Blueprint Tokyo
... is an indie rock duo from Oklahoma City. "We love hooks and atmosphere." Andy and Kevin have been playing across the states for more than a decade. Being on the brink of full-time musicians, Kevin was diagnosed with a degenerative bone disease forcing him to stop.
Without insurance, his diagnosis and treatment eventually came through charities, personal debt, and benefits. Now healthy, the duo has restarted their musical journey. New songs in hand and emerging from the pandemic, their new band Blueprint Tokyo is starting fresh.
Blueprint Tokyo are ...?
Kevin Dawson and Andy Hale. We're from Oklahoma City and we're also members of a band called Winter Circle.
Do you remember the very first song as Blueprint Tokyo?
Our very first single was Panic Carefully. At the time Kevin was living in Canada and it was right as the lockdown started happening and I began writing and started sending the demos to Kevin and over the next several weeks we finished the song and started writing a lot of other material as well. It was a pretty magical moment since the music felt different from our other band but also really comfortable and fresh.
"Say Anything" sounds great, somewhere between Indie Rock meets the 80s, what was your inspiration?
Our musical tastes are all over the place. It's no secret that we love current music as much as material from the 80's or even earlier. Certainly bands like The Cure, Death Cab for Cutie, The Cars, and others are in there.
It's the first single from an upcoming EP, what can we expect from?
Our EP "Cinema Sounds" will be available October 28. We're doing a three song EP and we're really excited. We did an EP release last year and think this one continues to build off of many of the themes and ideas we're seeing bubble up to the top of our music.
Any chance to see you somewhere live on stage?
We'll be performing live sometime after the new year.
How would you describe the Indie scene in Oklahoma City?
Oklahoma City has seen a lot of music. Many people don't truly realize the importance of Oklahoma to the overall music world. We've had a lot of great artists come from the state. But like many places it has its ups and downs and struggles to attract people to go to shows and really help support artists. But we're really passionate and I think that always wins out.
Let us know an Album everyone should listen to?
There's a ton of albums everyone should listen to including a lot of obvious answers. Albums like So by Peter Gabriel and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac are two that spring to mind immediately. But there's also Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night by the Bleachers or Lucifer on the Sofa by Spoon that are great as well.
And last but not least ... what's next for you?
We're continuing to write and record. We'll have another EP out early next year and we'll be on stage soon!
