Armed with an endless list of influences and an appetite for genre-melding, Blackcoin is bringing its unclassifiable collage of sound to Athens tonight.
The band, formed in Athens and now rooted in Columbus, is returning to The Blue Gator, 63 N. Court St., a venue that Joey Hebdo, the band's rhythm guitar player and lead vocalist, has an intimate knowledge of from his experiences as a student and musician at Ohio University.
For three and a half years every single Tuesday
I played at The Blue Gator Hebdo said.
After arriving on campus bright-eyed and green, Hebdo said he was approached by local legends and staples of the Athens music scene, Catfish and Junebug, a.k.a. John Juliano and Eric Leighton. Athens' Universal Sidemen who first teamed up in 1995, took Hebdo under their wing.
Everyone around town that is turned on to local music knows these guys
he said. They're infamous.
This marked the beginning of Hebdo's true education and emergence in the local music scene. A desire to reconnect with familiar faces led Hebdo to invite his childhood friends and musicians to play at local bars, effectively spawning Blackcoin.
Hedbo is tight-lipped on the subject of Blackcoin's sound ' but not by choice.
We don't even know what to call ourselves
he said. People tell us it has a touch of reggae.
Intentionally or not, Blackcoin avoids classification, but being a nameless beast is no problem for the Columbus four-piece, Hedbo said.
It doesn't really adhere to one scene or genre
he said. It simply is. Genres are a waste of time. Listen to it or don't.
Playing music that is truly a collaborative art, it is sometimes difficult to combine the band member's disparate tastes, Hedbo said.
Some bands know exactly where a song will go because they listen to the same things
he said. We don't have that luxury because we have very different musical backgrounds. These differences rise to the forefront
creating something that somehow makes sense.
The incomprehensible nature of music is a subject Hebdo is familiar with.
Music is almost godly. You don't have power over it
he said. It's like you're channeling something that is not your own. We're ultimately just conductors.
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