Pigeon Spins Featuring an Interview with Blake

Blake - Flamingo Road

With "Flamingo Road," Blake offers listeners a glimpse into his personal experiences over the past year, weaving together a tapestry of sounds influenced by iconic artists such as The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, and Belle and Sebastian. Each track on the album carries its own bespoke flair, from the post-punk vibes of 'Scapegoating' to the introspective musings of 'Asking For A Friend.' This home-recorded labour of love highlights Blake's dedication to his craft and his ability to produce compelling musical narratives that have lyrical depth as well as a unique melodic sensibility.

Wiltshire-based singer-songwriter and DIY multi-instrumentalist, Blake was the founding member of indie rock act Karma Truffle, signed to London’s Ecto Music label, who shared bills with The Arctic Monkeys in the 00s. 'Flamingo Road' is the name of Blake's new album, released on Rockhopper Records on 7th November 2025. Blake’s song ‘Vinyl Junkie’ appears in the soundtrack to the 2019 Brit crime film, ‘24 Hours to Live or Die’.

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Interview with Blake

(º)> What personal experiences from the past year shaped Flamingo Road?

Let’s just say it’s to do with relationships. I don’t really want to go into details. I hope the songs speak for themselves, like good songs about relationships do – think Blue by Joni Mitchell or Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan – without needing to mention specifics. Of course, it’s also fine when people attach their own meanings to songs. For instance, ‘Gigantic’ by Pixies has a meaning to me that I’m sure is far removed from what Kim Deal was writing about! Suffice to say, some of the songs are about sad endings and new beginnings – both of which bring their share of challenges.

(º)> How do artists like The Beatles and The Velvet Underground influence your sound?

The Beatles have been the primary musical influence in my life since I learned that my dad had interviewed John Lennon in 1969. I discovered this in 1980, the year Lennon was killed. For nearly 20 years, I played the role of John in the Beatles tribute band, All You Need Is The Beatles. In 2009, I was asked to sing John’s vocals in the biopic, Nowhere Boy. I’m a Beatles-obsessive, and I attend the International Beatles Week festival in Liverpool every year without fail. Regarding The Velvets, I have loved their music since my cousin bought me a cassette tape of theirs when I was fourteen. I adore the directness and simplicity of their musical approach, as well as their lo-fi sound. You can hear their influence most clearly on ‘Asking For A Friend’.

(º)> Each track on the album has a unique vibe. How do you create that diversity?

I don’t limit my songwriting in terms of genres. I just come up with ideas and complete the songs without restricting myself to a particular ‘sound’. It creates havoc with the classification of my music, but that’ a sacrifice I’m willing to make to have musically diverse records. This is something I picked up from The Beatles. My strap-line is “File under: ‘Eclectic’.”

(º)> What was it like recording this album at home by yourself?

A huge struggle, if I’m honest. It took a lot of hard work. It was difficult to motivate myself to keep going. Staring at a blank computer screen and thinking about the effort required to produce a finished recording by yourself can feel like having to climb a mountain. I had written all the songs before I started recording. I whittled the eleven songs down from about 25 songs that I had recorded demos for. When I got to eight completed tracks, I was thinking of calling it a day and just sticking three cover versions on the album that I had already recorded, just to get it finished off. I pushed through that wall, though, and managed to dig deep enough to complete recordings of ‘I Want You’, ‘Asking For A Friend’, and ‘Say Yes’. Now I feel like if I never have to record a song again by myself, it will be too soon for me!

(º)> How do you balance lyrical depth with catchy melodies?

I can’t be objective about my songs. I honestly don’t know if they’re any good or not. I am still not convinced that I am doing anything but wasting my time. I am trying to write songs that have catchy melodies and lyrical depth, but I have no idea if I am succeeding. All I can do is try and write about my experience of being human and how I view what’s going on in the world, and hope that people will relate.

(º)> How has your experience with Karma Truffle influenced your solo work?

Karma Truffle was conceived as a bit of fun. It was sort of a joke between my late friend, Magda McCaffry (later a published author under the name, Magda McQueen). Initially, the group was set up as a tribute band to an obscure group we both happened to love – The Bevis Frond. We wondered if anyone would come to a show for such a ridiculous concept. Amazingly, people did! Magda and I both happened to be prolific songwriters, however, so it soon turned into an originals act. The fact that we then got signed to a London record label came as even more of a shock. It wasn’t really the plan, but we went with it. The label was, in fact, interested in signing me as a solo performer on the strength of my home-produced debut solo LP, Solomon’s Tump. However, I wasn’t ready to be a solo artist back in 2004 – I was terrified at the prospect, actually! – So I persuaded the label to sign our strange little psych outfit instead. Frustratingly, being signed to a label meant that all the artistic freedom that we had previously enjoyed ended, and it felt like too much of a compromise being pigeon-holed into a particular genre. The label took a year to record our three-track debut E.P., ‘She’s Not All That’, insisting on tedious overdubbing sessions when all we wanted was to cut the tracks live, and we decided to leave to pursue our own vision. Sadly, the band disbanded after the release of our self-funded debut LP, What You Do Coms Back To You. Magda left because she wasn’t cut out for life on the road and, without her, the soul of the band was gone. I started my solo career and vowed to never be constrained by considerations over genre.

(º)> Can you tell us about the story behind the song Vinyl Junkie?

That song was written as an ode to a friend of mine who fits that description. He loves collecting records and has two rooms in his house dedicated to his acquisitions. We were best mates at school, but I hadn’t been in contact with him for about ten years when I wrote the song, and, magically, it had the effect of bringing our lives back into orbit after he heard it. My friend then made the accompanying video for the song, which was filmed at our favourite record shop, Vinyl Vault in Cheltenham.

(º)> What does Flamingo Road mean to you as an artist?

‘Flamingo Road’, the song, was written by my friend Magda shortly before we put Karma Truffle together. It’s about her experiences from her time living in Lyme Regis. She observed that a lot of people were seemingly carrying heavy burdens, perhaps herself included. I recorded it for my new album following her tragic and untimely passing in 2023, and it became the titular track. I added the choruses, of which I hope Magda would have approved.

The album has been a labour of love (and hate, as intimated above!). I couldn’t afford to record with my bandmates in a studio like I had done with my previous two efforts, Louder Than Sound and Plainsongs. However, I had kept up my songwriting schedule this year, and I wanted to release the results, particularly when tracks like ‘Scapegoating’ were inspired by recent events. I didn’t want to release it next year when some of the songs with social and political messages may not have been so relevant.

(º)> How do you approach storytelling through your music?

I think it’s important to try and capture a listener’s attention through musical hooks but also to draw them into the narrative of a song. The best songs always have an interesting story. Bob Dylan didn’t win the Nobel Prize for Literature for no reason. It’s because he is a wonderful storyteller and gifted in his use of language. I studied English Literature at university in Los Angeles, and before I started writing songs, I wrote poems. I guess for this reason lyrics come easily for me, and I believe they are equally important an ingredient for a successful popular song as the music.

(º)> What do you want listeners to feel when they hear your album?

I hope that they will relate to and feel moved by the songs about relationships and be stirred to action by the ones about social justice.

Blake’s website: https://www.thisisblake.com/

All Blake’s releases are available from Bandcamp: https://thisisblake.bandcamp.com/

(•)> That's all Folks! Check out Blake on the Pigeon Spins Playlist