by martina rexrode
photo by lexi bonin
Formed in 2016, Blitz Vega is composed of Kav Sandhu, Asa Brown, Thom Arizmendi, Greg Gent, Craig Eriksson, and the late Andy Rourke. Since officially launching and releasing music in 2019, the band has been working hard on their debut album Northern Gentlemen. Its title is a nod to a nickname that was comically thrown around in the studio to describe Rourke and it gives the album more meaning than they might’ve ever imagined. Their latest single “Disconnected” is out March 8th and the album drops on April 26th.
Can you put into words what this upcoming single and the eventual album mean to the band?
Blitz Vega: “‘Disconnected’ is a special song for us as it all came from Andy’s baseline. We were recording at Big Bad Sound in Los Angeles and Andy came in with the idea on his bass. We then built the song around him. The lyrics were the final part after all the music was recorded.
Northern Gentleman is a nod to Andy. The album means the world to us, it’s the most difficult but enjoyable music project that I’ve ever been part of. The album is a diary of our journey and experiences over the seven years we worked together. The studio sessions were always fun, but we had this thing overshadowing everything we did, knowing Andy was running out of time. It’s what Andy wanted so we are sticking to our promise to him.”
What made you choose “Disconnected” as the first single since 2022?
Blitz Vega: “It just felt natural after listening to the album. We have such a great team working on this for us. They are part of it, just as much as we are. The feedback was good on ‘Disconnected’ so we are going with it.”
There is a certain nostalgic quality to “Disconnected” that feels reminiscent of classic 90s rock music. How were you able to blend influences from the past into the modern rock scene and avoid creating a song that felt stuck in one specific era?
Blitz Vega: “To be honest, all the music we recorded, we didn’t really think about this at all. We just recorded music we wanted to listen to. It was always spontaneous, always based on feeling and not overthinking. That’s why we loved the recording process so much.”
How does Northern Gentlemen, your debut album, represent the band as a whole?
Blitz Vega: “It’s Blitz Vega, it’s exactly what Andy and I wanted the record to sound like. It’s a perfect representation of the band and where we were in our lives and what we went through to make it. It’s a soundtrack to the last seven years, highs and lows and everything in between.”
Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke’s former bandmate in The Smiths, added his trademark guitar sound to the previously released single “Strong Forever.” How did this reunion/collaboration come about?
Blitz Vega: “It was all down to Andy, those guys have been great friends since they were kids. Andy felt so proud of this band, I guess he reached out to Johnny Marr to add some guitar. I didn’t know much about it, until it happened. But what a moment. We felt privileged to have his guitar on ‘Strong Forever.’”
photo by lexi bonin
Which songs on the album are you the most excited for listeners to hear?
Blitz Vega: “‘Lost Myself’ and ‘High Gravity’ are my favorites. Andy loved those tracks and always chuckled to himself when he was listening to the words. ‘Big Nose’ I’m excited about and ‘Pass The Gun’ with Z-Trip on the decks. But I feel it’s a pretty old skool album, you have to listen to it from start to finish to really get it.”
What kind of challenges did you face within your creative process when writing during the height of the pandemic? What did you learn about yourselves creatively during that time?
Blitz Vega: “Apart from not being able to be in the studio together it was great for me. I could lock myself away and just write and record. I recorded a lot of the vocals and extra guitars in my home studio. I felt I could disappear within myself and truly express everything that was going around my head without any distractions.
I learnt that I need to switch my phone off and lock myself down when I’m writing lyrics and recording vocals, that seems to get the best out of me.”
In the years since the band was launched in 2019, how have you evolved both musically and personally?
Blitz Vega: “Just that I appreciate every single moment of joy that I feel and feel lucky to be able to still make music and have this outlet to express myself. We played our first show without Andy in London on Feb 24th at the Scala. This was the first time I’d been on stage with Blitz Vega since July 2019. It was bittersweet, it felt so good to be back on stage doing what we do. But also not having Andy there was hard. Half way through the set I felt his presence and it made me feel relaxed and enjoy the performance. I just appreciated the fact people had come to see us and support us and they enjoyed the show. If we can do that going forward, then I’m happy.”
What kinds of hopes do you believe Andy would have for the future of Blitz Vega?
Blitz Vega: “Andy was very clear with me about what he wanted. When I was sitting with him in the hospital in New York he made sure I understood his wishes. It was difficult as I really didn’t want to talk about it at the time. I believed he would somehow get better and everything would be okay.
He told me he wanted the album to be released no matter what and he wanted us to take the album on the road. He made me promise him. It meant so much to him.
I haven’t thought about anything else but doing that, that’s all I’m focused on.”