Podcast #3: Life in an up-and-coming rockband: BLISTER

“Ramone” from the Malaysian hard-rock band “BLISTER” sits down and talks about music & what life is like in a band that plays big shows.

About this episode
Welcome to the third episode.

A week before recording this episode, I saw Guns ‘n Roses live on their “Not in this lifetime Tour” in Perth, Australia. Before the show, I was hanging out in a bar and I saw this dude who had a serious, full-on rock ‘n roll look. Big hair, beard, sunglasses, leather jacket.

Of course I had to go and talk to him.

It turned out that he was in “Blister”, one of the biggest rock bands from from Malaysia. These guys opened for none other Slash himself, twice.

We had a great conversation about music, and I figured we might as well continue talking with the mic present. And talking we did, for three hours straight. Ramone, the guitar player in Blister, shared many cool stories about the rock ‘n roll life, what it’s like to be in an up and coming band, what it was like to be the opening act for Slash, how his band got fucked over their record label, how they hung out with the queen of Cambodia, how they created their own fraternity, and how they trashed a fancy wine and dine event with 20 members of said fraternity.

You can find them on the internet and social media by searching for #weareblister, because just searching for “blister” doesn’t yield the search results that you want.

Ramone is a fascinating guy with good stories.

If you’re a fan of rock music, you’ll like this one.

The show

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Contents
00:05:01 – Led Zeppelin
00:07:03 – The origin of Blister
00:09:00 – Backyard Pub in Malaysia
00:13:00 – Being on a reality TV show (Blast Off Battle of the Bands)
00:16:00 – World heritage
00:18:25 – The opening act for Slash
00:24:20 – Showtime
00:31:00 – The VIMA awards
00:36:40 – Record label issues
00:44:30 – Playing a gig for FHM
00:49:29 – Opening for Slash again
00:53:19 – Random travel banter
01:09:35 – Prince
01:14:50 – It ain’t easy
01:18:00 – Playing the big opening act
01:37:54 – Guitar gods
01:42:25 – The band
01:56:49 – #WeareBlister
02:02:00 – Hanging out with the Princess of Cambodia
02:11:40 – Advice for aspiring musicians
02:24:40 – Wild Rock ‘n Roll stories
02:31:30 – Crashing a party
02:46:50 – What’s next & some track samples

Recording details
Recorded on Febuary 23, 2017; in the backyard of my place at the time in Perth, WA, Australia.

Recorded on the small setup.

Notes/links
Follow Blister on:
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Soundcloud

Last week of June is the time to go to Malaysia: Fiesta de San Pedro

Whole Lotta Love band audition

Blister live opening for Slash

Blister Single: “Commander”