LifesizeMonsters

Brain In A Box

BIO

            Blackwood leans over a dimly lit console and turns a dial.

            Electricity courses through a complex network of wires and cables,

igniting a fiery blue spark that arcs between drumsticks.

            Strange colored liquids bubble in beakers beside a box that contains a brain as Igor, the hunchbacked sound editor, sets EQ levels with maniacal laughter…

            A scene from a classic horror flick? A midnight movie fest?

            Nah…just another mad scientist creating LifesizeMonsters.

            Although LifesizeMonsters’ first album, Brain in a Box, represents a collaboration between numerous musicians and technicians, in a very real way LifesizeMonsters is Blackwood, who wrote the songs, mixed the sound tracks and took the chances that make Brain a masterpiece that challenges it’s audience.

            “I wasn’t trying to make a general appeal to kids,” Blackwood said.  “I was trying to create more substance in that project than you see in pop music, less emphasis on cars, girls and drugs.”

            Never stale or predictable, LifesizeMonsters’ music ranges from colorfully theatrical to dark and brooding, to wildly energetic, as if David Bowie joined Pink Floyd and formed a punk band.

            These musical influences are clearly evident throughout Blackwood’s musical career. A keyboard player since high school, his first band fazed out after only three practice sessions…like many high school groups. But unlike the usual garage band, Blackwood worked with drummer Greg Hall, who later went on to perform with Sacred Reich, and continues to work with Blackwood on projects such as Brain in a Box.

            Blackwood went on to work with bands that stayed together long enough to have names, including the piano/punk band Tinnitus, and the underground rock group Twenty-four Hour World, voted one of the top fifty favorite local bands by New Times.

            The classic rock and roll band The Hop highlighted Blackwood’s piano and vocal talents, while his experience grew through guest appearances with progressive rockers Christus Christus, the “fish rock” band Bog Pig and the Fish Muddle, funksters Big Orange Thing, and the biker blues of Saloon Society.

            Along with his live stage performances, Blackwood also began working as a producer for Living Head Audio Recording, and it was during his sessions in the studio that he realized the potential for experimentation that the recording studio offered.

            And experimentation is the keyword for Brain in a Box.

            “We took everything to the limits on Brain,” Blackwood said. “There was no safety net for anyone. I wanted to keep everything experimental, but not at the cost of the music.”

            “One of the themes of Brain is to portray electric anxiety, just the raw music of the moment,” Blackwood said. “David Nichols and I used every chance we could to experiment (David being the owner of Living Head Audio Recording and engineer for Brain in a Box). No matter how farfetched the idea, we tried it. Maybe we didn’t use every idea, but at least it was recorded.”

            Despite the engineering wizardry, that makes Brain in a Box an adventurous and at times outrageous avant-garde work, Blackwood has no desire to give live performance for the pleasures of the recording studio.

            “The beauty of studio work is in the manipulations you can do. Recording has its own techniques and art,” Blackwood said. “I love working in the studio, there’s nothing better…except for playing live. When you’re on stage, you can look into peoples’ eyes and see their reaction. We have a three-piece line up for live shows consisting of myself, Billy Blaze on drums and Vocals and Terry McGill (creator of the band Tinnitus) on bass. With a power trio I can get more intimate with an audience, actually touch them.”

            This is an act that performs.

On a stage or in your CD player LifesizeMonsters will grip the listener by the throat.