Bonnie Bloomgarden

DEATH VALLEY GIRLS Invite You To Become Part Of Their Flow With Psych Jam ‘I AM A WAVE’

Posted on by JL

New striking strokes

4 August 2023


Photo by Little Ghost/Kelsey Hart

Last February Los Angeles’ psychedelic garage pop/rock darlings
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS released their 5th longplayer Islands In The Sky.
Their best ever to Turn Up The Volume‘s greedy ears.

And driving-force, voice, face and songwriter Bonnie Bloomgarden
and her DV girls are back with a brand new track, named I AM A WAVE.

Bloomgarden: “This song is for anyone that has had a hard time making decisions or following their gut! I linger in indecision and get stuck in the muck of options, weighing every single dynamic except “how does this make me feel.” Sometimes it’s from fear of imperfection, but always it’s from self-doubt, not trusting my instinct, or letting my intuition be my guide. I’ve learned a lot from spiritual people lately. Pagans and witches, calling in the elements. I imagine it’s similar to asking Jesus, a saint, an ancestor, to help for guidance. For me, this song is like a meditation or a prayer. To become a wave. To not want to turn in, quit, and become small or unseen, but to flow and grow. Become part of the flow!!”

TUTV: I Am A Wave is a haunting mid-tempo psych jam, a sonic torch in the dark. The combination of the characteristically high-pitched Bloomgarden vocals, her 60s-sounding Hammond organ, the weeping guitars, the howling backing vocals, the steady drum beat and the glowing finale is just riveting and engrossing.

This is not a Mexican wave, it’s Bonnie‘s wave.
Follow her flow, she’s really kind of amazing.

STREAM


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Euro Tour Dates (damn, Belgium is not included)

10/8 – PT – Porto – SONIC BLAST
13/8 – SW – Martigny – PALP festival
15/8 – NL – Nijmegen – Merleyn Nijmegen
16/8 – DE – Berlin – Kantine Am Berghain
17/8 – DE – Hamburg – Molotow
20/8 – FR – Charleville-Mézières, Cabaret Vert
22/8 – FR – Bordeaux – Square Dom Bedos 💀
23/8 – FR – Biarritz – Atabal 💀
25/8 – FR – Dijon – Lalalib

DVG: Facebook – Instagram

How Was 2020 For DEATH VALLEY GIRLS – First Lady BONNIE BLOOMGARDEN Will Tell Us

Posted on by JL

30 December 2020


Pic by Turn Up the Volume – Diksmuide, Belgium, 2019

After their psych-o-delic album Darkness Rains, their third full length released two years ago, garage-rock hell cats DEATH VALLEY GIRLS returned from their Los Angeles graves for
the flabbergasting follow-up UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY. Sonically a different beast, from
the Death Valley universe where anything can happen.

(Re)discovering the powerful force of joy the longplayer sounds magical, but be aware the Girls are still SPELL-binding, you never know what they have up on their shiny sleeve. But that didn’t stop Turn Up The Volume to contact first lady Bonnie Bloomgarden for a 2020 chat. But as usual, we start with a piece of music. Let’s go to the disco…

New album UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY was a sonic surprise. How would
you describe the different sound and approach of the record?

“We wanted to expand on some of the ideas from the last album by experimenting
a bit more. We wanted to have tons of backup gang vocals, a kids chorus, sax and
keyboard on most songs. And we wanted it to be like sound improvised!”

Who’s eyes do we see on the album’s front cover?

“Her name is Olga Klüver, she was an artist who hung out with
Andy Warhol and The Factory crowd in New York in the 60’s.”

The title track is a thing of beauty with that angelic choir and the positive
message. What or who motivated you for this song, Bonnie?

“Thanks so much! It flew into my head while walking in my favorite park! The rhythm of my steps just too form into that melody! I felt so lucky! I ran into a coffee shop and borrowed someone’s phone so I could leave the melody on my voicemail. I used to never take my phone on walks…”

How hard was it to hear that for a band-made-to-play-live concerts
were cancelled due to the coronavirus?

“It’s extremely hard for everyone in every job. The toughest part for us is trying to
figure out how and when we can help. We are really lucky we finished the record
before quarantine, and that it’s bringing some amount of joy to people.”

What did you feel the moment you heard
of the fall of Donald Trump?

“Hopeful.”

Suppose you were the new and first lady in the White House,
what music would you play in the Oval Office?

“Iggy, Ronnie Spector, Black Sabbath, The Cramps, Dead Moon.”

You’re asked to rewrite and put new music to the National USA Anthem. No restrictions whatsoever. What would be the outcome, in sound and vision?

“No words, just guitar, bass and drums with the Bo Diddley beat!”

2020 was the year of covers. Which song would
you pick to turn it into a DVG vibe?

“‘Real World’ by Buzzocks.”

What was the best track and album you heard in 2020?

“‘Track: ‘Dreams Wash Away‘ song by Joe Wong.”
“‘Album: ‘Nite Creatures‘ by Joe Wong.”

Prick of the year and hero-ine of the year?

“Aww, that’s too hard. So many heros!”

Which song will you play on January 1st?

“‘Black Sabbath‘ by Black Sabbath
always rings in the new year.”

Name three things you really want
to see happen in 2021, Bonnie?

“No more Covid, Live music, Joy!”

Any new DEATH VALLEY GIRLS music in 2021?

“Yes! We hope to be releasing so much new music
in the new year!”

Thank you for this chat, Bonnie.
May the road rise with Death Valley Girls
in 2021.

Get under the spell of joy here…


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DEATH VALLEY GIRLS: Facebook


Pic by Turn Up the Volume – Diksmuide, Belgium, 2019

2020 Gospel Space Odyssey With DEATH VALLEY GIRLS On New Ace Album ‘UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY’

Posted on by JL

14 October 2020

Band: DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
Who: Garage rock amazons from Los Angeles,
led by high priestess Bonnie Bloomgarden

Album: UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY – 4th LP
Released: 9 October 2020

Info: “The initial inspiration for the record came from the jubilant spirit of Ethiopian
funk records but once they began to channel the songs it seemed like the music came from somewhere not in the past but in the future. In the weeks leading up to recording, Death Valley Girls relied on their subconscious and effortlessly conjured Under the Spell
of Joy’s eleven tracks as if they’d tapped into the Akasha Chronicle and pulled the music from the ether.”

Bonnie Bloomgarden: “This idea that joy is different than happiness or anything else. It’s a state. It’s like a place. It allows space, and being with joy makes it so that you’re not reactive.
You go about yourself, go about the world, and walk around. Joy kind of gives you a distance between yourself and with what’s happening so you’re not reactive. You’re just going with the flow in a way. It meant so much to all of us. We were just like, ‘That makes so much sense! We
are under the spell of the potential for joy and the possibility for joy.’”

Read the full Bloomgarden interview with New Noise Magazine here.


(photo: Turn Up The Volume!)

Turn Up The Volume: Death Valley Girls travel from their beloved graveyards into space for some encounters of the third kind, accompanied by an angelic choir and David Bowie, the Man who fell to Earth, on saxophone. It’s a 2020 Odyssey taking you to the bright side
of the moon and beyond while gospel spirituals and organ-driven symphonies soundtrack the trance-like journey. A far-out experience in a safe(r) place up there, sky-high. Ground control to Major Bonnie: “You’ve really made the grade“. Mission accomplished.

Singles: Hypnagogia / Hold My Hand / Under The Spell Of Joy / The Universe

– HYPNAGOGIA –

– HOLD MY HAND –

– UNDER THE SPELL OF JOY –

– THE UNIVERSE –

Stream/buy full album here…


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DEATH VALLEY GIRLS: Facebook