Today we’d like to introduce you to The Blumes.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
We started The Blumes in 2018 under a different name when Antonio and I met while attending F.I.R.S.T. Institute for audio engineering. Once we graduated, we knew we wanted to pursue the band full time, thus began the journey of building the team and family that The Blumes is today. In fall 2019, we had an opportunity to sign with the label where I had been interning at, this is when Antonio turned to his longtime friend Mahalo to fulfill the role as bassist, and I asked my neighbor, Jack to fulfill duties on drums. Our eagerness to hit the ground running in 2020 quickly turned to disappointment when our hopes were crushed once the world shut down due to the pandemic. As days turned into months, we began to hear from the labelless and less and were left not knowing what would happen next. We took some time to regroup and focus on our mental health, and once we got back together the next step was to take matters into our own hands. We got in the studio in summer of 2020 to record our debut EP, completely self-funded, with the first single ‘Half of You’ releasing January 2021. Unfortunately, because of shows not coming back in time and life moving too fast, the original Blumes lineup never got to see the stage together after our original drummer sustained a personal injury. As a result, we were left having to play acoustic shows as a trio until we could find our new drummer. Fast forward to November 2021, when we were introduced to James through a mutual friend and instantly connected with each other. What we thought would be just another practice with a fill-in ended up being a defining moment that sparked musical magic and solidified us as bandmates and great friends. Since then, we’ve been fortunate enough to play some unforgettable shows and are writing the music we’ve always dreamed of making with some amazing producers and mentors by our side. – Edward Portillo
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road has been anything but smooth for us; as a young band, we knew we had a lot to learn and have always valued being able to work with people that would offer their advice and guide us along the way. Unfortunately, we learned early on that not everyone has the best intentions, as some people took advantage of our naivety.
In getting signed to a label with major industry ties, we put our faith in the promises they made to us and the experience we thought they had. As time passed, we noticed little development on their end and ultimately had to do everything ourselves. The biggest struggle in having to learn the business side of the music industry on our own was that we had to “wear all the hats,” which kept us from doing the most important thing, making music. As hard as the lesson was, it was crucial to our development as a band and individuals.
Another struggle we endured is one that everyone can relate to; just as we were preparing to launch the band and hit the ground running, the covid -19 lockdown went into effect a week before our first official show, with all remaining shows being canceled shortly after. With quarantine going into effect, we were unable to continue the progress we felt we were making and felt as though the groundwork we had done prior had all been for nothing.
The most difficult part of this was realizing we would have to wait even longer to share our music with the world. On the bright side, with little else left to do, this forced us to focus on developing our songwriting as a group. While this process wasn’t easy, and we definitely butted heads at first, this period really strengthened our foundation as a band and lead to better communication and more productive writing sessions, and brought us some of our most authentic songs.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a band, we value the song over everything and strive to be authentic to each of our own life experiences while writing. We try to stay open and vulnerable while writing with the hopes that our music can relate to people on a personal level and touch on something they feel inside. What makes us most proud is when someone tells us that a particular song made them feel something, and we know we were able to connect deeply to people with our music.
What were you like growing up?
James – I grew up in Orlando with my sister, mom, and dad. I got into music at a young age when I was sitting on the kitchen floor banging on pots and pans with wooden spoons. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been surrounded by instruments of all kinds. I tried guitar, piano, and singing, but when I was 9 years old, my dad took me to the Sam Ash music store on East Colonial. I was playing an electronic drum set with its headphones on so I could hear what I was playing, but nobody else could hear it. To them, it sounded like drumsticks on a rubber tire. But when my dad put on the headphones, that’s when we found out that I was able to keep a beat easier than I could make a melody. My dad then purchased my very first and only drumset, which I’ve had ever since then and has been played at almost every Blumes show so far. I was in the high school band as the center snare which taught me crucial musical fundamentals. After school, I tried working with several musicians and performed in a band in Colorado called Easy Lovin before I moved back to Florida from Colorado. Shortly after I met The Blumes through a friend of mine and we practiced their songs together until we were ready to record them. Now I’m working with The Blumes on the first album of many, along with several other new original songs.
Edward –
As a kid, I was very shy and reserved, more often observing from the sidelines than getting involved with the other kids. At home, I was introduced to music very early on; some of my earliest memories are those of my dad playing everything from Aerosmith, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, and other songwriting greats on the home stereo system. While some families went on cruises or extravagant trips, my family went to concerts; although I didn’t know it at the time, this would have a big impact on what I wanted to do when I grew up. When my parents offered to get me my first instrument, I knew I wanted to play something different than my older brother who already played guitar, so I opted for drums. As fate would have it, he and I traded instruments and never looked back. I started out on guitar at 12 years old, learning riffs from my favorite bands and guitar hero songs, but was still more interested in sports at the time and lost interest in guitar. It wasn’t until 14 that I picked up the guitar again, less as an interest and more as an escape from the struggles of adolescence and the mental health issues I was starting to have. It was at this time that I tried writing my first song, not knowing what I was doing, the words that came out touched on the strong emotions I was feeling, and a weight was lifted. While the song wasn’t any good, I discovered I could turn my thoughts and emotions into music and use songwriting as therapy. What started as a hobby instantly turned into something I was compelled to do. For the first time in my life, I found a way to express myself like no other, something I wanted to be involved in, and I knew music and songwriting was what I was meant to do with my life.
Antonio –
I grew up as a military kid, so we moved every couple of years. As a result of that, I had to go to new schools a lot; I know that heavily molded me into the man I am today. I was always trying new things since I have parents who wanted my siblings and I to have tons of experiences. While it was great, I never really found that something that I could really attach to. I ended up loving skateboarding and did that for a very long time, but it wasn’t until about 6 years ago when I decided to try and learn piano, that I felt a certain piece of me that felt missing kind of start to dissipate. I found myself waking up and thinking about piano and going to bed thinking about piano; slowly and slowly, I wasn’t skating as much but spent more time at home practicing. Besides piano, I found myself singing along to it and noticed I really enjoyed singing. Now music – even though I haven’t always done it – has always made an impact on me, it has made me cry, or it has uplifted me. Starting on this musician journey, I realized what I wanted to accomplish; the same thing music has done for me, I want to do for others, make them feel. Now I am 26 and have met amazing people and have had some unforgettable memories along the way, and I have no intention of slowing down. I have found permanence in music, I feel permanence in the love I have for it, and I’ll never be able to thank it enough for that.
Mahalo –
As a youngin, I had always been enthralled and involved in the arts. Luckily, growing up in New York, I always had access to museum and art events due to my mother working at The Museum of Natural History. As a child, I was extremely extroverted, which gave me many ways to express myself throughout my youth. I’ve always had opportunities to express and grow my artistic side through dance, music, and theater. When I look back, the moment I realized music would be a mainstay of my life is when I would dance in front of my TV, watching MTV, imitating my favorite artists, and recreating the music videos in my living room. From then on, I had a good idea of wanting to be involved in music anyway I could.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/Theblumesmusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theblumesmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheBlumesMusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxPwHt0zm8bLHe5dsC2538A
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3XRKHMvHGKfp6FxIBtiOX2?si=TTl4HJs3TyWCxu9VwRJqBQ
Image Credits
Ben Weickert
Swamp Witch Photos
Cole Ashley Photos
