The mid-Michigan hardcore band’s much-buzzed-about reunion show last month with bluegrass-guitarist-turned-metal shredder Billy Strings has the group eyeing new songs and recording.
Back Together With a Special Guest: Flesh and Blood Robot at The Pyramid Scheme. (Photo/Local Spins)
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It took a wild and satisfying sold-out show with a special guest star — Billy Strings — to get Flesh and Blood Robot’s hardcore metal juices flowing again.
Eighteen years after their last performance, the mid-Michigan band’s heavy combination of grind-core, death metal and hardcore rock rattled a capacity crowd at The Pyramid Scheme last month, with Ionia County native William Apostol, aka Billy Strings, joining his longtime pals for a return to his headbanging, electric guitar roots.
The triumphant show now has the band talking about recording a long-delayed project and writing new music again.
Featuring singer Chris Fox, guitarist Nick Miller, drummer Nico Killips and bassist Eric Krueger, the band released its one and only full-length album, “The Sounds That Revolvers Make,” nearly two decades ago.
The band formed in 2002 after the musicians got to know one another from performing in Michigan’s eclectic metal scene.
LISTEN: “Two Skulls Outlined in Dust”
“Nick, Eric and I were all in a band together called One Away From Breathing, and we used to play shows with Nico’s band all the time,” Fox said. “And eventually, we were just like, why don’t we just do this together?”
Miller said he remembered touring, playing basement shows and meeting other local musicians along the way. However, it wasn’t long after releasing their debut album that the band made the difficult decision to break up.
“We played some shows in 2006 after releasing ‘The Sounds That Revolvers Make,’” Miller said. “But that’s really when we started having the issue where we couldn’t keep a drummer.”
Killips said he decided to depart from the band because he was pursuing a career in software development and wanted to see where things would go. The band tried to continue with a replacement drummer, but quickly ran into the same problem.
“I left the scene for a bit, but we all stayed in touch and remained very good friends,” Killips said. “There was never any hostility.”
‘A SENSE OF NOSTALGIA’ AT THE PYRAMID SCHEME
Fast forward 18 years later, and Flesh and Blood Robot were suddenly playing a sold-out show at The Pyramid Scheme with special guest, Grammy Award-winning guitarist and longtime friend Billy Strings.
That all came about after Wax Vessel, a small run vinyl-pressing company, approached the band about pressing “The Sounds That Revolvers Make.”
While all four agreed it would be cool to get that album pressed on vinyl, the conversation led to a much bigger idea: a reunion show.
“We figured if we were going to put the record out on vinyl, then it’d be cool to do a show,” Miller said. “And Billy said he would do this with us last year, but his schedule is so crazy we didn’t know for sure until maybe three months ago.
Perhaps Some New Music? Flesh and Blood Robot (Courtesy Photo)
“Billy is a friend. We’ve known him since he was like 13 years old. He’s from a small town in Michigan called Muir, which is close to where Chris and I lived.”
While Billy Strings is known for his progressive bluegrass prowess, he fit right in with the heshers, thrashers, moshers and headbangers with whom he used to play as a teenager.
Flesh and Blood Robot said they didn’t just have an amazing time playing alongside the guitar phenom at the show, but also playing with fellow metal bands such as Nights Like These, Heartsick, Dust Biters, Strangers and the night’s headliner, From a Second Story Window.
Killips, who also drums for the Pittsburgh-based Strangers, noted that he was on triple-duty the night of The Pyramid Scheme show, playing for Flesh and Blood Robot and sitting in with Strangers and Heartsick.
“There was definitely a sense of nostalgia to be back doing a show with everyone,” Fox said.
Following that lively St. Patrick’s Day show, Fox said band members have been sorting out what they want to do from here.
“The Sound That Revolvers Make”
“The one thing we all have agreed on that we really want to do is get ‘If I Lived in the 80’s, I’d Wear Spandex Pants and Try to F–-k Pat Benatar’ recorded professionally,” Miller said.
“But we’re having a lot of fun with this, so we’re definitely going to attempt to write some new stuff.”
That comes while trying to work through various obstacles: They all live in different cities and are part of other bands. Miller plays guitar in Dust Biters, Killips plays drums for Strangers and Fox is the vocalist for multiple groups including Dead Church, See You Next Tuesday and Bore.
While Flesh and Blood Robot doesn’t have a tour planned, Fox’s four-piece grind-core band, See You Next Tuesday, does. They’ll tour with Boston-area metal band Mouth Breather starting with a show at Pontiac’s The Crofoot on Friday (April 19). Click here for the full tour schedule.
Read the Local Spins review of Flesh and Blood Robot with Billy Strings: Billy Strings ignites hardcore metal mayhem in ‘surprise’ appearance at Grand Rapids club
VIDEO: Flesh and Blood Robot at The Pyramid Scheme
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