Header Photo by D. Wayne (@notesfromvivace)
Bizou is a new synth rock project made up of Mina Prietto (Wax Idols), Josiah Mazzaschi, Nicole Fiorentino (The Cold and Lovely, formerly bassist Smashing Pumpkins and Veruca Salt), Erin Tidwell (Tennis System, Jennie Vee) and Nicki Nevlin. Their first single, “Call of the Wild,” is a goth rock dream. “Call of the Wild” recently went up on Spotify, and the band also recently released a Jam in the Van performance. Tom Tom got a chance to talk to Erin about drumming in Bizou.
TTM: You’ve all been in some pretty well-known projects prior to Bizou. How’d this configuration of musicians come together?
Erin: I’ve known Josiah for a while and we are buddies. He actually introduced me to Nicole who I ended up playing drums for in The Cold and Lovely a few years back and we also became good friends. Josiah had been writing a lot of these song ideas for a while and wanted to get it off the ground with a band. Nicki and Josiah were in Light FM together as well. We all started playing around and needed a solid singer. It’s kind or funny because I was supposed to try playing with our current singer, Mina from Wax Idols, in a different project. We started chatting over text and I just decided to see if she was interested in trying her hand or should I say voice, haha, on these songs I was playing with. She was totally into it and the rest was history. It all makes sense because we are pretty good friends. There isn’t anything better than playing with people who are your buds and who you musically click with.
TTM: You’ve been described as new wave, goth rock, and synth pop (among others). Is drumming in this sort of project a totally different style than you’re used to, or is it something you’re really comfortable playing with?
Oh yes, it is definitely the kind of stuff I’m into and love playing. It’s all the types of music and styles I grew up listening to and still listen to now. It’s also great to be playing with backing tracks again. It makes everything sound so big and I love playing to a click; it makes the band play super tight too. I try really hard to bring the same enthusiasm to all the different styles I play!
TTM: What’s coming up for Bizou over the next year?
Well we just released our first single “Call of the Wild” and there will be a music video coming out for that soon. There are plans of an EP release, shows and touring. Super excited to see what’s to come!
Follow Bizou: Facebook//Bandcamp
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