Chicago owns The Blind Staggers
Interview Conducted on Feb. 01, 2020
by Dan Locke
The Blind Staggers play the kind music that rattles around your brain at 4am after a long, lonely night at the bar. Singing songs of heart ache and hangovers, the Blind Staggers have been impressing live audiences with the knockout dynamic between Damien Christian Wilburn and Laura Loo as the band plays heart felt rock Americana that captivates and haunts while rocking you in the now. Check out their new EP “This Times a Charm” on Seven Dead Arson Records.
Band Members
Laura Zielinski-Vocals
Damien Christian Wilburn-Guitar/Vocals
Tony Lee-Guitar
Bha- Drums
Shrek-Bass
Dan Locke:How did you get your band’s name? I found a band with the name Blind Stagger, from NH.
Damien: I got it from a Woody Guthrie song “Talking Hard Work”. It’s a song about trying to impress a woman by how hard he works. At one point in the song, he rattles off a bunch of illnesses he’s contracted from being out in the elements working. It kinda popped out at me and we needed a name at the time.
Never heard of blind stagger from NH. The biggest appeal of the name was no one had it! The only other thing that came up when I searched it was the cattle disease.
How did you create the band and the sound?
Laura: It just kind of came about organically. The band, the sound… we’re just a bunch family that likes to get loud.
Damien: When I started what became the Blind Staggers, it was me and two friends playing our take on country/Americana. Then Laura joined and we changed the name. As members of the band came and went we didn’t have to look far for great musicians to fill their shoes. Laura’s brother Shrek took over bass very early on and the sound changed a bit. My brother and Laura’s now-husband, Tony Lee came in on lead guitar during our second record, Exile on Argyle and our sound changed even more. By the time Braden came on as our drummer three years ago, the final piece of the puzzle was there. The sound has gone from country to a more rock n roll vibe. We just play what feels right to us at the time. And this time around we wanted to make a rock n roll record.
What is Outlaw Love Song? I am picturing a relationship with too much drinking?
Damien: It’s something you put on your Facebook page to try to sound cool and forget is up there till you’re reminded in an interview. But really, yeah you’re right. It’s definitely about relationships with too much drinking, too many late nights and the regret that comes with it.
Tell me about the first gig you performed as a band together?
Laura: The first one was actually at Beat Kitchen. Damien had a band called Press Gang that was booked to play with Tony’s band MF Ruckus from Denver. For some reason or another one of Damien’s bandmates couldn’t make it so he called in a backline of friends to fill in for the night, including my dad Bobby Z from Eliminator. I just never left.
Damien: Yeah, our drummer couldn’t do the show, so instead of getting a drummer to fill her spot I called a bunch of other musicians and played acoustically. I asked Laura to sing and it was obvious that she had to stick around for more than just one show.
Laura and Tony, you are married. How is it to be working in the same band?
Laura: It Rules! We always get the best sleeping spot when we’re on the road.
Laura, I see you have a thing about Jeff Buckley. Did you go to the uncommon ground event which they have every year on his birthday?
Laura: You’ve done some research! Truth be told, it’s a bit of an inside joke. We took a family vacation to the Rock N’ Roll hall of fame about 15 years ago. It must’ve been the anniversary of his death or a birthday or something because he was all over the museum and we had no idea who he was. All weekend long we just kept screaming “Who the fuck is Jeff Buckley” and it turned into a whole scavenger hunt thing. Anything and everything we saw… Lost flip flop on the ground “Ooh, I bet it’s Jeff Buckley’s” It was really dumb.
I saw on your website your band wearable gear. Your shirts look almost like Bear shirts. You should try to get a group of people who are Bears fans to start wearing them. They may be seen on television then. And it will help to get the name of the band out?
Laura: Absolutely! Those are probably the best selling shirts that we’ve had to date. Let’s get em out there!
Damien: They are a Bears/Motörhead mash-up by our buddy Low Tron. We’ve been getting them to as many Bears fans as we can. I’d love to see one on tv!
The time you played at the Metro (2013). Did you run into any ghost which I head are on the upstage stage?
Laura: I’ve definitely heard the ghost stories but haven’t run into any myself.
Damien: I never saw a ghost there but I know people who have! I worked next door at Gman for years and heard all the stories. We definitely had a stretch of time where strange orbs kept appearing in our pictures. We just assumed they were ghosts. Those buildings have a lot of history.
I see your band had a gig on May 16, 2015 at the Abbeypub. I have to check to see if I have photos from your show. I was the Abbeypub house photographer at that time. Can you tell me how your time at the Abbey pub?
Laura: Oh snap, we’d love to see those! I’m thinking that was the show with Slim Cessna? That band rules. We had a blast. I remember it being crazy hot and lounging around on the patio.
Damien: Oh man that was a hot one! Those giant fans they had were really awesome. That show was super fun. Slim Cessna’s Auto Club was great. They had that double-neck velour telecaster with the hologram Jesus. I was blown away.
Tell me about your latest video release “Used to Party”? It reminds me of Alice Cooper’s “Under my Wheel”.
Laura: Alice Cooper rules! We just had a ton of fun with it, I think we’ve discovered a serious love of playing dress-up.
Damien: It was written not too long after we did an Alice Cooper tribute set, so that makes sense. The lyrics for “Used to Party” were written as a darker song about when the party goes too far and you’re just doing drugs because doing drugs is what you do. I actually wrote the riff for Tony’s other band MF Ruckus! I brought the lyrics and the riff as two separate ideas to practice and they all said it should just be one song. And they were right! The video was a blast! The original concept was “old people getting together for a visit and accidentally getting wasted on each other’s medication” and it grew from there.
How does this year look for you?
Laura: It’s shaping up nicely. We are excited about the record release and to hit the road with our friends from OKC the Klamz in the Spring. We’ll see where we go from there.
Damien: Yeah, I’m excited about this year. This record has been a couple of years in the making and I’m glad to have it out. I’m looking forward to more shows and most likely making a couple more videos.
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Laura: Driving slightly better-used cars and putting our beer in a full-size functioning refrigerator.
Damien: This band wasn’t supposed to last more than five years originally, but here we are ten years deep. In five years I’d like to have toured Europe a bit and the west coast. At this point, we all just want to keep getting to travel and have new experiences with our little family while getting to play music along the way.
Anything in closing?
Damien: I’m just stoked I get to do this. I hope everyone gets a chance to listen to our new record “Doing Alright… Considering” available for pre-order from Seven Dead Arson Records. (sevendeadarson.com)
Laura: I apologize to any serious Jeff Buckley fans out there that I may have offended with my Buckley ignorance.
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