Artist description BLESSEDBETHYNAME utilize the industrial hardcore genre to exorcise their own painful personal demons & open up a world of excruciating self-reflection for their audience. From Divine breakdowns and melodies to demonic blast beats and screaming, BLESSEDBETHYNAME expresses all the emotions experienced in life through their music.

Music Style Metal/Industrial

Musical Influences Manson, NIN, Fear Factory, Dead Can Dance, The Doors, Ministry, Zombie, Slayer,

Similar Artists Fear Factory, White Zombie meets Cradle of Filth

Artist History BLESSEDBETHYNAME was created in 1997 in Phoenix, AZ by Tim Ringgold and Eddie Kelly. Each had moved from Connecticut and New Mexico to pursue music, and the Industrial Scene in Phoenix quickly became their home. Having met in 'the pit' two years earlier, there was little doubt each one had found someone sick enough to build a band with. They filled out the lineup with live keyboards and drums and hit the Phoenix music scene screaming - literally. Since then, BLESSEDBETHYNAME has earned a reputation for putting on large productions each time they play live; each show is a moment in time, a singular event with an original title, stage plot, intro, and face. Their shows attract over 500 fans at a time. BLESSEDBETHYNAME unveiled their debut self titled demo on October 31, 1998. Track 2, "Vestigial", was a particular favorite of local DJ's, Program Directors, and fans alike. In fact, on the popular Streeteam.net website, the song has consistently been in the top 10 downloads for unsigned bands since it was placed on the site in January of 2000. In early 2000, the band released a three-song demo to quell the appetite of their fans, and to display their growth as songwriters and producers. "Now" and "Myriad" quickly rose to the top of fans' requests. The summer of 2001 announced the arrival of the band's 3rd offering, their 2nd full-length record, "The Divine Blasphemy". Packed with even tighter songwriting and production than the demo, and the same passion and sickness of their debut, the new album promises to be the final piece of the puzzle to launch BLESSEDBETHYNAME into the prime time. "Panic" is the most requested song on Australian Underground radio [The Metal Chamber 104.5FM] currently. The band nourishes its rabid fans through email and its website. There, fans can find out about upcoming shows and news, view live photos from shows, download new music, read lyrics, contact the band, and post messages on a guestbook. "It's an amazing feeling to get emails from kids in Spain, Sweden, Russia, Germany as well as from almost every state in the country." Tim explains. "Our site has connected us to thousands of fans that we otherwise might never been able to share our music with." So what is BLESSEDBETHYNAME? Eddie Kelly sums it up best, "BLESSEDBETHYNAME is an erotic, exotic spiritual painting of a dance; a dance that embodies the deepest parts of life's glorious balance. It's the most passionate display of what's born out of life's emotional exuburance and love's self-inflicted losses, and on the other hand, it's the most savage delivery of ritualistic rage born out of the souls uncontrollable purpose to create a place where the womb and the world are one. What does their future hold? "Our main objective is to express and create in all moments and in all places; to attract the attention of new fans every show we play. Our goal: To share BLESSEDBETHYNAME with the rest of the world."

Group Members Eddie Kelly - Vocals Tim Ringgold - Guitars John Ogle - Drums Gabe Naylor - Bass John Braun - Keyboards

Instruments vocals, guitar, synths, drums, & bass

Albums Self-Titled (1998), The Divine Blasphemy (2001)

Press Reviews Interview with Eddie and Tim Coffinz.com, 2001 Where did the name BLESSEDBETHYNAME originate from? Tim: It's a beautiful story, actually. It was given to us through a very intense, spiritual mediation session one night. We had been warring over how to describe that which we create through our music and our rituals, and nothing was coming to us. Months had gone by with nothing but frustration. Then, one night, Eddie played "The Host of Seraphim" by Dead Can Dance after a particularly intense song writing session. We all held hands meditating on the ground in his room bathed in black lights. As the song built in intensity, energy poured through us. When the song ended, Eddie simply looked up and smiled and said, "BLESSEDBETHYNAME". It was as if we were being electrocuted by the freedom of having a name at last. We all knew in that moment that that was our name, and that it always had been. How would you describe BLESSEDBETHYNAME? Eddie: BLESSEDBETHYNAME is an erotic, exotic spiritual painting of a dance. A dance that embodies the deepest parts of life's glorious balance. It's the most passionate display of what's born out of life's emotional exuberance and loves self-inflicted losses, and on the other hand, it's the most savage delivery of ritualistic rage born out of the souls uncontrollable purpose to create a place where the womb and the world are one. Who or what does the band have as influences, musically or in life? Eddie: BLESSEDBETHYNAME is musically influenced by musical pillars ranging from Beethoven to Nine inch Nails along with the heavenly worlds of bands along the lines of Dead Can Dance. And of course musical visionaries like The Doors and Marilyn Manson. Wrapped up with a Heavy Metal attitude and a calling from cultural sounds and the purity of natures exquisite notes. Why do you refer to your shows as rituals? Eddie: We refer to our shows as rituals, because they are. We approach our performances with the required amount of unity and honor. What we do is not play our music live or put on a good show for the paying attendants. We create a world where the gap is closed and separatism destroyed. The whole purpose is to bring the fans so closely involved that each and every individual feels that it solely belongs to them. By the end of our show our fans realize that the whole time they've been looking in the mirror and seeing a part of their self. How much do you credit only playing a few rituals a year to the bands success? Tim: It's all about the law of supply and demand, really. More of our fans will come to each show if they know that it's gonna be a few months before the next time we appear. We never announce more than one ritual at a time so fans never know when they'll see us again. They also know that every show has a different look and energy about it; it's like we save up our energy and it builds as our fans desire to see us builds and they culminate in what makes our shows RITUALS. What's your favorite part of performing a ritual? Eddie: Our favorites parts of performing a ritual is of course getting dressed for it, but the high point is the feeling of love coming off of our fans. It's unbelievable and incredible. Even though every one is a special event, i assume we'll see some suprises on June 9th? Tim: Rest assured. How would you compare your upcoming release to the past ones? Eddie: The best way to describe the comparison between our new release and our old release is that our old release sounded like you were crawling in the mud of the divinity of hell, our new release sounds like your flying through the blackened skies of the divinity of hell. What styles of music do you guys normaly listen to? Tim: You know, that always changes, because we're individually always encountering strange, new bands that are creating something new and different. Ironically, Eddie and I listen to a lot of stuff that isn't as heavy as the music we play. I figure, I play it every night, I could use a change during the day. I probably listen to the least amount of hard music out of the whole band. Artists like Jeff Buckley, Seal, & Madonna are cool, and new bands like OURS, Boy Hits Car, The Apex Theory & Chasing Furies keep me mellow and yet still inspired while the great fireball in the sky reigns supreme until the night returns. How would you describe your fans? Eddie: I would describe our fans as children of the creative heart, fathers of the morbid mind, and dreamers of the untamed soul. I love them more than words can describe. What is you fan base like outside of Arizona? Tim: We get emails from kids from Iowa to Florida to Spain to Russia. The guy from Spain who emailed us said that Vestigial was the second best mp3 he'd ever downloaded of more than 300. We had someone from Chile hit our website this morning, in fact. We have one fan in California who drives six hours to see our shows here! She also made a fan site for us that rocks. It's at www.ikickshins.com. I've heard stories of our videos that we've sold of our live shows here getting taped over and over between friends in Montana, Colorado, and Iowa. Our website has been the link to most of them. I can't wait to get in a van or an a bus and go meet them finally! What are your opinions of the music scene in Arizona? Eddie: The music scene in Arizona is absolutely the best. It's our home of course. You can go see an unbelievable band in any kind of style in great venues on great stages. It's very active and there is a lot of love between bands. We've seen better talent here than anywhere we've been. But most importantly it is very, very real. Tim: Yeah, kids here are still into being fans of bands. They're not too cool for the music. When we were in California, no one got into the bands like the kids do here. They were too busy looking cool and sipping their eight dollar drink. LA has cool venues, but they're filled with hollow Barbies and Kens. Anything else you would like to add? Tim: We're locked up in Dream Catcher Recording Studio in Mesa for the rest of the month creating our new child. If you're a band or artist looking for a place to capture your work, look no further. Jim Hornaday is the baddest engineer on the Planet! The vibe here is like a Colorado Ski Chalet. It's the most totally relaxed vibe. We love working here with Jim and highly recommend him to all our AZ brothers and sisters. But don't take my word for it...the CD will speak for itself.

Location Phoenix, AZ - USA

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