In this day and age, in which advertising for oriental influences is often equated with Islamism and cultural hostility, a formation like Blaak Heat is not easy. So Thomas Bellier, singer and guitarist of the trio, feels, because right at the beginning of the interview he has to make it clear: "We have nothing to do with this IS madness. We simply integrate Arabic sounds into our sound. And that's because we're absolutely fascinated by it. We want to integrate them into western harmonies in order to bring the cultures together. Who knows, maybe with this approach you can bring peace instead of war to this currently crazy planet?!"
It is statements like these that make Blaak Heat's musicians seem completely unsuspicious, fanatical and want to propagate radical religious or political views. Bellier is French, but has been living in the USA with his American wife for several years. Bassist Henry Evans is English, drummer Mike Amster Californian through and through. They all live in Los Angeles now. But what they have in common above all is "the incredible love for the music of Black Sabbath, Monster Magnet or Led Zeppelin," reports Bellier. "And then there's the intoxication that the music of the Middle East gives you. I myself started playing Oud and Saz a few years ago. You can create fascinating sounds on these instruments, beyond reality. "If you pluck it and get involved with it, you'll open up your very own worlds."
And so it happens that Blaak Heat on their third album "Shifting Mirrors" Stoner Rock à la Queens Of The Stone Age, which has just been released, merges with heavy rock of the brand Deep Purple as well as with ethno sounds of people like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan to a unity. "As controversial as this may sound at first, all these different sounds go together splendidly. What is crucial is that mysticism is the essential element. Our aim is to bring reality and the surreal together, as our band name says: "It stands for mysticism between everything and nothing"
More about the band
www.blaakheatshujaa.com
www.facebook.com/blaakheat
* * * Michael Fuchs-Gamböck
