INTERVIEW: Blood Lemon Bring Petite Deaths to Troy
11/05 @ No Fun, Troy
Photo by Melanie Radford
“There’s an intention behind what we do and the music continues to grow as we write new things.”
Before Doug Martsch asked Melanie Radford to be the newest bass player of indie-rock gods Built To Spill, she had co-formed a new band through the Boise, Idaho music scene with Lisa Simpson (no relation) and Lindsey Lloyd called Blood Lemon. They are heading out on tour to promote their newest release, an EP titled Petite Deaths, and that tour will bring them through No Fun in Troy for a Byrdhouse Records x Dive Presents show on November 5, with local support from Mall Goth and Torieendofstory. I had a chance to speak with Simpson and Radford about the band, touring, the EP, and of course the show.
Blood Lemon was born in 2018, from Radford’s desire to start an all-women band with pop styled songwriting and heavy riffs. While she originally approached Simpson’s bandmate Ivy Merrell, Simpson ended up answering the call when she was suggested to Radford by Merrell instead, due to her own time restrictions. There had been some familiarity with each other through the Boise scene, so they chatted and Simpson recommended Lloyd for drums. The rest is history.
“We all got together and picked some covers at first to see how it felt,” Simpson recalls. “I would say that it was pretty organic after that. We communicate well and we're all trained musicians, which doesn't always matter, but it helped being able to express our ideas to each other in that way. It didn't take very long before we were writing our own material.”
The songwriting process for the trio is very collaborative. Simpson and Radford each bring bits and pieces of songs and then they build them together. There is a lot of talking and conceptualizing, which has helped to expand their sound, especially with the latest EP, Petite Deaths. That is partially due to Radford’s latest influences of contemporary Brazilian bass players.
“I’m currently inspired by Bigu Medine of Oruã, whose playing is informed by Afro-Brazilian grooves,” she notes. “His basslines serve as interesting counterpoints to what the guitar is doing, which is something I've been exploring more in my own collaborations lately.”
Of course, Radford is also in Built To Spill, which she joined in 2019. They are the band from Boise, where even Simpson had framed posters on her wall in the background when we spoke. That can still be a difficult thing to work around though when trying to pursue another project. Add in Radford moving to Seattle in recent years, and that could potentially be a deal breaker for some bands. For Blood Lemon, not so much. The support for Radford is unquestioned and has allowed Blood Lemon to co-exist through the years.
“I just think it's different than when we started out, when we were still developing ideas and a sound, whereas now we don’t have to start from scratch every time we are able to get together. There’s an intention behind what we do and the music continues to grow as we write new things,” Simpson says.
“Lisa and Lindsey are my friends first and bandmates second, so they have always been hella supportive of me pursuing my career in the music industry, even if it means I need to be in other projects too,” Radford adds. “After all, playing for BTS is a job that actually pays my bills. It's been a challenge to balance it all, but we've been able to make it work.”
That balancing act has resulted in the band recording their latest EP, released in early 2025, at Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, California. A world renowned studio that has seen a laundry list of well known artists pass through its doors, such as Dave Grohl and Josh Homme, and even Anthony Bourdain filmed an episode of No Reservations there. Simpson spoke about her experience at the studio, with Rancho De Luna co-founder, David Catching.
“Dave was just so nice, chill, and enthusiastic. It was so magical; I got to step out of my everyday life and have this really amazing experience. Being in the desert, in this iconic studio, talking with him about his experiences of who he’s played with and who's played in that studio, and then having that experience captured on this EP is special.”
The conversation then shifted to the state of the industry, particularly how it is male-dominated and how life is for women in rock music. With rock and roll having been around for nearly 100 years as a genre, women as musicians is something that had not really been considered for a long part of that, with tropes of a good girl doesn’t become a rock singer, or play guitar. Simpson herself has been a gigging musician longer than she cares to admit, and acknowledged that there is still misogyny in the industry, noting that the fact conversations around it are still happening says it all. However, she thinks there is a bright future ahead.
“There are a lot of improvements in so many ways — girls aren't growing up thinking that guitar playing is for boys — but it's far from perfect. To me, the more representation there is, the more points of view that can be expressed and that’s better for everyone. My hope is that eventually people who are from all kinds of backgrounds have equal voices in the industry. I'm interested to see where things go.”
Opening the band’s show on November 5 will be Albany-based Mall Goth, a jangle rock band that just released an EP of their own this past August called Heather’s Exit. The band happened to have played the release show at No Fun, so here is another chance to catch them there! Also on the bill will be Albany-based, Torieendofstory, who released a new single on October 24 called “In My Hand,” and will be finishing up her seven-date, Northeast tour with this show.
Get your tickets here and for more information go to nofuntroy.com and be sure to follow @byrdhouserecords @divepresents and @nofunshows on instagram to stay up to date.
