Interview with JJ Darby, lead singer of The Bloodshake Chorus

Earlier this year I was given the chance to sit down and talk to JJ Darby also known as 'Mann Slaughter' (despite them being very different people) from The Bloodshake Chorus, a popular Norwich based alternative band.

The Bloodshake Chorus have been together now for eight years and I was curious to know what inspired Darby to start The Bloodshake Chorus.

Mann Slaughter taken by Simon Finlay Photography at Norwich City Council Spooky City 2019

Darby had previously left a band called 'Second Hand Blues' in which he was the bass player but missed singing, Darby and his friend Cev started discussing the idea of starting a new band but wanted to do something that would give them more anonymity, as Darby had issues in the past with people approaching him in situations in which he wasn't always comfortable.

One evening Darby and Cev were playing a game called 'Stubbs the Zombie' which featured a 50s style zombie and modern day covers of fifties songs such as 'Mr Sandman' and Darby and Cev started to picture a scenario in which retro zombie artists from the fifties came back from the dead to find out that other artists had been singing their songs and were not impressed. Essentially, fifties and sixties style zombies performing their material in a way which pleased them!

However, Darby knew that "we had to rewrite them and make the most of the fact we were just a four piece at the time", now they are a five piece which has "held them in good stead" especially at festivals as it means they are not considered a covers band due to their unique style.

The sixties element was Darby's idea, inspired by Darby's father playing guitar in a sixties band. Darby remembers travelling around with his father and meeting all sorts of bands. Being so familiar with sixties music meant that Darby could easily put his own twist on the songs.

Career Highlights

Darby's personal dream act to support would be Rammstein but for the band, it would have to be Alice Cooper, that would be a show I would definitely want to see!

Bloodshake have already supported such iconic acts such as Madness and Skunk Anansie and Bloodshake also had a six month residency at The Troubadour in London which has featured such acts as Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix.

Also, who could forget Darby's brilliant show with the Rag'n'Bone Man and The H Gang at the Ocean Rooms last year! For Darby, performing with the Rag'n'Bone Man was definitely a career highlight.

However, one bittersweet highlight would be their performance on BGT. Bloodshake were approached by BGT to appear on the thirteenth edition of the talent show, this would include a hotel stay, performance and backstage interviews. On the day, they did a staggering ten hours of interviews and promotional photos before their performance of "I Who Have Nothing" (originally performed by Shirley Bassey). The performance went well and the judges very complimentary, they received four yes’s and two standing ovations and were told backstage they would be going through to the Semi-Final but they would have to still go through a deliberation round.

Despite being told not to mention their television appearance, Bloodshake discovered that BGT had shared videos and photos of their appearance on social media which made it difficult to keep under wraps. Unfortunately, the band later found out they had not been accepted but kept a look out for footage from their performance but the footage was sadly never shown.

Although this was disappointing for Bloodshake, Darby knew that they did a fantastic job and regardless of the outcome was proud.

Future Plans

Sadly 2020 caused many problems for the entertainment industry, Bloodshake had over eighty gigs booked which included wrestling shows and was set to be their busiest year yet. They managed a few socially distanced gigs in the summer and one in October and although the gigs were busy, Darby admitted it just wasn't the same.

Darby aims to do more high profile gigs but fewer of them as this time off has shown them how important it is to rest.

BloodShake are being careful and so far only have one gig booked in for August which they are hoping will go ahead but understandably they are taking things slowly as they do not want to let anyone down. Bloodshake now have a new keyboardist which is exciting and they now have a new merchandise store which includes previously unreleased shirt designs and can be seen at http://www.thebloodshakechorus.ouroboros-printing.com/

Image taken by Simon Finlay Photography @ Norwich City Council Spooky City 2019

Norfolk are very lucky to have such a talented band in our midst and I would highly recommend supporting them in whatever way you can.

Thank you again to Darby for taking the time to talk to me!