Notable front person and member of Death Valley Girls, Bonnie Bloomgarden discusses inspiration for the new single, touring and unique creative processes for their latest projects. It’s apparent that one of the key secrets to not only lasting in the music business for so long but also continuing to have a loyal fanbase is the authenticity that resides in Bloomgarden and in the Death Valley Girls’ music.
mxdwn: Let’s start with the last project you released back in 2020, Under the Spell of Joy. First of all, it was amazing that the band put out music during such a challenging time. I want to express my gratitude to you and the band for being able to create art in a time where it’s safe to say, everyone was going through it. And pertaining to the music, it was powerful especially with themes regarding the power of manifestation and cosmic intervention, and I wanted to know how these principles make an appearance in your life and the band’s life at the time?
Bonnie Bloomgarden: Well I think we’ve learned— I mean, everyone hopefully has learned so much. Every year should be exponential growth in learning anyways. But for Under the Spell of Joy, we were just getting enlightened to this idea that words have power. And we thought that if you said words enough— like chanting, that would be a way to manifest, a way to make change, and that if we, you know, sing these songs every night and people sing along with us, that could create some real change.
Unfortunately, of course, as we all know now that we didn’t get the chance to sing those every day, but these affirmations came in your head all the time. So I think having a record that was forcing joy was pretty lucky at that time. I think particularly also because there was something terrible happening every day. It’s just visceral and it wasn’t just happening to one person. It was happening to the entire world.
And what was happening here in this country at that time was unbelievable. I literally couldn’t believe it. It just didn’t seem like it was fair to have joy, fair to have any other feeling aside from anger. And while I think that’s true, I think it also was good to find little bits of joy, find little bits of whatever it was— just enjoy nature.
Yeah, if the kids out there sing and I hope in turn that, you know, the kids are getting better. That things are getting better for them even if it seems like everything is and actually was completely horrible. But I think it did force a lot of people to open up their eyes and see things that they had been denying. So in a way, I think the pendulum swung all the way to the bad side and I think it’s coming back in a lot of ways to the other side.
mxdwn: I totally agree with that.
BB: Okay, good.
mxdwn: You said something very poignant to me: are we allowed to feel this joy? I think it was good that there were moments of joy and peace because that anger can consume you. And as much as I think it was good to come out, just those little brief moments really kind of help bring us back without destroying ourselves with all that energy, that negative energy, now.
BB: Well, it did seem to me like the people that were already mad, sad and disappointed just became more mad, sad and disappointed. And to me that felt unfair to be happy while that was happening. But it did also turn people that were not paying attention to start paying attention. And I think that is good. That was one positive, otherwise it didn’t feel good collectively because there was just so much fighting. But when I look at it again, there are those with hate who continue to have hate. However, those that were on the fence, I think they didn’t have any hate, but instead I think they were like, “whoa, what’s going on here?”
Not entirely, but I think I saw a lot of that and even in myself I feel like I really learned a lot. I realized that there was a lot at stake with what we say, how we act and how we talk to ourselves that affects how we talk to each other and all that stuff.
mxdwn: Right on. This is in line with the previous question. For this album and what was going on in the world at the time, did those events influence any creative choices or the music content within that album that may be last minute changes at all?
BB: Totally! I mean it sounds a little bit funny, but because of that feeling of not feeling like we were entitled to be anything but mad, sad or fighting or whatever. And I think that’s true on one hand. But on the other hand, it does seem like in our personal lives that we had not really loved and not really taken care of ourselves. We hadn’t thought about ourselves and kind of all of the trauma that happened, whether or not people are going to call it that, it was traumatic.
And we – I think personally for me, I have lived with so much trauma, shame and guilt. And when we wrote this record we wanted to write a record for our future selves to not live in that cycle of trauma, guilt or shame, just hope. To just basically write a love letter to our future incarnations and just be like, “hey, treat yourself well. If you treat yourself well, you’ll treat others well.”
And that’ll have an exponential effect. But what’s weird is actually having done that for our future self, sort of like clearing a lot. Those sentences you say to yourself that you don’t even know where they come from, or maybe you do, but really writing that record, like for our future actually really helps this present self. And I really wasn’t expecting that. That was really shocking to me. Just those sentences of “you’re not good enough, you’re not busy enough. Like you’re, you’re small, you’re always gonna be small.”
Somehow making this record made me lose those sentences and say that’s not true. Who said that? That’s not true. Like no one, that’s not true. No one thinks of you. Like that’s just the story, the story you’ve been always given, and you don’t need to take it anymore, you don’t need to carry it with you. So that was kind of like the idea in the beginning, To just write ourselves sort of like a rulebook for how to treat ourselves later.
mxdwn: Sort of like a musical time capsule.
BB: Totally something like that. And we did put little clues all over it so that our future selves would find it. Cause that was a fear, how are we going to know to listen to some rock and roll from whenever. But we put little tips and little clues and little things all around it, but hopefully, no matter who we are, wherever we are, we’ll find it.
mxdwn: So then that brings me to my next question, which is, how did the approach to that creative process differ from what you released recently?
BB: Well, this time it was completely focused on the message and we didn’t even, honestly, it’s funny, but I didn’t think at all about what it was gonna sound like. It was just pure channeling. We went to the forest and we just channeled. Ricky, the drummer and I, you hear it all the time, but you just have a psychic communication with someone. Especially in music, it’s just like we don’t talk, she just plays the beat, and whatever is meant to come, comes.
And we kind of both believe that all the songs ever are already out there. It’s just up to us to find them. So we kind of get in sort of a trance-like state and channel it. So you just kind of channeled all and I’m shocked to remember after doing it all. That’s what sounds like is what matters most to the listener.
But to me, the part that feels the best is just finding, like a puzzle piece in the sky and just pulling it down and we would look at each other, yeah, that’s it! The rest of the band: Larry, Sammy, Gabe and Greg come on and they just – you know, it’s pretty much improvised, the music, so we have like a general idea of what sort of song it’s gonna be. But it’s pretty much improvised in the studio. So it is definitely a weird process. And, the guy that records this is like, yeah, you guys are weird. No one does it this way. Like there’s no talking and it’s like first, one or two takes of a song. And it’s just, it’s weird, but it’s really cool and I don’t know if we would be able to do it another way, honestly.
mxdwn: It’s amazing. It makes me think of sports teams, specifically basketball. Those teams get on the court and the chemistry is instantaneous.
BB: Yeah, it’s incredible. It’s just like basketball and when it leaves, it’s like the ball knows. When it’s leaving the finger, like just the edge of the finger tip, it goes directly into the next hand and it’s just like magic. If you took the ball away, it would be like a beautiful dance. And I feel like that’s what we’re kind of like if you took our instruments away. We would look pretty funny, but I think you would still kind of get what we’re doing.
mxdwn: So then, on that note, I think what also makes it really interesting in your music is there’s just like a beautiful, delicate strike and balance of absurdity but profoundness with your lyrics. Not an easy feat, and I wanted to know, how do you maintain that equilibrium and how does it not dilute your impact or intention in your music?
BB: I mean, that’s a really good question. I have no idea, cause I’m pretty shy and pretty self conscious and a lot of other things. But I don’t write all the lyrics for all of the songs on the day that we sing it for the reason that no one can see or judge it. But at the same time I feel like I’m just finding it in the cosmos, it doesn’t feel personal, it feels like I’m just finding the exact right words.
I will admit there’s a few songs, especially in the past, that were just me writing and it’s a little embarrassing. Some of them I’m not like a hundred percent proud of all of my lyrics, but when they just flow in the way that they did for the last two records. It was like maybe a sentence here or there, I would fill in, but for the most part it comes whole. I don’t know why, but that’s what it does. And I think if I thought about it too much it would start to get really stupid.
mxdwn: That’s actually fascinating to hear. So for the new album that you guys released, Islands in the Sky, you know, it’s an exploration and very experimental in several music sub categories. Just a few are classic garage rock and I believe I heard some gospel influence in there. How did that process come about? Were there any genres you wanted to explore but you had to leave out?
BB: That’s also a really good question. You know, I think it just again was, like we didn’t really focus. Usually we’ll be like, we need some bangers and we need this, we need that, but we don’t pay attention to the actual music that much. This was just this. We didn’t have any intention with any of that. I mean, there’s a bunch that didn’t make the record but for the most part this was just following where the melodies or where the words, whichever came first, took us. I think it just has more to do with our background musically than anything else. And that’s why it got channeled in the way that it did.
Yeah, there were no rules and there were no, not rules, but it’s definitely like the improvisation of it is what I think you can hear a lot. For example, none of the keyboard, organ, vocals, harmonies, guitar parts, were written before they were recorded. So it’s more just like being this channel for the music. And I think it’s super cool if some people have a style and they’re really, really good at it and it’s intentional.
But I love the sound freedom, something not ever being practiced, and that spontaneity. It’s scary and it’s terrifying to get in there and be like, “alright, is it gonna happen?” But, that’s kind of how we do it and only two times have we ever gone to the studio and it’s like, “Oh, I don’t have anything, I can’t, I can’t feel it today. Sorry guys.”
mxdwn: Wow, that’s really interesting. So then I have to ask, would you say that there’s a motif of using the 1960s rock sound? With its use, is there an intentional commentary or even a critique on modern society that you present in your music?
BB: That’s a good question. I’m not really sure how to answer that. I think I could only say that my love and my passion is in early, early, early American roots like music that comes from Africa and everywhere else. And like I think I went to school for jazz and I am obsessed with gospel and all that stuff.
And I definitely think paying homage to the people that we love, who were paying homage to those people. It’s just like to me, Bo Diddley is like God, you know? And like Billie Holiday is God and just gospel stuff is there.
To me, it’s like religion. And Gregg Foreman, he and I met, he was playing organ in a church and just like that’s just something that I think I’m so used to. For my ear that’s what I like. That’s what we love, like Wilson Pickett or whoever it was that everyone was listening to.
I think it’s silly when people are into bands now, but they don’t know their influences. So I think that’s one thing that’s important to know your influences’ influences. And I think that’s what I guess it’s obvious with us, like, “oh, we know that you don’t just love whatever we love, what makes them who they are,” and definitely you don’t try to rip anybody off. You know, you’re not trying to do anything like that but it’s more of a feeling that certain things have and certain things don’t. That’s sort of, I guess, that’s what’s most important is how does it feel.
mxdwn: Ultimately, it comes down to what we feel. So I think you, you touched on this slightly, and I was wondering is there a particular process when you are selecting which singles to release and which songs make that album? Or is it kind of just what’s in that moment, how you’re feeling and what’s gonna make this cohesive?
Death Valley Girls
BB: I think that’s a cool question cause it’s like we think— well, you think of the whole thing as an album, even though that’s not real anymore. That’s not how people listen to it, but it seems like you were to put out a movie, you put it out in order, or like a TV show, you put it out in the order.
And to me and all of us it is like the record is a record, an album is an album. It’s really important that the songs flow together and go up, up, and up and then all of a sudden it just leaves you and you’re lost. And then all of a sudden you take a breath and you’re finally on like the second side and all that stuff.
And I think it’s not lost on us that that’s not the way people listen to it anymore, but we can’t really change it. I will say that choosing the first song was a little bit scary because you know that people are just gonna listen to that on the playlist. That’s probably the biggest deal, but we still couldn’t fake it, we had to put what the first song is and then choose which ones come out.
I don’t know if we did it in the right order or anything. I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do, but we kind of just, we all like to put a bunch of songs in a hat and all pull out the same ones. Also we listen to our record label and super smart David and what his ideas were and we’re like, “that sounds right, you, you know, best.”
But I think I like the order it came out in, but that’s probably the only part that you can really like, you have a lot of, I don’t know if that can go wrong or something. Everything else just is what it is. With the order it can mess everything up.
mxdwn: Right, I think it’s just all about the intention and whichever way you put it out, there’s still a story that’s there and someone’s gonna connect to that at the end of the day. As you said, people don’t listen to albums anymore. They like to shuffle or they listen to one particular song on a playlist. But there’s just something special about going in order and hearing a project from start to finish.
BB: Exactly and what are they trying to say here? Like they’re here to say something, you know?
mxdwn: Yes. And so after the release of the album, you guys actually released another single, “Feel the Colors.” I was wondering, was it made around the same time and if so, did you just think it wouldn’t have fit on the album or was it meant to stand itself?
BB: That’s so weird and so cool that anyone heard that. That’s actually totally separate. And this really cool podcast called Podsongs, served as inspiration. It started like two years ago and it was way before anything. It was completely random that it came out at the same time. I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it was really cool. I was able to interview one of the guests on this podcast.
Typically, a musician interviews a science-oriented person or a philosopher on this show, but on this particular episode that I listened to, they interviewed this guy, Neil Harbisson, who was born Achromatopsia or color blind. And so he created this attachment that he had surgically implanted in his head, where he can hear colors. Because color is on a frequency so you can hear it. So when he “sees” red it has a certain frequency and he can hear it. So every color sounds like something. And so I interviewed him and it was really interesting as he was.
I didn’t know where I stood on this topic at all. It wasn’t something I had thought much about. But it’s interesting because he’s like the forefront of people deciding who they are and what’s essential for their body, which I think is interesting.
Just as far as Trans rights and everything else. And it’s just really interesting to think whether or not it seems like it, out there somewhere people are modifying themselves. Which in turn brings in big questions of, what rights should people have and what rights should the government have?
And I think it’s awesome that he’s like, made the decision on whether or not what he’s doing is the most extreme he can do to himself. Or even if it was possibly one of the more dangerous surgeries. I think that it’s been there for like 20 or 30 years. He’s totally safe. It was really interesting to me to think more about, why does the government have rights to what you think you need to be? So, I don’t know, the inspiration behind it was a while ago but it’s more so just randomly came out at the same time.
mxdwn: We noticed the cover art is a painting by a famous visionary artist, Gilbert Williams. Was there a reason you chose that specific album cover?
BB: It’s such a weird story. Our first thought of what the album cover would be, we kind of drew something like that without ever seeing that art before. And then we were in the process of finding someone and showing them this really stupid drawing of this island in the middle of the sky. And then on the back it will have little islands all over. And during that process, somehow we, I think we were on someone’s Instagram, we’re like, “Oh my God, this already exists.”
Like this is so crazy, the art already exists. Like we should contact him and buy it or whatever you know. And then we found out, we got the information for his daughter who runs his estate and her name is Crystal River. And she gave us permission to use it, which is insane cause it’s more than we could have ever hoped for. And it’s just really funny now to have the original doodle next to this gorgeous, beautiful thing. It’s also called Moon Temple, which is cool like, my respect for the moon grows more and more every day.
mxdwn: What an honor. So, this summer the first half of your tour is kicking off. What’s the exciting part of touring for the band and are there any surprises that fans should expect when they see you guys live this summer?
BB: We’re definitely gonna start playing! We’ve been playing a few new songs from the record, but we’re definitely gonna play more just cause we’re so excited now. But yeah, I think that something different is happening with everyone. I don’t know if it’s because everyone was so secluded or maybe it’s us.
I’m not sure, but like at our shows, it went from people standing there or like thrashing to people being excited and feeling seen, heard and feeling a part of it. And knowing that they’re a part of it and like the gratitude we have and the gratitude they have is palpable. We can’t wait to get to see everyone and share these messages that totally changed our lives. Which is so funny and weird, but like it really did. You know so many people trying to be themselves for the first time being locked up, alone, and then now coming out and being proud of themselves and of who they are. People wanting to celebrate and wanting to be together and wanting to be part of something. Just like there’s nothing better than the last three months of a tour. I cannot wait to go back again and see everybody.
mxdwn: That’s so exciting! As we know, the industry is a risky business yet the band keeps pushing forward. How do you guys keep pushing forward and especially as you’re going out and touring more and more frequently?
BB: It’s a weird job for sure. We’re entertainers, you know. It’s a very, very strange job. This may sound so stupid, but it really is like a spiritual mission. Like, we go around conveying this message. We have to be very strict with what we eat and how we take care of ourselves. Sort of like a meditative sort of thing and you get so little sleep, like you wake super early, and you go to bed super late.
You have to want for nothing. You have to completely adjust to the road, the road does not adjust to you. So it’s just being very grateful. It’s very humbling and very taxing. It’s not for everyone. But we figured out a way. Do it and mainly just remember, you know, just to stay really present. I think that that’s not even in a cool way. But just like you have to, you can’t worry about the future.
There’s no such thing as the future, there’s absolutely no such thing as the past. All there is, is keeping your energy sacred and giving it when it’s needed and then going to sleep so you can get more the next.
mxdwn: We’re seeing a lot of talk in the industry in regards to touring, about venues deserving percentage of performers merch sales. I understand that’s a big chunk of performer’s wages and what is yours and the bands’ position on that?
BB: I mean, I can’t possibly imagine why they would want that. I mean, I don’t remember who said it, but someone mentioned, “like, well we should get a percentage of your alcohol sales.” Like that isn’t really, why you would get our merch sales? Like that’s what keeps us on the road. But yeah, I mean, you know, nowhere is it fully just or fair. But the music industry seems to be just getting worse, honestly.
In some ways, I hope it gets better. I hope it becomes like other things. Like for an actress on Netflix, they’re not like “you don’t get paid,” now you get paid. It’s like one million people watch your show. Then I’ll give you some money. I mean, it’s crazy. The live show is where you make it and it’s mainly just so that you can keep touring. It’s not like getting a Ferrari or something.
It’s not this way in other countries. What’s so strange is that, when we go to Europe and other places, they pay us to go there. They give grants to like everyone because they care about their culture and their country. And so getting paid, not that much, isn’t like that big of a deal because you can depend on, “We were with a band.” I don’t know how or if it’ll get better. Honestly, when we started all I wanted to do was tour. And I have to just be so thankful that that’s what happened.
mxdwn: Well, there are still people who will do whatever they can to support you guys. Lastly, we just want to know, this era just started for you guys, but is there any new direction in your music that you can tease us with or hint to fans that you like to explore later on?
BB: I haven’t said this before, but I’ll tell you because I think it’s a funny story. We had an idea, at the end of the tour, that I think we’re gonna try and start writing and recording it, at the end of the month at a cabin in the forest.
A lot of the time you dream primarily about what you do all day, and a lot of the time you will have dreams that are either playing or practicing. And I’ve sort of trained myself to be able to wake up and record either into voice memos or write something down.
So we’re gonna try and make an EP. I don’t know four or five songs, just the music from dreams. No matter how bad they are. We’re just gonna, go for fun, and have a dream Album. I have no idea what’s gonna happen. But I recorded something last night where I was like, “Oh my God…like this is the best song ever.” And then I listened to it this morning, I was like, “Oh, that’s so bad, but I can’t wait to work on it.”
And then we’re gonna do a lot of collaborating with people just because that was one of the most fun things. It was a truly great thing that happened during Covid. The opportunity of getting to collaborate with people and we have a lot of surprises up the avenue.
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