We caught up with the brilliant and insightful The Blue Dolphins a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
The Blue Dolphins , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
I guess you could say forming The Blue Dolphins was taking a risk;
Alfonso had quit performing in bands about 10 years before we started working together and it had been a painful relationship, almost breaking though with his band Vitamina Vil in Spain, when the lead singer and main writer quit. So, he had switched Sound Engineering and had no intention of being in a band again.
I had also had my heart broken by music. I had set up an Indie label, Zeus Records, with my sister in the late 90’s. Writing, recording, performing and working as general manager of that label. But like Alfonso, though we had some wins we didn’t manage to break an artist and it was a sad break up when the label closed.
Quite by accident when Alfonso and I started hanging out together we naturally started writing songs together because we’re songwriters at heart and then once we had a bunch of songs we thought why not play them live. That was in 2012, since then we have recorded three albums, two EP’s and a number of eclectic singles. Played on football fields and theaters in the US, UK, Spain and Mexico. As well as receiving some great support from public and college radio in the US and Spain.
As with daring to fall in love again, we both took a risk in coming back into music and band life, but we can say it was worth it!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I guess we answered part of that in the last question; but I come from being a lifelong music lover, and discovering I had a voice performing in musical theater as a teen, then forming a psychedelic rock bank in London when I was 17, getting on a plane for Italy with my sister and ending up in California with a catalogue of songs, setting up a label. Writing and performing on those albums.
Alfonso also comes from a band background. forming the first rock and roll band in his region of La Mancha in Spain in his teens. Then forming Indie Rock band Vitamina Vil in Valencia Spain, they played to crowds of 10’000. He then became a Recording Engineer in Valencia for 10 years before moving to Los Angeles.
We are a Los Angeles based songwriting duo . Alfonso is also a five Grammy Award winning producer/engineer/songwriter.
We have been writing, releasing albums and playing live together since 2012. We write beautiful melodies, sing tight harmonies with an uplifting positive mood. Our musical style embraces Folk, Pop and Roots Rock with a unique timeless quality. We write in a commercial style natural and unpretentious, attracting a wide range of listeners with universal themes and laid- back charm.
We also write for other artists and Alfonso also mixes and masters too. I have sung on a National Advertising Campaigns.
When we play live we have a really irreverent attitude and have a lot of fun. We are kind of like ‘I love Lucy’ in a Roots Pop Rock Band Format. We are independently released and managed which gives us the freedom to create on our own terms.
We can’t wait to play for you!
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
In the music sphere buy direct from artists. Buy on Bandcamp rather than listening on Spotify. Spotify is great for discovery but Bandcamp actually pays artists and when you own a piece of music and listen to it a lot, you can really create a relationship with it- that’s an especially soulful experience. Buy merchandise at shows, hire your favorite band for a house concert. Make independent choices as well as commercial ones. Get involved!
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is connecting with our audience. Its awesome when a room can be still and by the end of your set everybody knows each other and some are dancing on the tables! Or your live streaming and playing to people in Spain, London and USA and everyones having a good time. Or when for example Alfonso’s village movie theater played our ‘Walking in the Sun’ music video before every film they screened, a DJ connects with a song and plays it often or a listener tells us, thank you for that song it got me through a bad moment’. Those are all very fulfilling experiences.
Contact Info:
- Website: thebluedolphins.net
- Instagram: thebluedolphins
- Facebook: thebluedolphins
- Linkedin: the-blue-dolphins
- Twitter: thebludolphins
- Youtube: bluedolphinsmusic
- Other: https://thebluedolphins.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Scott Free, Shannon Michael Terry, Santosh Khalsa, Alfonso G. Rodenas, Victoria C. Scott,