Introducing :: Blanche Has Friends

Words: Linn Branson


Blanche Has Friends....she does, I'm sure, and upon first hearing 'You're Lonely As', we were glad she had, as this relatively brief track transpired to be an instrumental. Not really our bag, and a disappointment as it sounded a) pretty good but b) should have been twice as long and c) had some words.



Upon going through other tracks that had been uploaded in the last month - because our interest had been caught by the lyricless first one - we came across 'Pilot', which made our ears go gooey and our tails start wagging, and by the time we got to the gorgeously atmospheric strains of 'Would Not Leave, So He Ran Out Of Air' we were hooked.

"'Pilot' is a really special song for me, as it is about dating somebody you really care about who seems to mentally take-off into outer space whenever he or she is upset," explains Blanche's main woman, Blanche, or rathermore Kristina Reznikov.



On chatting to Kristina we discover that the Washington DC-based, Maryland native has been vocalist / guitarist and songwriter with the experimental electro post-rock band Drop Electric for the last three years, and Blanche... is her newly-formed solo project.

'Waking Up To The Fire', Drop Electric's last album, was released late 2013 to critical praise - with Kristina's vocals being alikened to Elizabeth Fraser and Hope Sandoval - and some of the songs she is now putting out under the Blanche name were those written around the time of the album being put together, but which didn't quite fit the Drop Electric remit to make the cut.

"My whole life I've been in my dark cave, messing with chords and guitars. Guitar is my main thing, but I have always been really into my music software and technical skills. I used to record bands in my basement in middle school and high school. The tracks I have here with Blanche Has Friends are fun tracks I was messing around with, but didn't quite fit with Drop Electric. These are the unused tracks that really, really stuck to me and I wanted to get out there and promote."



Blanche Has Friends is Kristina alone, with the aid of some computer technology. "Yeah, it's only me in Blanche! I'm playing guitar, and all of the songs are guitar-based, even if they don't sound like it - I love my electric schecter: electric bass, and a drum pad along with some drum programming. The synth video game sound in the beginning and middle of 'Pilot' was actually a piano part that I wanted to make sound ... well ... sound like a video game."

And as to who 'Blanche' may be...?

"Haha! Blanche. Blanche is a strong, classy, independent, fabulous old lady. She is me. Maybe in my dreams, or maybe in real life. I can't tell. But unlike me, she has friends."

Find out more about Blanche and Kristina via BANDCAMP or follow on TWITTER. For Drop Electric, check their FACEBOOK.