Blag’ard uses its past to launch its future

Thirty-eight and 28. It’s a wide age gap — a monumental difference for rockers. It’s these two ages that mark Chapel Hill duo Blag’ard.

Singer and guitarist Joe Taylor is a local veteran whose band Capsize 7 had a great chance at making it big. Signed to Sony Publishing and Caroline Records, the group was poised for stardom until it was dropped from the deal.

Drummer Adam Brinson grew up on the music of Taylor and others. He’s a seasoned player, but his experience looks juvenile next to Taylor’s two decades.

See Blag'ard Live

Time: 10 p.m. Friday
Location: The Reservoir
100 A Brewer Lane, Carrboro
Info: www.reservoirbar.net

But the 10-year gap doesn’t bother this ferocious duo.

“We have more of a spread than a lot of bands do, which has been sort of a moot point,” Brinson said. “We do talk about that every now and then. Joe will be like, ‘I remember when the wheel was invented.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Oh man, you’re old as s--t, dude.’”

Far from running from its crossroads in eras, Blag’ard is embracing it with its new release strategy. Coinciding with the release of Blag’ard’s sophomore LP Mach II, Taylor is pulling out the last recorded Capsize 7 record Horsefly — a relic that’s been lost since its 1996 recording.

“I sat on it for 13 or 14 years just because I didn’t want to touch it,” Taylor said. “It just kind of was nauseating to me. I wanted to put it out now because it was kind of like now or never.”

Hoping the better-known name of his former project can springboard his current band, the duo is pushing both albums at once.

“I’m trying to maximize the comparison and contrast and any benefit I can get from this record,” Taylor said of Horsefly’s long delayed release.

But just because Taylor is now sharing this gem doesn’t mean he’s stuck in the past. In October 2008, he set up Pigzenspace.com, a music download site that sells albums for $3.50 a piece.

“Artists get back the most money they can for their music,” Taylor said, explaining that PayPal takes $0.40 per sale with the band getting $2.75 of the remainder. “It encourages people to actually buy music because music is basically free now.”

Starting with two Blag’ard records, the site’s catalog has grown to 68 items including albums from local bands such as The Curtains Of Night, Western Civ and Caltrop, the band of Taylor’s brother Sam.

“It’s fun to watch it grow,” Taylor said. “It’s a neat project. For someone who’s been a musician where basically all you do is you throw effort and time and hundreds of hours at something, and it doesn’t do anything back for you, it’s nice to actually see something accumulate with effort and with time.”

Despite the elaborate release strategy and the attempt at online music revolution, the two members of Blag’ard insist they aren’t trying to be anything more than they are: an in-your-face, sock-it-to-you-hard garage rock band.

“We’re cocky about what we do,” Taylor said. “I’ve been doing this since I was a teenager. I’m confident in our talents as a band.”

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