This week, I want to introduce you to another vocalist I’ve been working with of late. This is Dan Bloomfield, and he is the lead singer of rock band C.A.S.S.
Without further ado, let’s dive in and meet Dan.
So, Mr Dan Bloomfield, we’ve chatted a bit about your musical background before, but for our readers, how did you first get started in music and bands?
For me it was always about guitar. Singing was something I did in bands right at the beginning basically because no-one else would! I got into one band and started singing, then got into another band… intending just to be the guitarist, but the organiser hadn’t sorted a singer… so I ended up singing in THAT one as well.
In terms of guitar, I’ve been playing for 11 years, making it a big part of my life! Now, I’ve found a new band – C.A.S.S. – where all the guys are really proactive, we work well together, and I’m putting both vocals and guitar to good use!
So you’ve always been a guitarist, but would you say that your love for singing and being a vocalist has overtaken guitar?
I’d say my main love is still guitar, but since joining CASS, vocals have been more front and centre for me generally, and I spend a lot more time working on my vocals.
One thing that helps is that I’m not the lead guitarist in C.A.S.S., I play rhythm whilst singing, though I do also have some lead parts. In previous bands I’ve been lead guitar AND vocals, which was pretty demanding, whereas now I get a chance to focus on vocals. It certainly helps me in finding where I’m comfortable singing and playing at the same time.
Tell me a little bit about C.A.S.S….
So I knew about C.A.S.S. before I joined them. I’d seen them during some competitions at university with their previous singer, e.g. during Battle of the Bands. I’d picked up on some things in their performance that had made me think that the vocalist’s heart wasn’t really in it. As it transpired, that was their last gig with their previous vocalist and they were on the look out for a new one.
One night the Band Society at university had an open jam night, and me and my housemate performed our version of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and the lead guitarist – Simon – approached me, said he liked what I was doing, and invited me to audition for their band. So I did! I went along to the audition, performed ‘Man in the Box’ by Alice in Chains, and the rest is history!
And what are you guys doing now?
We’re just about to release our first EP, entitled ‘Evolve’. The band has been around in one form or another for about 2 years, but has also changed a lot – it’s become an evolution of what they did before and what we do now… which is why we called the EP ‘Evolve’. We were originally going to have 4 songs done with the first singer, and 4 songs with me as the new singer, just to demonstrate where we were and where we are now, but that didn’t quite happen in the end.
It’s interesting, because the band has been reasonably established for a while, I initially felt a bit like an alien within the band, but the rest of the band are so good with letting me do what I like to do and putting my own spin and style on existing tracks as well as contributing to new material in our current way. It really works well!
How do you generally approach vocals?
Well I have my own style, and I like to really put that into each song – whether it’s a cover or an original. In fact a lot of what we do in lessons is very much geared around what I want to do and want to sing and deliver live, and making songs my own. Especially playing guitar as well, you don’t want to be thinking about THAT as well, you want to be able to just get on and do it!
So what prompted you to get in touch for lessons?
Originally it was my stamina. I always found that with the band, after 2 hours of practice I could REALLY feel how wrecked my voice was. I knew I needed a way of not wrecking my voice night and after. There are these bands that tour and blast their voices night after night, and I knew I just couldn’t manage that, so even just for future prep of my voice I knew I needed to invest in technique to keep my voice in top shape and give me the stamina I need to deliver in my band. That’s something I need to get and we’re working on.
The guys in the band have seen a big improvement. It’s a lot less difficult than it was, a lot easier to access those high notes, and I also know how and where I can push a little harder than perfect technique, deliver the sound I want, then go back to sound technique. It just makes such a difference to my vocals, my confidence and our overall sounds as a band.
Thanks for your time Dan!
