Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Bluphoria, a term not yet in the Webster dictionary, refers to the simultaneous feeling of sadness amidst happy experiences. Other definitions? A four-piece Nashville-transplanted alternative rock band.
“When you’re depressed but you go to a party with your friends. You’re in a fun, great environment, but something’s still not right— there’s still a sadness there,” explains lead singer and Bluphoria founder Reign LaFreniere. “I feel like that carries into a lot of our music where the chords sound upbeat and happy but the content of the lyrics are not necessarily matching that.”
Speaking with LaFreniere on the afternoon of the band’s first of two album release shows, he shared his excitement for the band’s looming album release and the shows to precede it.
Bluphoria’s self-titled major label full-length debut is set to release Friday, May 5 via EDGEOUT Records / UMe / UMG. The band worked with Grammy award-winning producer Mark Needham (Fleetwood Mac, Imagine Dragons, Mt. Joy, The 1975) at both the famous East Iris Studios in Berry Hill section of Nashville and his personal studio to record the 11-track LP.
Formed in 2019, the band hails from Eugene, Oregon and is fronted by Reign LaFreniere, 23 (lead vocals, lead guitar) along with Dakota Landrum, 20 (rhythm guitar, background vocals) Rex Wolf, 22 (bass, background vocals) and Dani Janae, 21 (drums, background vocals). They began playing together in their sophomore year at the University of Oregon and were signed to their label in early 2021, taking part in EDGEOUT’s program “THE STUDIO,” which focuses on the development of young mainstream rock bands and artists that will fuel the future rock movement.
Now based in Nashville, Bluphoria combines alternative rock with blues rock and psychedelic rock influences, drawing from a wide array of styles and icons from decades ranging from 60s and 70s rock, to 90s grunge and beyond.
While all members are in their early twenties, the vintage stylings of decades prior appeal to them for a multitude of reasons and effortlessly bleed into their music with a fresh sheen on nostalgic sounds. “I think the main thing is that 60s and 70s music is timeless,” says LaFreniere. “I think the goal being a musician is to have timeless music. You don’t want to be investing your passion and artwork into something that fades in and out. I’ve always been really focused on the timeless element of our songs. And just being a fan of that time period, the zeitgeist, the style, musically, it makes it easier, it’s just natural.”
Working alongside an established producer, Needham imparted his years of wisdom on the band who had to shake off their original nerves. “Working with Mark was just amazing. He’s this calming and understanding presence when we are all stressed out during out first studio experience, and having to learn how to play on a click track,” smiles LaFreniere. “I got to play Jimi Hendrix’s guitar on “Columbia” which is so awesome. It’s been very surreal.”
On their latest single, “Columbia,” the band channel a darker spirit, fusing blues rhythms and the driving force of hard rock, laced with a grunge rock grit. The chorus erupts into a tantalizing hook with vocals pulled straight from the depths of the soul. Originally structured as a reggae number, Dakota Landrum, who penned the song, and LaFreniere decided to pull some ideas from their repository.
“We went through many different phases of like, do we play chords during that, or do we do a riff, and eventually it was like, lets go Doors-y with it, drop the reggae down a bit, make it more driving so that when the chorus comes in it just goes super hard,” LaFreniere says. “A lot of the time it’s things we thought about adding to songs in the past to elevate them… I think we just threw it all at the wall with “Columbia” and it became such a great addition to the album.”
On performing the song live, he notes with a laugh, “It has to be at the end because we just throw everything out there. My voice gone, and the guitars are usually broken. It’s a cool experience.” They first began testing the song out during the pandemic when they creatively live streamed house shows. At this time, they also played to thousands at a Black Lives Matter protest, aligning their morals to their musical aspirations.
The album’s first two tracks juxtapose one another in a contradicting, yet completely human nature, highlighting the band’s depth and youth all in one. “Set Me Up” kicks off the album in a force of enticing guitar chords and insistent percussion. With a Rolling Stones-influenced cadence, its energy grabs your attention and LaFreniere’s vocal delivery is raw and enticing, encapsulating all the feelings of being young and hurt by love.
Followed up by the Cali-surf rock stylings of “Believe In Love,” any previous rumblings of discontent are soon forgotten with the lighthearted musings of “When I’m by your side/ I believe in love.” Sonically, their pop sensibilities shine in the chorus, with “oohs” and doo-wop styled background vocals creating a lush veil around the song’s structure.
There are plenty of tracks on the album that reverberate with an invigorated punch and demand to be heard in a live setting— singles “Walk Through The Fire” and “Columbia” specifically. Furthermore, their take on a funk-rock, “Let You Go,” is danceable and groovy with a palpitating bass line that would surely light a room up. With themes of running away and starting new, (a teenage cliché with calculated maturity) their youth is prevalent here, even while the sound is matured.
“Pretty People” is a swooning slow rocker that LaFreniere names as one of his favorites on the record. It swells in its bridge, swathing the chorus with vintage guitar and twinkling slide in an ode to Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” which he’d played earlier in the day. “I like to think that we pay tribute to the past a lot, and a lot of the time that really helps and elevates our music.”
Ballads “Ain’t Got Me” and “Ms. Jones” serve as reminders of Bluphoria’s ambitions and duality. “Ain’t Got Me” begins stripped back, reminiscent of an early 2000s Arctic Monkeys cut with a 60s flair, and grows into a fraught cry of fuzzed out guitars. Written in his dorm room as the first Bluphoria track, LaFreniere notes, “that chord progression was so weird, it felt very jangle-pop 60s, so I thought leaning into that would be good, and a just out of the wazoo big break on it would make it interesting.”
“Ms. Jones” ends the record on a surprisingly dark note, spewing the tale of a fictitious singer who sits at home ruminating in her own woes. Written by Landrum, LaFreniere adds, “That song is just so much darker than our songs get. I think it shows a maturity in our songwriting. I think it’s a good way to end the album with that feeling of loss and depression because the album is so all over the place and so up and down and so based on our experiences and then it ends with such a goodbye.”
What’s more akin to Bluphoria that that? The group may still be figuring it out, but they’re well on their way to mastering the art of blue-euphoria, enabled by the vibrant spirit of their music and the promise of what’s to come.
Bluphoria is out everywhere Friday, May 5. Tickets are on sale now for their album release show at Los Angeles’ The Mint on Wednesday, May 3.
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