Countdown to the Telepathic Windows Festival 2026 Vol. 1 // An Interview with BLOOD FAMILY REUNION

• Thanks so much for the interview. Let’s trace the band’s roots and story.

We were born out of the pandemic. Steph and I (Joe) played in a band together from 2014 to 2018, which split up when the vocalist, and later Steph, moved away. But Steph moved back! Soon after, Steph and I started jamming in the basement under the protection of our N95’s. Donovan was part of our same friend group and joined soon after. The three of us took to Craigslist in search of a vocalist. We talked to many people, but when Pam contacted us with a vocal sample, it was an instant connection. Our first song, “Pizza Party at Suicide Point”, was basically written before we even met for the first time.

• What are your main influences and inspirations?
  

I think we all have our own diverse inspirations and influences, and that definitely informs our sound. 

• How would you describe your sound?

Gauzy, darkly twinged, shimmering echoes, melodic and loud with heavy undertones. We like a wall of sound with a melody and a story. And a darkness to it.

• What does the word ‘shoegaze’ mean to you?”
  

Shoegaze was originally a harsh critique of bands that stared at their pedalboards during an entire performance, but was later embraced by the musicians and fans alike.  To me, it is guitar music that is heavily affected by those pedalboards, with vocals that blend into the wall of sound. Dream pop is just shoegaze music that has vocals that can be heard. I also feel like modern shoegaze is starting to reach out to other genres and incorporate some of their elements, like doom and black metal, math rock, darkwave, and electronic music. 

• Tell us a little about your recording process and how you create your songs.
  

Someone comes up with an idea—a chord progression, a riff, a piano figure—and we either jam it out in our rehearsal studio or pass a recording of the idea back and forth, with each of us adding our individual contributions and suggestions for tweaks. Then, we play the song in the rehearsal studio as a band and work out the kinks together. Before going into the recording studio, we rehearse the songs we plan to record until they’re second nature. In the recording studio, we do initial tracking with an emphasis on capturing drums and bass. Afterwards, we use overdubs to add additional guitars, synths, and vocals. Finally, while Steph is mixing, we might add a few extra guitars, synths, or strings that we didn’t get to in the recording studio.

• Which song(s) are you most proud of and best represent the band?
  

I think we each have our favorites, but what we really enjoy is taking those songs and making them part of something bigger—an album in classic 1970s sense of a Record with a capital R or a set where the songs flow naturally one to the next as if they were always intended to work that way. It’s the difference between a novel and a collection of chapters.

• What kind of old/new music are you listening to? Any current bands/artists that you are excited about at the moment?
  

I think one of the best parts of being in a band is playing with other artists and watching how we each evolve as musicians. Groups like Gaspers, Bedmaker, Youth in Government, and the Continuals have been really supportive of our development, and we love to hear where they are going musically.

• Who would you most like to collaborate with?
  

We would love to collaborate with a visual artist or filmmaker whose vision complements our sound (and vice versa). So if anyone who does film or visual art and likes what we’re doing, feel free to reach out. If we’re talking all-time: David Lynch. We all really like Twin Peaks – the characters, the setting, the music, the visuals, the story, the sideways humor, all of it. He’s obviously dead, but I think our music has a creepy beauty to it that jives with what he was doing.

• What has been your best/worst gig so far (both as a performer and spectator)?

I won’t call anyone out, but bad gigs are always plagued by poor sound (feedback, crappy and insufficient PAs, etc.) and disorganized communication (no one seems to be in charge or know whose playing and/or the date of the show seems to be a moving target). Conversely, good sound and clear communication make for the best shows. Playing Fort Reno was a highlight, for sure.  Just being part of that tradition and connecting with the people who’ve been part of that.

• As part of the Washington, DC area, what’s your take on its music scene? Do you think that the fest could somehow fill a void and follow the same recent path of Seattle’s Tremolo Fest?

Shoegaze has always seemed to have been around DC, but it’s always kind of been this dissolute, disconnected thing. When we play with another DC area band that is of the shoegazian persuasion, it’s always like, ‘oh cool, someone else is doing something on the same wavelength’. And when people are not into what we are doing, I have to remind myself that most people I know don’t even like the bands that I love.  

• What are your expectations for the upcoming Telepathic Windows Fest? What should the audience expect from your performance?

We are excited to be performing and to see the other bands!  DC has a history of dream pop and shoegaze bands, particularly from the 90s, but those bands are very much overshadowed by the hardcore punk movement that has defined the DC sound.  This festival is a great opportunity to showcase the current dream pop/shoegaze bands from the DC area, mixed with others from around the country.  It’s definitely an ambitious undertaking that I hope will be successful enough to continue annually.

• What are your plans for the future?

This fall, we’ll be releasing our second album, and we hope to have a bunch of shows to support it. After that, I think we’ll be more than ready to start swapping ideas back and forth to begin shaping album number 3.