Bringin' it Backwards: Interview with Blackout Balter

Videos by American Songwriter

We had the pleasure of interviewing Philip Cohen of Blackout Balter over Zoom video!

Forthcoming debut full-length album. Last EP done with The Killers’ Dave Keuning; this one done with Grammy-winner Jeremy Ferguson of Cage The Elephant fame.

Phil Cohen (the frontman) is an interesting guy: military veteran (multiple deployments), MIT grad, and entrepreneur.

“Red Letter” is an aggressive collision of sounds. It rattles you with an opening riff that wastes no time getting to the point.” – American Songwriter

Nashville’s alternative rock band, Blackout Balter released their new album Animal on July 24th.

Blackout Balter says, “I wanted ‘Red Letter’ to punch the listener in the face—to push the idea that rock music is both attitude and melody; passion and nuance.” “The album ‘Animal’ plays with the notion that we’re all just animals at our core; and, when we’re backed into a corner, sometimes our claws come out and our true core is exposed. In a way, all of these songs are a call to break down doors, to be yourself, and to stop at nothing to do what you want to do.”

Blackout Balter’s feverish attitude is evident right out of the gate with Animal fiery opening track and lead single, “Red Letter.” Beginning with a rush of guitar feedback that spills into an onslaught of raw urgency, Cohen and co. paint a portrait of a parallel universe where fame becomes their failing.

Animal is a rush of punk and alternative rock energies, ready to seize the moment and arrest the senses. An unapologetic assertion of love, struggle, and leaving, the band’s aptly-titled Animal speaks to human nature at its most visceral core: When gut instinct supersedes logic, and our inner animal roars. Fourteen tracks of pure adrenaline offer a stinging introduction that inspires, excites, and pushes us to attack our dreams.

Blackout Balter’s first full-length album, produced by Grammy-winner Jeremy Ferguson (Cage the Elephant engineer and producer), and assisted by Grammy-winner Emily Lazar (David Bowie, Cold Play), provides 14 tracks of pure adrenaline that inspires.

Their first EP, Twist And Bend, featured Dave Keuning (The Killers), and received critical acclaim by the famed Consequence of Sound and Paste Magazine media outlets—two of America’s most important music magazines; and the album charted on CMJ’s “Top 200” and was named an FMQB “Top 25 Album” while being spun on some of America’s most important radio stations, to include KROQ.