The Black Tie Event

Cocktails and Coattails is a colection of Punk, Garage, and Rock'n'Rollinspired music. Distorted Guitar, Drums, and Bass compose this ensemble. The Black Tie Event emits frantic, energetic, and sometimes mellow vibrations.

A very cool DVD of an animated music video accomanies this album.

As the band puts it..."The Black Tie Event was born out od desire and rage...wetake the approach that we can learn something from any kind of music...Listen, Love, Love again, and then dream of us."

myspace.com/theblacktieevent - The October 27th, 2006 issue of Nonzine

Local band Q&A: The Black Tie Event

•Why: The Norman-based trio featuring Chi Dragon (vocals, guitar), Ti Tauro Bliss (bass, vocals) and Marquess Di Marmalade (drums) brings a high-energy performance to the stage, and their quirky and off-the-beaten-path tunes simply rock.
•When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
•Where: The Conservatory, 8911 N Western.

What transpired to bring you all together?

Ti Tauro Bliss, bass/vocals: I guess we really formed about a year ago. But the fact is, we’re all related, so me and Chi collaborated in very small amounts here and there, and Chi and Marquess have been in different bands together for years.

What are some of the band’s key influences?

Bliss: We generally say that we take things from all good music, and leave bad music alone. The truth is, we all have fairly different musical tastes. We try to live in the places where we have the most overlap, but I really don’t think we even sound like the bands we love the most.

A:Marquess Di Marmalade, drums: Yeah, I would go so far to say that our influences, especially mine, are so varied that there’s really no room in the type of music trying to be produced for me to include even one-fourth of my influences. So, we feel it best not to really name any so that a certain style or sound is expected. If you hear something that you like, and it happens to remind you of someone else, that’s great. But believe me when I say it certainly wasn’t intentional.

How would you describe the typical creative process for The Black Tie Event?

Bliss: Most of the songs on the last EP were written by me and Chi Dragon, before Marquess officially joined the band. We basically either started with some words or some music and worked from there. Different songs have different percentages of Ti Tauro and Chi in them. Pretty soon, we’re going to take some time off from doing shows, and do another one.

Tell me a little about your EP, Cocktails and Coattails. Do you feel it captures your sound and overall energy well?

Bliss: I would have to say that as happy as I am with the way “Cocktails” came out, it probably doesn’t capture us as a band. A couple of those songs were recorded shortly after we first started the BTE. We recorded it ourselves, too, and we didn’t have the greatest equipment, or idea of what we really wanted to be. If we recorded all those songs again, they might come out completely differently.

Chi Dragon, guitar/vocals: We like to try and occasionally put 50 or so free copies around the city. Some of the places we’ve left them in the past are all of the Randy’s M&M locations, Size Records, Guestroom Records, Hastings in Norman and certain international superstars’ front yards. If anyone wants a copy, they can contact us through our MySpace, and we will try our best to get them one.

— Michael Senior

- Feburary 2nd, 2007 issue of The Daily Oklahoman author Michael Senior

"Thunder Thunder" is an entirely appropriate title for the first song on this EP - The Black Tie Event explodes forth, throwing sonic punches that sound like a cockeyed fusion of dirty blues and stuck-up, art-school indie rock.
Just as quickly as it begins, it ends - hooking you in for the remaining 15 minutes of aural adventure. The Black Tie Event (BTE for the cool kids) cite The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, it's offshoot Eagles of Death Metal, Ramones, The Clash and MC5 as their influences, nearly all of which you can hear skipping across the surface of these compact compositions.
"Cocktails & Coattails" is a hell of a calling card - vocalist/guitarist Chi Dragon, vocalist/bassist Ti Tauro Bliss and drummer Marquess di Marmalade make angular, exciting music here, with style to burn, whether it's the quiet drama of "In My Head" of the fuzzed-out ennui of "Give Me Peace." The Black Tie Event definitely merits keeping an eye on - it's only a matter of time before the bandmates harness their jittery, kinetic energy into something truly awe-inspiring.
Visit www.myspace.com/theblacktieevent for more information. -Preston Jones


- The August 2, 2006 issue of the Oklahoma Gazzete author Preston Jones