AN INTERVIEW WITH MARTIN ANDERSEN OF BLINDSTONE

The Danish band Blindstone is a guitar-driven blues rock trio that was influenced by artists like Jimi Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Black Sabbath, Funkadelic and Mountain. I can definitley hear the Robin Trower influence in their music that is blues driven with a hard edge. I like their blending of styles that gives them a unique but still familiar sound. In May, 2015, the band completed a successful 10-date tour of Spain. On this tour, Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen temporarily replaced long-time drummer Anders Hvidtfeldt, who was unavailable for the tour. In early 2016, Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen officially joined the band replacing Hvidtfeldt. This new line-up of Blindstone completed a small tour of Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic and Poland in August/September 2016 and released its seventh album, ”The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity” on November 25th. Coinciding with the album's release, the power trio will be returning for a 7-date tour of Spain and Portugal, starting December 3rd. My favorite song on their new album is "Rebel In Black". It has a touch of old school rock with a classy blues attitude. This is a smashingly cool band that you should check out.

Blindstone is:
Martin J. Andersen, Guitar/Vocals
Jesper Bunk, Bass
Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen, Drums

Martin was kind enough to share the story of the band with me.
"Blindstone was founded in 2002 from the ashes of a band called Daybreak. Daybreak was a much more "accessible" pop/rock oriented band and enjoyed some popularity in this region of Denmark. We enjoyed heavy airplay on the local radio stations and were quite busy. Despite the success I found myself compromising artistically in the band as I didn't find I had enough room to express myself as a lead guitarist. We were also quite obsessed with getting a record deal and probably compromised quite a bit stylewise to satisfy the labels. Despite our efforts no deals materialized. As fate would have it our singer was involved in a terrible car accident from which it took him some time to recuperate. After a while he had a change of heart regarding the band and accepted the position as the bass player (the bass being his instrument of choice) in another somewhat bigger local band. The keyboard player, our singer's cousin, decided to join that band as well and Daybreak disbanded. At this point Jesper Bunk and I had really had enough with all the compromising and trying to please others and so we decided to form a power trio playing the type of music that really was closest to our hearts. Jesper and I go way back and we have actually played together for 25 years in various bands. We share a love for the late 60's/70's bands such as Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Black Sabbath, as well as Deep Purple and Whitesnake so we decided that was really what we wanted to do. We approached Benjamin Hove, the drummer in Daybreak, about joining the band and he agreed. To make a long story short we recorded a couple of demos very quickly and within 6 months of the band's formation we had a record deal! The result was our first album "Manifesto". Benjamin left the band the following year (2003) and was replaced by Anders Hvidtfeldt, an old friend of Jesper and I, and an excellent drummer. This lineup of the band released 5 albums from 2008 - 2015. Anders stayed with us until earlier this year when he left the band to focus on his day-job career in digital marketing. His replacement is Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen, a very talented young drummer, who makes his recorded debut with us on our brand new album, "The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity". Sigurd already toured with us last year as a then-temporary replacement for Anders and we knew he was the right guy for the job."

Where did the name Blindstone come from?
The name "Blindstone" was Jesper's idea. Originally, his idea was "The Blindstones but I suggested we just call it Blindstone. I have no idea, what it means (if anything), but I think it's a cool-sounding band name.

Have you toured in the US in the past or are there any plans to?
Unfortunately, we have never toured in the US as Blindstone although Jesper and I did some studio work in California many years ago. We very much hope to make it over to America some time soon!

Tell me about the songs on your new album? Who wrote the songs and what are your favorites?
The songs are primarily written by Jesper and I. I usually write the majority of the songs but Jesper always brings 3-4 songs to the table each time we record a new album. We sometimes co-write too, but we each mainly write our own individually finished songs. I assume Sigurd will be part of the process in the future but all the songs for this new album had already been written by the time he joined the band permanently. For this album Jesper wrote "Dead Man's Blues", "Rolling" and "Stonesnake" while I wrote the rest with the exception of Jimi Hendrix' "Power Of Soul" which is the last track on the album. At the moment my favorites on the album are "On My Way", "Rebel In Black", "Rolling" and "Stonesnake".

Diana Olson (December 2016)

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MP3 Sample Clips

01. DEAD MAN'S BLUES 02. ROLLING 03. REBEL IN BLACK 04. ON MY WAY 05. LOOKING BACK 06. BY THE SUNS OF WARVAN,       YOU SHALL BE AVENGED 07. THUNDER FROM THE NORTH 08. A LOVE MANIFESTO 09. STONESNAKE 10. ONCE YOU SEE THE SIGNS 11. POWER OF SOUL

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BLINDSTONE "karma factory" (GYR092)

BLINDSTONE "Manifesto" (GYR044)

BLINDSTONE "Freedom's Calling" (GYR043)

BLINDSTONE "Rise Above" (GYR061)

Blindstone "Live In Denmark" (GYR133)

BLINDSTONE "Rare Tracks" (GYR092)

Martin J Andersen "6 String Renegade" (GYR132)

Bbb - "JOURNEY TO THE STARS" (GYR148)

· reviews ·

We're going to think that you don't know Blindstone, no, really, you don't know them and you listen to this album by chance. When “Dead Man's Blues” begins, you start to wonder how the hell these people can sound so raw and so tough, with an omnipresent and virtuous guitar. Then you will see if the musicians and it turns out that you do not know them, they are not famous, they do not appear in the magazines (this is a separate case, Guns and Roses have not released a record for a thousand years and they continue to appear on the covers ... and people continue to buy the magazine) Case aside, Blindstone just released their sixth studio album and you're still thinking about the new Metallica.

And it is that life is like that, but here we are to tell you. An intense, immense and powerful band. A trio where the center is occupied by the guitarist and singer Martin J. Andersen. Classic rock tinged with blues, or blues rock, in the chord of the wildest themes of Leslie West or Mark Farner.

An album of 10, but the previous studio, Greeting for the Karma Factory, sounded equally spectacular, while the Live in Denmark direct, contained what is a direct from the band, with some versions and classic themes.

I could comment song by song, but it is impossible because it is a collection of magnificent songs. From the instrumental "By the Suns of Warvan, You Shall Be Avenged" where there is some other guitar overdub, to the raw "Rebel in Black" and "A Love Manifesto", loaded with good guitar vibes. Although there are also details, like that sixties soul-style chorus in "The Power of Soul."

José Arias / Made In Metal - Spain
 

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Blindstone - "Ramblin' Man Fair" (2017) (Mirror:UK Review)

We headed to the Four Roses Bourbon Blues Stage and slowly made our way through the crowded tent towards some great blues/metal guitar work. Hogjaw were my favourite unexplored band last year, this year it was Blindstone, a trio from Denmark. Martin J. Andersen's guitar work left me watching in awe; not just twiddly diddly solo's for the sake of it, just real good songs from start to finish. One thing I love about festivals is bumping into relatively unknown bands that make you go "wow, they were good".

Mark Jennings / Mirror:UK (September 2017)
 

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Danish power trio Blindstone continue their relentless journey in the sign of the mighty riff on this their seventh musical journey. This time around the band has gone through a change in personnel, introducing drummer Sigurd Jønk Jensen, replacing Anders Hvidfeldt. Anders did an outstanding job, but it feels Sigurd is switching the Blindstone drum department up yet another notch. He actually gets to show his skills already in the thundering opening track 'Dead Man's Blues', a heavy blues rocker, true to the Blindstone trademark. Guitarist/singer Martin J Andersen lets his guitar speak loudly all over the track, riffing, soloing and filling every crack and crevice with a tasteful bit of wah-ornamented guitar magic. 'Rolling' switches into low gear and offers some crude and fat bass riffing from Jesper Bunk. Man, this is one steamroller of a track! 'Rebel In Black' offers some nice dynamics with a cool verse and slow pace riffing. The backbeat bluesy 'On My Way' offers a change in pace and sound with some (I presume) neck pick-up Strat riffing. One thing I actually do feel has changed a bit, is I don't (so far) hear as much Frank Marino influences, apart from Martin's similar vocal range and style. Ok, 'Looking Back', a beautiful ballad, does have a touch of Marino mixed with Trower, which is top notch in my book. Martin also stays away from the wah in this one and the solos are just out of this world in tone, clarity, feel, presence and tastefulness. Frickin' outstanding! The oddly title 'By The Suns Of Warvan, You Shall Be Avenged' is a cool heavy riff-oriented instrumental with a strong feel of early Satriani. Wish Satch, whom I'm truly a huge fan of, would record a song like this today. Multi-facetted, melodic and un-shredding, still with truly impressive guitar work. 'Thunder From The North' continues with some heavy guitar chugging and a surprisingly hooky and melodic pre-chorus. A great track, indeed! 'A Love Manifesto' continues in the vein of its predecessor, but still with a totally different approach. Heavy, break-filled verse leaving lots of space for highly personal Martin's low-key vocals that fit so well with this type of music. It also offers another dose of killer solos. 'Stonesnake' opens with some busy drumming and continues in a up-tempo boogie:ish vein, suddenly switching down to half speed in the verse. Killer track! Once again the band moves into the grinding, steamroller heavy-as-lead territory with 'Once You See The Signs'. A crusher! Another cool surprise now comes in the form of Hendrix penned 'Power Of Soul', a heavy blues rocker that has been given the proper Blindstone treatment. All in all, yet another top notch release from the Danes. Seven albums and not a single let-down. Impressive!

Janne Stark / Stark Music Reviews (February 2017)
 

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Danish band Blindstone return with their seventh disc to date. The guitar-driven trio conjure up the spirit of Hendrix, Trower and Frank Marion in a whirlwind of eleven artful and mind-altering compositions that grace 'The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity'. With its incredible Hawkwind-like cover the new disc digs deep to offer the heaviest collection of songs the band has produced. It was a thrill to hear ‘Dead Man’s Blues’ burst from the speaker with a cosmic guitar lead that drove straight into an inspiring rhythmic groove. Guitarist/vocalist Martin J. Andersen is on fire as he unleashes a quiver-full of notes backed by his baritone howl. Long-time bassist Jesper Bunk and new drummer Siguard Jøhnk-Jensen are a force to be reckoned with as they forge a bond of unearthly bombastic thunder. Riff monsters ‘Rolling’, ‘Thunder From The North’ and ‘Once You See The Signs’ define the record as they push the boundaries of heavy rock into uncharted territories while still keeping the compositions structured.

‘Rebel In Black’ moves closer to Black Sabbath with a beefy guitar tone while opening up for the verse and chorus. The shear power of the drums and bass are clearly evident as the song hammers its way into your brain. The tribal beat continues with the ferocious ‘Stonesnake’, a blazing staccato guitar with Andersen defiantly singing, “Call me your worst desire… “I’m the man that you can’t break.” The guitarist then unleashes a six-string fury as the bass gallops along. The thundering axe then slows in the lumbering ‘Looking Back’ as the lyrics and mood spiral to a deeper place. Spirits take flight with note-bending ‘On My Way’ a radio-ready custom-made single complete with hook chorus. Another game-changer is the mythically titled ‘By the Suns of Warvan, You Shall Be Avenged’, a cinematic instrumental masterpiece reminiscent of Gary Moore’s “Over The Hills’ with shades of Satriani. Andersen often returns to his love of Hendrix and ‘A Love Manifesto’ and the Jimi cover ‘Power Of Soul’ make for an inspiring tribute.

Todd K. Smith / The Electric Beard (February 2017)
 

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“MARTIN J. ANDERSEN may well be blues-rock’s best kept secret. Musicians know him, of course, and, no doubt, envy him as well. Aficionados of trio-based riff-rock are getting to know him, too, but now he has clearly outdone himself. His expertise on guitar and vocals has reached a new high with "THE SEVENTH CYCLE OF ETERNITY.” Aided by the chops-laden duo of JESPER BUNK on bass and SIGURD JØHNK-JENSEN on drums, Andersen delivers a mature, seasoned CD, with mostly original material, each a masterpiece in its own way. ‘Heavy’ and ‘bluesy’ are not adequate words to describe this music — it is more otherworldly and transcendent (if also heavy and raunchy), even if emerging from the gutter-soaked, raw reality of back streets blues clubs frequented by the masters. And speaking of masters, this particular blues-rock work-out reaches a climax with an astounding version of Jimi’s ‘Power of Soul,’ making all fans of virtuoso guitar know for certain that … ‘anything is possible.’ Andersen and bandmates hit it out of the park!”

Steven J. Rosen / Author + Journalist (December 2016)
 

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To many, heavy rock and blues is all about posturing and pouting. Or even machismo and bravado. However when a band is confident, assured and skilled enough to put all of that window dressing aside and simply lay down a collection of grooves and riffs that genuinely suck you into their way of thinking, well that's when the real magic happens. Blindstone, the power trio of guitarist and vocalist Martin J. Andersen, bassist Jesper Bunk and debuting drummer Sigurd Jøhnk-Jensen, are one of those rare beasts. The band's seventh album, The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity, hits hard, it's chock full of guitar solos that'll have you drooling at the mouth and there's no doubt that when it wants to be, it's as muscular and proud as you can imagine. And yet what makes this album, and indeed this band, so impressive is the believable, assured style in which everything is delivered.

"Dead Man's Blues" powers the album into life, Jøhnk-Jensen's kick drum literally moving you in your seat, as Andersen's guitar deftly switches between solid chunks of riffology and red hot lead lines that quickly sear themselves into your memory. With Bunk's bass work strong enough to allow Andersen the freedom to switch between riffs and solos at will, it's a hell of a way to start an album. However what impresses most is the uncluttered, genuine nature of what you've heard, the honesty behind this song and everything else on Seventh Cycle the reason you'll keep coming back for more.

From there the mid paced steam train of "Rolling" thunders into view, before "Rebel In Black" finds the perfect balance between subtly intricate and bullishly bold, the juddering slice of guitars delivered with a real sense of less being oh so much more. Any blues man worth his salt should be capable of tugging on the heart strings and with "Looking Back" Andersen proves equally adept at this simple sounding, but ever so difficult to achieve skill. This slower, emotional piece conveyed in such a way that you've no doubt it's coming straight from the heart – and while we all like a thundering powerhouse to get the party started, with a solo that captures the soul, I've no doubt this song will soon become a centre piece of the Blindstone live experience. However if it's hard hitting rock of an altogether more full on nature you desire, then don't fret, because Andersen's fretting fingers provide this in abundance. The instrumental "By The Suns Of Warvan, You Shall Be Avenged" holding the threat and mystery its title alludes, while "Thunder From The North" shows that the heavens can open and let the guitars rain down.

Add in the Bonzo-like drum storm of "Stonesnake", the Hendrix infused "On My Way" and cracking cover of the man himself on "Power Of Soul" and Blindstone simply have it all. Can there be a better way to spend time in The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity? I think not.

Steven Reid / Sea Of Tranquility (January 2017)
 

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Blindstone is a Danish blues rock band from Thisted that was founded in 2002. The founders were Martin J. Andersen (guitar, vocals) and Jesper Bunk (bass). The main lineup consisted of Martin J. Andersen, Jesper Bunk and drummer Anders Hvidtfeldt (who was in the band from 2003 - 2015). Enter excellent new drummer Sigurd Jöhnk-Jensen to complete the current line-up of Blindstone.

Blindstone debuted with "Manifesto". This was followed by "Freedom's Calling " and "Rise Above" (with guests: Danish guitarist Poul Halberg and Ty Tabor, the guitarist of King's X). In 2012, the band simultaneously released two albums, "Greetings From The Karma Factory" and "Rare Tracks".

The seventh album by Blindstone is called "The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity". This album debuts new drummer Sigurd Jöhnk-Jensen. Of the eleven tracks, there are ten original tracks (one track is the sequel to "By Grabthar's Hammer ..." a song from their debut album "Manifesto") and one is a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Power Of Soul" .

Blindstone continues on their chosen path. "The Seventh Cycle of Eternity" again hits hard with their "killer" Blindstone sound, however, they also explore multiple tracks at new musical areas. On "The Seventh Cycle of Eternity", Blindstone have released an excellent, classic heavy guitar rocker that the fans will surely rejoice!

Eric Schuurmans / Rootstime-Belgium (January-2016)
 

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You know, it’s very complicated for a band to rise above, album after album… This Power Trio (yes, with capital letters) is doing it. The first thing that is clear to me after listening to this new record, is that Martin J. Andersen is the best guitar player in Europe nowadays. Their sixth studio album (they have a Live album too) stands strong as the most classic, hard blues of their whole career. Names like Jimi Hendrix (they pay tribute him at all of their shows, and here they re-invent “Power Of Soul”), Frank Marino, Robin Trower, Johnny Winter all come to mind, when you are listening to the very fine and super-technical Martin, caressing his guitar. High-flying hard blues rock. A scent of Blue Cheer… even traces of the heavier side of Warren Haynes, serving this collection of songs without waste. A perfect production work, better than ever, more classic, the band has left behind the more contemporary sounds of the previous albums, even Stoneresque in some moments, for a trip back to the past, putting the soul in every note. This is not just a collection of songs, serving as platforms for guitar solos, as a lot of contemporary guitar-heroes do (hey, Mr. Bonamassa?), here there is background, feeling, passion… And these things aren’t mutually exclusive with the technical aspects. On bass guitar, the usual discreet presence of Jesper Bunk is a work of true wisdom too… Caused by his many years of, like Martin, working as a music teacher. And then, we wonder why in Scandinavia –Denmark in this case- there are huge bands? With teachers like these, who wouldn't soak this in from childhood? They say it in the song “Rolling”: "Rock’n’roll is the game I choose" and that's the hard rock truth.

Fernando Tanxencias / Popular 1 Rock n' Roll Magazine - Spain (December 2016)
 

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The mighty Danish based blues rock trio known as Blindstone are back with their highly anticipated new release, 'The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity'. For those new to Blindstone, they are a guitar-driven blues rock trio strongly influenced by 60’s/70’s era artists like Jimi Hendrix, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Black Sabbath and Mountain. The trio's latest outing touches all their familiar bases and then some. It's a work of remarkable variety and maturity which never loses sight of the band's classic rock roots. Proceedings start with a bang, the rocking "Dead Man's Blues"given one mighty turbo charge by Marten Anderson's blistering guitar work. "Rolling" keeps the pedal to the metal whilst other highlights include, "Rebel In Black", the slow burning, "Looking Back", and a amazing take on the Jimi Hendrix penned, "Power Of Soul". While on the instrumental "By The Suns Of Warvan, You Shall Be Avenged", the trio exhibit their air tight chemistry and flex their musical prowess. What sets Blindstone apart from the crowd is that while they adhere to many of the tropes of the genre they have an ability to mix it up a bit with strong songs, which no doubt can be extended for the odd jam, but on this record they don't overstay their welcome. This therefore puts a premium on their song-writing ability as they have to ensure that there is sufficient variety in the tracks to make this album worth listening to. In this regard the trio succeed hands down. Blindstone have won over a loyal fan base with the sheer power and class of their previous releases. 'The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity', is about to illuminate legions more music fans with its sheer quality. Highly Recommended.

Tony Sison / The Dedicated Rocker Society (December 2016)
 

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With a long and awesome legacy of Bluesrock Masterpieces on the Grooveyard Label, "The Seventh Cycle Of Eternity" disc doesn't disappoint! Doc Martin and the boys once again get the job done with eleven rock solid tracks, this time exploring their "rock" side with all-out fury and blues-tinged riffs. When this world, and sometimes life itself, let you down....You can ALWAYS count on Blindstone to come through with great songs, flawless playing, and a solid righteous groove that just sounds "right" for today. My favorite track is #9 = Stonesnake, but they all deliver the goods.

Dogman Dave Dietrich (Long-Time Good Musical Brother of the Grooveyard) (December-2016)
 

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Blues and blues rock has experienced a kind of mainstream revival in recent years, thanks mainly to Joe Bonamassa and his guitar skills. In the class of Bonamassa, two important things are forgotten. First, all rock music has its roots in blues. And secondly, there are countless, other talented groups out there who are still actively following their role models from the 60s and 70s. The bandwidth is immense and goes from "pure blues" over rock blues to bluesy hard rock. Enormously exciting bands are bustling here, and the guitars are still real and more than some over-produced rock or metal discs. Blindstone from Denmark are no strangers in this microcosm, but have been bluesing across the stages of Europe since 2002. It brought the fiddle trio on six albums, "The Seventh Cycle of Eternity" is number seven and the fifth studio album in addition to a live and a rare tracks release. Frontman, guitarist and singer Martin Andersen is an excellent guitarist who is the main songwriter for the sound of Hendrix, Cream, Mountain and Frank Marino. But bassist Jesper Bunk and the new drummer Sigurd Johnk-Jensen leave their unique fingerprint on the disc.

The range of compositions of the Scandinavians is truly impressive, ranging from rocky reef monsters like the opener 'Dead Man's Blues' or' By the Suns of Warvan 'to the honky-tonk number' Rebel in Black' to the tear-soaked, painful ballad' Looking Back ', who leaves a head scratching with the question of whether Andersen may have been born in the wrong body. 'Thunder from the North' has one of the most poignant stanza refrain bridges that has long since succumbed, 'Power of Soul' lives up to its title. All this is sometimes more, sometimes less, but always absolutely captivatingly accented by blues solos, which inevitably imitate guitar grips with your fingers. The feet are bobbing all the time in the groove of the riffs anyway. Not one of the 11 songs (51 minutes) is a gap filler, everything has a hand and foot. If you like rocking blues, you will find an excellent band with the Danes, which also has a comprehensive and highly acclaimed back catalog.

DanielF / Whiskey Soda - Germany (December 2017)
 

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