Black Queen Speaks

“Heavy rock guitars and drums with old-school soul flourishes.” - Houston Chronicle & 29-95, 5/23/2009

“Heavy rock guitars and drums with old-school soul flourishes.” - Houston Chronicle & 29-95, 5/23/2009

“Their music is an electric fusion of hard rock, blues, and funk, a combinationthat has made us fairly leery of many, many more inept bands.What Black Queen Speaks bring to the table is, well... not sucking at it.The result is electric and dirty, music that acts as a neon sign spotlightingthe kind of sex that was illegal in this city until recently. It’s hate music tomake love to, is what we’re trying to say.” - Houston Press, 1/14/2011

“Their music is an electric fusion of hard rock, blues, and funk, a combinationthat has made us fairly leery of many, many more inept bands.What Black Queen Speaks bring to the table is, well... not sucking at it.The result is electric and dirty, music that acts as a neon sign spotlightingthe kind of sex that was illegal in this city until recently. It’s hate music tomake love to, is what we’re trying to say.” - Houston Press, 1/14/2011

“Their music is an electric fusion of hard rock, blues, and funk, a combinationthat has made us fairly leery of many, many more inept bands.What Black Queen Speaks bring to the table is, well... not sucking at it.The result is electric and dirty, music that acts as a neon sign spotlightingthe kind of sex that was illegal in this city until recently. It’s hate music tomake love to, is what we’re trying to say.” - Houston Press, 1/21/2011

“Their music is an electric fusion of hard rock, blues, and funk, a combinationthat has made us fairly leery of many, many more inept bands.What Black Queen Speaks bring to the table is, well... not sucking at it.The result is electric and dirty, music that acts as a neon sign spotlightingthe kind of sex that was illegal in this city until recently. It’s hate music tomake love to, is what we’re trying to say.” - Houston Press, 1/21/2011

“Black Queen Speaks is all over the map on its new EP Campeador — andit makes perfect sense.The seven-song project snakes through grunge, pyschedelia, metal andeven a few Santana-esque grooves. The end result, however, is cohesiveand compelling. Singer Mike Blas, guitarist Vik “D2” Day, bassist Pez Lopezand drummer Josh Skiffington have an intense chemistry, both on recordand onstage.” - Houston Chronicle & 29-95, 9/8/2011

“Black Queen Speaks is all over the map on its new EP Campeador — andit makes perfect sense.The seven-song project snakes through grunge, pyschedelia, metal andeven a few Santana-esque grooves. The end result, however, is cohesiveand compelling. Singer Mike Blas, guitarist Vik “D2” Day, bassist Pez Lopezand drummer Josh Skiffington have an intense chemistry, both on recordand onstage.” - Houston Chronicle & 29-95, 9/8/2011

“With the release of their seven-song EP Campeador, they are exploring a whole new level of honesty and rawness, as well as the lyrical twists of phrase that made listening to Guns N’ Roses such a life-changing experience.”“Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that listening to Campeador is lik eputting in a Joy Division album before opening up a nice bottle of wine and an even nicer vein in your wrist. It’s very much alive, throbbing actually now that we think about it. It pulses with rapidly exploding guitars, some of the most solid drumming we’ve ever heard on a rock record, and maximum enjoyability through sonic evacuation.““In short Campeador is to modern rock what Dan Trachtenberg’s Portal short is to cinematic video-game adaptations... a chokehold and two quick backhands to their respective industries while saying “Like THIS, fuckers. Do it THIS way.” - Houston Press, 9/9/2011

“With the release of their seven-song EP Campeador, they are exploring a whole new level of honesty and rawness, as well as the lyrical twists of phrase that made listening to Guns N’ Roses such a life-changing experience.”“Don’t get us wrong, we’re not saying that listening to Campeador is lik eputting in a Joy Division album before opening up a nice bottle of wine and an even nicer vein in your wrist. It’s very much alive, throbbing actually now that we think about it. It pulses with rapidly exploding guitars, some of the most solid drumming we’ve ever heard on a rock record, and maximum enjoyability through sonic evacuation.““In short Campeador is to modern rock what Dan Trachtenberg’s Portal short is to cinematic video-game adaptations... a chokehold and two quick backhands to their respective industries while saying “Like THIS, fuckers. Do it THIS way.” - Houston Press, 9/9/2011

"There is a ferocious elegance to Black Queen Speaks – this band of four strong personalities with varying influences is a musical summit, each member bringing his own 'language' to the creative process, described by D2 (Vik Day, guitarist) as a "sometimes brutal process involving an excruciating number of hours to arrive at the synergy of a song." - Donna McKenzie,103.7 FM

"There is a ferocious elegance to Black Queen Speaks – this band of four strong personalities with varying influences is a musical summit, each member bringing his own 'language' to the creative process, described by D2 (Vik Day, guitarist) as a "sometimes brutal process involving an excruciating number of hours to arrive at the synergy of a song." - Donna McKenzie,103.7 FM

Joey Guerra at 3:15 pm on May 22, 2009

Larry Fagala: Black Queen Speaks, and sings, too.Larry Fagala: Black Queen Speaks, and sings, too. Black Queen Speaks demands attention — starting with the band's mystical name. It conjures images of everything from an ancient royal court to dark voodoo ceremonies.

"It's definitely a symbol. She’s like a non-religious mother Maria," says BQS vocalist Mike Blas.

"She's not a dark person. She's just not afraid of the dark. She's not afraid to be angry, and she's not afraid to say things that would offend," he says about the black queen of the band's name.

Blas got the band moniker from a friend in Seattle, who suggested it for the name of a blog the pair used to stay in contact. It came up again when Blas moved to Houston less than three years ago and began looking for a band.

"We were sitting at Bohemeo's arguing, trying to come up with names. I always wanted it to be a band name," Blas says.

Bassist Gabe Lopez, formerly of Spanish rock outfit Tribu de Ixchel, says he and guitarist Vik Day went through "maybe 100 names" — including Mother Mountain, Mongoose, the Monarchs and Brash Royal — before settling on BQS.

"It took about a day for it to resonate with me," says drummer Josh Skiffington, who left Anaheim, CA Calif., three years ago. "Once it set in, there was no other option."

Day also calls the name "emblematic" of the band's musical sensibility, which fuses heavy rock guitars and drums with old-school soul flourishes on tunes Dead Like You and Soulseeker (worthy of a prime slot on iPod playlists). That blend allows BQS to occupy a unique slot amid Houston's more straightforward rock bands.

Vocalist Blas has a frantic, charismatic presence that explodes onstage. It's the result of his early influences, which he quickly pinpoints to "five bands, total" — New Edition, Steve Miller, the Beastie Boys, Weezer and the Fugees. (He's since expanded a bit.)

"(Mike) is big into folk and singer-songwriter stuff. (Josh) is big into prog and metal. Gabe and I have pretty serious classical backgrounds. But overall, we all love old '50s R&B and blues," Day says.

"The 'Black' to me was basically black music — early 20th-century black music. It’s 'Queen' because there’s a sensuality to that. You just feel it. Speaking again is just the communication."

The band is working on recording original material, but there's no rush. Day (and the rest of the court) feel that the current musical landscape isn't necessarily conducive to a new act laboring intensively over an album. The plan is to perfect individual songs and release them as they're completed. (The Black Queen is also business-minded, it seems.)

But whatever the sound, it's likely to make you want to move.

"There’s always been a groove to Houston rock," Lopez says. “We definitely try to keep that element." - Houston Chronicle-

Joey Guerra at 3:15 pm on May 22, 2009

Larry Fagala: Black Queen Speaks, and sings, too.Larry Fagala: Black Queen Speaks, and sings, too. Black Queen Speaks demands attention — starting with the band's mystical name. It conjures images of everything from an ancient royal court to dark voodoo ceremonies.

"It's definitely a symbol. She’s like a non-religious mother Maria," says BQS vocalist Mike Blas.

"She's not a dark person. She's just not afraid of the dark. She's not afraid to be angry, and she's not afraid to say things that would offend," he says about the black queen of the band's name.

Blas got the band moniker from a friend in Seattle, who suggested it for the name of a blog the pair used to stay in contact. It came up again when Blas moved to Houston less than three years ago and began looking for a band.

"We were sitting at Bohemeo's arguing, trying to come up with names. I always wanted it to be a band name," Blas says.

Bassist Gabe Lopez, formerly of Spanish rock outfit Tribu de Ixchel, says he and guitarist Vik Day went through "maybe 100 names" — including Mother Mountain, Mongoose, the Monarchs and Brash Royal — before settling on BQS.

"It took about a day for it to resonate with me," says drummer Josh Skiffington, who left Anaheim, CA Calif., three years ago. "Once it set in, there was no other option."

Day also calls the name "emblematic" of the band's musical sensibility, which fuses heavy rock guitars and drums with old-school soul flourishes on tunes Dead Like You and Soulseeker (worthy of a prime slot on iPod playlists). That blend allows BQS to occupy a unique slot amid Houston's more straightforward rock bands.

Vocalist Blas has a frantic, charismatic presence that explodes onstage. It's the result of his early influences, which he quickly pinpoints to "five bands, total" — New Edition, Steve Miller, the Beastie Boys, Weezer and the Fugees. (He's since expanded a bit.)

"(Mike) is big into folk and singer-songwriter stuff. (Josh) is big into prog and metal. Gabe and I have pretty serious classical backgrounds. But overall, we all love old '50s R&B and blues," Day says.

"The 'Black' to me was basically black music — early 20th-century black music. It’s 'Queen' because there’s a sensuality to that. You just feel it. Speaking again is just the communication."

The band is working on recording original material, but there's no rush. Day (and the rest of the court) feel that the current musical landscape isn't necessarily conducive to a new act laboring intensively over an album. The plan is to perfect individual songs and release them as they're completed. (The Black Queen is also business-minded, it seems.)

But whatever the sound, it's likely to make you want to move.

"There’s always been a groove to Houston rock," Lopez says. “We definitely try to keep that element." - Houston Chronicle-