Student band Blue Velvet adds post-punk sound to NOLA community

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Colin Yaccarino | Photography Editor

Blue Velvet sits outside of PJ’s Coffee of New Orleans Mar. 8. The self-described “post-punk” band recently released its first full-length album, “Divine.”

In homage to the work of David Lynch and as huge fans of the movie “Blue Velvet,” three local musicians formed a band with that namesake.

Blue Velvet consists of current and past Tulane students. Seniors Lex Condes and Evan Cole play the drums and bass, respectively, and former student Eden Klinger serves as the lead singer and guitarist.

Blue Velvet was formed in August 2016. After meeting freshman year, Klinger and Condes started a four-piece band with friends. While it didn’t pan out in the long term, it helped lay enough of a foundation of chemistry between the two that they decided to give it another try after Condes returned from a trip to Korea.

Klinger takes on the bulk of the songwriting with contributions from Condes while Cole writes his baselines.

Drawing inspiration from the music scene of the late ’70s and cultural icons like David Bowie, band members look to the late singer for inspiration in presentation, performance and songwriting. Regarding sound, the band describes itself as “post-punk” or “queer-punk.”

“We record the music in our kitchen, so I guess not garage rock,” Condes said. “Kitchen rock, something like that.”

The latest release from the kitchen-turned-recording-studio is Blue Velvet’s 14-song LP “Divine.” This is the band’s first full-length album, having previously released two EPs, “Slapstick” and “Teeth.” The band members consider the album to be a learning experience.

“It was a more daunting process than I think we expected when we went into it,” Klinger said.

While its members have been involved with music for most of their lives, they all agree that Blue Velvet is their most professional band yet. Hailing from Mississippi, North Carolina and New Jersey, the band credits New Orleans with its musical development more than the members’ hometowns.

“… I think a lot of people think of New Orleans and think of Zydeco and jazz and stuff,” Cole said. “But I’ve been surprised by the amount of different kinds of genres that we’ve had the opportunity to play with and watch.”

The band puts on some house shows, providing a more energetic performance and an intimate audience. Despite its preference for small settings, the band has ventured outside its house show set, playing at Euphorbia Kava Bar, Hi-Ho Lounge, Rare Form and The Willow.

“We just try to go 100 percent at all of [our shows], ” Klinger said. “Whether we have a big audience or a small audience.”

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