Blue Flashing Light

Blue Flashing Light Talks To Æ About Charity, Opportunity, And The Future

The power of karma is finally working its magic on one local Athens band.

Blue Flashing Light, a group who set up camp just over a year ago at Pigpen Studios, has done more than their fair share of helping out the community through a variety of benefits. They are now getting the long-awaited respect and recognition they deserve.

99X in Atlanta has added Blue Flashing Light to their rotation and also sponsored their performance at 10 High in Virginia Highlands last Friday night.

This fall Blue Flashing Light was also voted a finalist in the Austin City Limits Music Festival, outperforming over 600 bands from around the country.

Over one-fourth of their performances in 2007 have been benefit concerts, and on November 30 at the Melting Point, their final show of the year will follow suit.

Blue Flashing Light will be performing Friday night along with Allison Weiss and her band Allie and The Bandits to raise money and awareness for the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia.

Influenced by U2, Oasis and The Killers, the group released their first album, Shadowboxing, at the 40 Watt in September.

The recent decision by bass player Sheldon Wolfe to leave the band has caused the remaining five to make some changes, revamp their sound and take the next couple of months to work on a new EP, due next February.

Athens Exchange had the opportunity to talk with Ian Schwarber, frontman for Blue Flashing Light, and got the scoop from this past year’s progress to what’s in store for 2008.




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Athens Exchange: For those who might not be familiar with Blue Flashing Light, how would you classify your music as far as genre is concerned?

Ian Schwarber: Our band has had problems defining itself in terms of its sound, especially in the past year, because we’ve tried so many new things. I’d say what we are now is more of an adult alternative type of sound. That’s a very comfortable place to fit in for us. You know, like Coldplay, Keane, U2...

AE: How do you think Sheldon Wolfe’s decision to leave BFL is going to change the band overall?

IS: It’s going to change a lot, actually. One thing is we’re not adding a new member. We’re taking our guitar player Ryan Cattie from being a rhythm guitar player down to being the bass and I think his playing is going to be absolutely astonishing because of his melodic ability as a guitar player. I think we’re actually going to have a very melodic, very Beatle-esque, very modern day Oasis-esque type of sound on the bass. The lead guitar player, Adam Monica, is really going to get a chance to be a lead guitar player whereas before they did a lot of guitar work together.

AE: So how will the new record be different from Shadowboxing?

IS: I think we’ve been living inconsistently with who we are for the last year. I mean we love that record, but it’s indicative of a band that no longer exists. The band that exists is going to put out a record that’s extremely up-to-date to what we’re doing now creatively as artists.

AE: Last Friday you had a performance in Atlanta, sponsored by 99X. What was that like?

IS: Amazing. We played in front of a well-packed room and had very good crowd reaction. I think we brought the house down. We also got to have a lot more interaction with our fans than normal. Our performance there was very much what to expect next year. It was definitely going towards the right direction.

AE: You write the majority of the songs, correct?

IS: I write the majority of the songs either by myself or with my brother, which is not to say that we write people’s parts for them. I write lyrics, and my melodies and the song structure. The chords are either written by myself, my brother or the both of us, but everyone writes their own parts. Nobody infringes on anybody else, but we take each other’s advice.

AE: As far as performances are concerned, about one-fourth of those this year have been benefits. Why so many?

IS: I think I’ve got a lot to atone for and I think my band probably has the humility to say they’ve got a lot to atone for. We’ve got the luck to have a set of talents that allows us to be able to do what we love and raise a lot of awareness and a lot of money for many different causes. There’s nothing better than contributing money to children with cancer, to women who get abused, to children who have mental illness, to impoverished areas that don’t have instruments and to centers that need money to keep going so they can help local artists. It feels amazing.

AE: Your last concert in Athens this year is at the Melting Point, November 30 benefiting the Sexual Assault Center of Northeast Georgia. Was this your idea, or did they come to you?

IS: They came to Bulldog 103.7 with that idea, and Bulldog 103.7 decided they wanted BFL to be their headline. We’re thankful to them for that.

AE: So do you think they picked BFL for this because of your background with benefits or based solely on your music?

IS: I doubt it was solely on the music. If it was solely on the music I would be extremely surprised and I would buy the whole station drinks. I think they probably chose us because we were playing that venue a week later. It was probably because they know that we are willing to do benefits, willing to forgo making money ourselves in order to help a good cause. We’re suckers for that, and there is nothing better to be a sucker at than that.

AE: You’ve been set up in Pigpen Studios since moving to Athens. How did you work out that arrangement?

IS: When we were moving here we looked online at places where you could actually have a residency, which is an apartment for your band. It has security. It has sound-proofing. It has heating and air-conditioning. All that stuff. It does cost $360 a month to live there, but it’s worth it. But, when you play benefits all the time and when you travel to towns all over with gas and equipment and you forego hours to work, it does get a bit uneconomical. That’s the struggle of artists all over this town. It costs you to be an artist. The starving artist notation is actually incorrect. It’s more like welfare artist.

AE: So right now BFL is making zero. You have to pull this money out of your own pockets?

IS: Absolutely. We sacrifice. Don’t think of it as if I’m complaining or I’m bitching. You sacrifice what one would call pleasures in life, such as nicer couches in your house, or vacations, dinners out, stuff like that. But, the pleasures in life for us are things like going on stage, and to perform and to make records.

AE: What’s your favorite part about the Athens music scene?

IS: How nice and welcoming everybody is.

AE: Least favorite?

IS: How unbelievably intolerant a lot of people can be. Also, the amount of ignorance that goes into a lot of the opinions that I’ve heard. I’ve heard reviews of bands that I really do like that I cannot get my head around how these reviews get written. So really, my least favorite [thing about Athens music scene] is the lack of investigation on the part of some people to just say, “I like this kind of music and if you’re not this kind of music there’s no way I’m going to listen to you.” It’s a very close-minded perspective.

AE: How is BFL different from other bands here in Athens?

IS: We play Atlanta a lot, and a lot of bands here don’t play Atlanta a lot for whatever reason. But we’ve played there more times than we’ve played in Athens honestly. You find out that there is a lot less animosity between bands there then there is here. We’re so far outside of that because we do things that a lot of these bands don’t even mess with. We take a big interest in UGA. We take a big interest in the Flagpole. We take a big interest in AthFest. We take a big interest in benefits. We take a big interest in traveling to different cities to learn from other cultures.

AE: Where do you see Blue Flashing Light a year from now?

IS: I see us on MTV2, maybe MTV1. I see us in rotation on major alternative rock stations around the country. And I say that because I do see that.

by Mary Catherine Brutz
11/26/2007
- Athens Exchange 11/26/2007

"Blue Flashing Light is the epitome of what a good arena rock band should be: cohesive, energetic, hook-y as hell and loud. BFL is what you get when you combine The Matthew Good Band with U2."

Charley Lee
Exerpted from June 18, 2008 - Exerpted from Flagpole 6/18/08

Blue Flashing Light: Born Akron, Nation Ready

From Hoban to one of New Music's hot topics, Blue Flashing Light is ready to shine. Here is ANN music writer Carissa Bowlin's second installment with the band's co-founder Ian Schwarber.


Still attesting to the fact that Akron is always home, Blue Flashing Light Front man Ian Schwarber sports the Hoban High School handkerchief in several photos - including the back of debut album, Shadow Boxing - a project that released the method and emotion for all to see. It possesses an addictive energy in the passion presented.

"We are both trying to honor our album studio by playing they way we recorded- and at the same time, we shy away from it. Interaction from the crowd is delicate. Live we don't hold it as a relic and keep as current as we can." said Schwarber.

Through the recording it is so apparent that BFL means every note. There are tunes that feel so good to rock hard to (Nightfall, Keep On Keepin' On) and others that hit a soft spot and you have to admit to yourself: yes, you do relate (Wasn't it Real, Repeating the Night). And still there is Luck Days - an influx of pop electronica that would please Mark Farina.

Bottom line: Shadow Boxing gets under your skin. Start to finish the tunes are about musical arrangements in their entirety. The drums, bass, guitar and keys come together with the lyrics and vocals to take you through moments - some beautiful - some tragic, but all are an about face to emotional integrity.

The honest intensity surrounding the band does not cloud their reality of the music biz.

"Music, and the industry formed around it are not in place to promote the best talent, or the hardest workers. It promotes the game players, the easily exploited, and occasionally, the real deal. I don't get turned off when I get a 'no,' or a deal falls through, or you don't get paid, or you come in second place, or you get overlooked, lied to. I expect it. So, I look at every single 'no' as a 'not yet,' and for the deliverer of such 'no,' I am excited. They have something very large and amazing coming their way, sent first class, compliments of me." Said Schwarber.

So get ready for it - BFL is living out loud and as Shadow Boxing will let you know, sometimes it is exactly what you want to hear and others, realities to absorb and accept: truisms.

"The work and the focus come from a deep-seeded belief that one day, people will look back on my efforts, our band efforts, and say thank you by shining forth their own efforts. To open the field, to broaden the stream of consciousness, so that people can have the chance to be entertained by noble entertainers." said Schwarber.

And these noble entertainers aren't done yet. The next progression: major.

"You can expect a new recording to come out in three months, hard work, dedication, devotion to humility and aspiration for the stars."

To stay current, visit www.blueflashinglight.net - daily.

-By Carissa Bowlin
AkronNewsNow.com
Originally Published 12/05/2007
- AkronNewsNow.com

BFL, Born Akron, Nation Ready

Entertainment writer Carissa Bowlin caught up with a true rising star as he and his band prepared to play at the largest music festival in the country.


This is the first of a two-part series on another of Akron's musical sons on the threshold of a dream.

By Carissa Bowlin

To be silenced no more: Ian Schwarber, Front man of Blue Flashing Light (BFL), an Akron native and Hoban grad - is consistently focused on a dream he won't let die. Only detoured by opportunity, this focus is driving him and his band mates into a progression.

Lately the progression is a new recording and playing amidst one of the largest music festival in the country: Austin City Limits. The gents of BFL have an intense honesty about them and it is brewing new opportunities everyday.

"It was unbelievably humbling to be at Austin City Limits under other people's command. It was truly a fan based movement and the first time in my life I've experienced anything like it." reflects Schwarber.

With all of this success Schwarber is grounded, appreciating his roots and taking them with him.

"I went to Hoban all four years, a move that troubled my family a bit. They wanted me to go to St. V like my brother [Josh Schwarber] also in my rock and roll band." said Schwarber, "But I had to make a name for myself as a young fourteen year old would choose to do. Akron is my home and will always be. I return there as often as possible."

And take pride in his Ohio heritage he does.

"It is so important to remember where you come from because that is the ground that geared you for the rest of the world." Proclaimed Schwarber. "In Ohio, we like sauerkraut balls, football, rock n' roll, and enjoy everyday of sunshine, and warm weather, and support Cleveland teams - no matter how impossible that is sometimes. That's who we are, and I am proud of that."

Shortly after BFL formed, the band relocated right back to Akron This presented a very non-traditional fashion for BFL to grow and develop as musicians.

"We didn't gig much when we lived in Ohio. We had a different kind of relationship with our benefactor and management at the time that kept us out of the limelight and in the studio recording over 120 songs. We grew in a very inward kind of way through the Stanislavski Method, which is very kind of odd and obtuse for a band - and it all took place in Akron." said Schwarber

This Stanislavski Method is all about the performer understanding how the audience betrays him or her and drawing on their own emotions to communicate to the crowd.

LISTEN: Carissa Bowlin talks to BFL's Ian Schwarber

"It has shaped how I have written and performed for the last 5 years and taught me ages about emotional expression. "Remarked Schwarber. "It's truly not for everyone. If embraced properly, it eliminates the ability to lie to oneself - which many of us use as the ultimate stabilizer, whether we know it or not."

During their Akron stay, our local greats certainly played an influential role in BFl's journey.

"The Black Keys are a huge inspiration - where we want to go is where they are. We took a little from Joesph Arthur, Houseguest, Chrissie Hines. We definitely Realized our roots were made of gold." said Schwarber.

Embracing the Akron scene as they did, it was still time to shake things up a bit and take it with them to Athens, Georgia.

"Athens is a sizzling hot bed of musical opportunity - whereas I heard the Lime spider just closed down. If I was living in Akron I would have started some kind of fund raiser to call attention to the fact that this is a sincere loss." Said Schwarber. "In Athens that stuff doesn't happen- there are always fund raisers going on to make sure people stay open."

The Georgian local connects have been invaluable for BFL as well.

Athens is so close to Atlanta so there are so many chances to play, so many people to impress, so may groups to learn from and feed off of - Of Montreal, REM. They've heard of us, listened to us, spoken with us." said Schwarber. "The Athens we sought is the Athens we found."

The Blue Flashing Light continues to burn strong. Be sure to return to this series to be the first to catch what's next soon. For a few clues, visit www.blueflashinglight.net.

By Carissa Bowlin
11/16/2007
- AkronNewsNow.com

They’re Back:
The guys in Blue Flashing Light have returned from their trip over to China and are, as expected, reporting that it was a wonderful time. As the entire trip was sponsored by the Chinese government, and governments really like to designate people as things, front man Ian Schwarber was the official dignitary for the band. The band was treated to gigs at which they, literally, played in front of several thousand people on a near daily basis including a gig at the Sichuan Conservatory of Pop Music. The Conservatory is noted as the place that generated three of the finalists, and a winner, for “Chinese Idol,” the unofficial Chinese version of the stupidly popular U.S.-based franchise. The band also gave masters-level students the first ever lecture on rock and roll to be given at the school. Such was the reaction that it apparently received extensive news coverage. Go catch up with them over at www.blueflashinglight.net.

- Gordon Lamb, Threats and Promises, FLAGPOLE 2008-04-02
- Flagpole 04-02-2008

AUGUSTA, GA. - Five piece Athens Rock Band Blue Flashing Light has been selected by the US-China Cultural and Education Foundation to represent Georgia in a series of concerts taking place in China. Once returning Stateside, Blue Flashing Light will be Headed to Augusta,Ga. to Rock Masters Week on Saturday, April 12 at 1102 Downtown.

Currently preparing for the tour, BFL is honored to represent Georgia at the Chinese Peach Blossom Festival in Chengdu and further in Beijing China. Frontman Ian Schwarber conveys,"Playing for 50,000 people is a realization of our dream and an honor indeed. Georgia and great music will be represented well."

The Tour of China, in honor of the Chinese Peach- much like the Georgia Peach- concludes on American Territory with a finale June Concert in Peach County, Ga. The similarities of the Georgia and Chinese Peach created an opportunity for a unique musical exchange across two continents.

Founded in 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, the US-China Cultural & Educational Foundation has been successfully setting up Sino-American cultural and educational changes for eight years. Cultural exchanges between China and America is the focus and goal of the Foundation, hoping to build a bridge between the two continents- culturally bringing the East and West together. Foundation Chair Yang Song believes, " Blue Flashing Light is perfect to expose Rock Music to the Chinese People and let them see what is next from The United States music scene."

Blue Flashing Light will be appearing in Chengdu and Beijing, China beginning March 15, 2008, bringing their Proper Rock Show Tour to the masses. The China dates represent a first of several slated international appearances for the band and BFL is elated to represent the United States of America abroad.

After a phenomenal 2007 where BFL traveled to Austin,TX as one of five final bands (out of 600) competing in the Dell Sound and Jury Competition, the wheels continue to turn and opportunities are indeed knocking. With the digital release of their preview album ShadowBoxing, slated international appearances and community service initiatives including Rock & Roll blood drives- Blue Flashing Light is on its way up like a rocket. Haven't seen the light yet? With new music brewing, five members and a mission- Blue Flashing Light aims for international success and from Chengdu to Beijing, the BFL train is undeniably on the move…..

-Stacey Hudson- Metro Spirit
3-10-2008 - Metro Spirit 3-10-2008

Recently returned from their first world tour in China, the fellows of Blue Flashing Light took the main stage Saturday afternoon, looking and performing like a top 40 pop/rock act. The band played a sturdy set for their sleepy mid-afternoon supporters, evoking memories of Michael Stipe and such 1990s alternative acts as Vertical Horizon.
--Southeast Performer August 2008 - Souteast Performer-Aug. 2008

Local band vies for spot in music festival
Local artists compete for spot in Music Festival

One of the five finalist bands to perform at this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival is from Athens.

Blue Flashing Light is competing against four Texas-based bands Wednesday night.

"This is the moment we've been working for," said Ian Schwarber, the band's lead singer.

Blue Flashing Light found out about Austin City Limits through a friend and began the campaign for "The Sound and Jury" battle of the bands.

The competition begins with an online profile to get as many votes as possible in a month. The top 100 bands go to the next round where judges choose the top 20 groups to move on. The last bands partake in another round of online voting to secure a spot in the top five, but this time it lasts a week.

"We were making crazy phone calls, going door to door to frats and sororities," said Joshua Schwarber. "After that, you have to let the cards fall where they may. We were just stoked about making it through the celebrity judging."

On the last day of voting, Blue Flashing Light finished in second place.

"They posted it, and we finally got the call," said Joshua Schwarber. "We were overjoyed but breathing a big sigh of relief."

After the results were announced, a documentary crew from Dell Lounge came to Athens to film the band in their natural surroundings.

"They filmed a lot. We don't know what they're up to," said Cattie. "I think the winner will get a longer documentary, but they were really cool, the documentary guys."

"They got to see highlights of our city. We have just as cool a town as they do," said Ian Schwarber.

Blue Flashing Light took the camera crew to the Shokitini, 40 Watt, Tasty World, The Globe and Jittery Joes.

The band was formed by Schwarber after his previous band, Turn, broke up.

Ian's brother, Joshua Schwarber (keyboards) and Ryan Cattie (guitars) were both in the previous group and signed on for the new one They saw Adam Monica (guitar) performing at a bar and asked him to join. Augustans Sheldon Wolfe (bass) and JJ Bower (drums) were then added.

On the last day of voting, Blue Flashing Light finished in second place.

"It's amazing what six guys can accomplish if they work eight hours a day together," said Bower.

The group is preparing for the final round to get a spot in the three-day Austin City Limits Music Festival, featuring Queens of the Stone Age and Bob Dylan & His Band.

"It's a great opportunity because the festival is a very big deal," said Joshua Schwarber.

"I'm hoping the stars align and we can bring it back to Athens. That would be so unbelievable," said Ian Schwarber.

The band has a CD release party for its debut, "Shadowboxing," Sept. 28. at the 40 Watt Club.

MANDY RODGERS
Issue date: 9/10/07 Section: Variety
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- Exerpted from The Red and Black-9/10/2007

Band on the Run
Rock & roll's new indie reality: the 'Long Tail'

For Ian Schwarber, lead singer of Athens, Ga.-based sextet Blue Flashing Light – one of five finalists in the Sound and the Jury competition – the upheaval of the music industry opens a Pandora's box for independent bands. Schwarber speaks with an excited but easy fervor, grand ambitions bolstering the bigger-picture consideration of his group's position and strategy for success.
"There are no rules anymore," he declares by phone from Georgia. "The big guys with all the money are full of fear, and it's people like us that actually have the opportunity to go out there and break all the rules that they set in motion, the tyrannical, 'You can't do anything unless you do it through us.'
"Now it's almost like you can't do anything if you do it through them."...

"There's nothing more humbling than knowing I'm at the mercy of people being generous with two minutes of their time," says Schwarber genuinely. "Having to get out there and garner support and rely on them, person to person, makes people more accountable for their music, more accountable for their behavior, and that can't be anything but a good thing. All this stuff keeps you down to earth."...

"With so many bands and with MySpace, Pro Tools, Facebook, and YouTube, anybody can be somebody, and it's hard to get attention," relates Schwarber. "There's no artist and development anymore, at all. If you want to get people with a little bit of money to get behind your music, you have to have a business plan, you have to have a brand, you have to have either a healthy amount of gigs under your belt or a really rockin' album with plenty of singles. I think you have to have 90 different things now that back in the day they would give you time for.
"In today's world, I don't think Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie – they don't get record deals," he muses. "And imagine where this world would be without those guys having influenced everybody."

BY DOUG FREEMAN
SEPTEMBER 14, 2007: MUSIC

- Exerpted from Austin Chronicle 9/14/2007

"On the brand new EP The Mayor of Five Points, local band Blue Flashing Light integrates some dancier, Killers-esque rhythms behind its always emotional alt-pop vocals and supremely polished aesthetic."

The Flagpole Nov. 2008 Calendar - Flagpole