's guitarist, Dr. J.M...
CD/LP Alternative Tentacles
External links
- BlöödHag official site
- Hobbits in the Mosh Pit (SFWA Bulletin, Winter 2002)
- Myspace profile