Blóm are more of a force than a band. I mean, they are a band - they write tunes and play gigs and that. But I dunno it feels like everytime they play or I stick on ‘Powerfrau’ for the commute, it feels like some sludgy gropey dude or TERF somewhere AT THAT INSTANT crumbles unexpectedly back into the dirt like some demolished power station. I mean, cool right? And, in addition to such destructive racket, they like making noodles and gyoza. SO COOL, RIGHT? In between tours and awful service station sausage rolls, I asked them some questions via their Instagram:
Who are Blóm and what do you do?
Hiii, im erika, and there is also liz and also hellz, we make noise rock? Or something like that? I guess. I play bass. Liz plays drums and hellz shouts loads
Yr instagram bio describes yer as ‘meal deal cuties’. I’m wondering, which of the band would be which meal deal component?
I think maybe we are a little bit of a mixture of the meal deal? Maybe im the salad in the sandwich but also the loose seasoning in the packet of crisps
Overlapping question but if Blóm were food, what food would you be?
I would say kimchi, but what i say isnt necessarily the opinion the rest of the band hold
So youve been out on the road quite a bit in the last year or so, right? How has that been?
Very fun! Very tiring! But definitely worth it, its really nice going on adventures to new places, seeing new faces and things we wouldn’t usually see
What were some of the most fun things you saw?
In brixton we saw a dog on a roof. In todmorden i saw an orb/will o the wisp AND quite a few cosmic zombies. In bristol we saw the milky way and in brighton we saw a fox on the beach. Also one of the times we went to brighton we took part in trans pride which was really empowering and liberating
How were the gigs themselves? Were you looked after well?
Generally everyone is an angel, although there is the whole queerphobic, misogynist, racist, cis male ordiented simulation we are plugged into, some people are outright arseholes, some people practice arseholery in ignorance...but we have experienced this a small handful of times amongst a room of beautiful smiling faces. We have played a good range of gigs from chaotic diy gigs ro more professional gigs where we had room service and i had a stage tech plug my amp in…
Personally i like a nice middle line of chaotic professionalism. So long as everything runs smooth, the people are nice and the sound is nice and LOUD, i am generally happy. I feel like our hosts have been very generous to us, tickets for amazing local street food at festivals, piles of delicious hashbrowns, authentic thai currys, shared bowls of beans.
Whoa whoa roll back….room service?!
Kinda?! It was weird, they delivered us a whole bunch of soft drinks to the green room we were in, ha!
Oh wow. Reminds me of the Spoons app (if you stomach Spoons [update - absolutely fuck Spoons given their continued contempt for their workforce during all this - ed]). Like where bands set up at a table and post like ‘we’re in X at table Y send us drinks/snacks’.
Haha ye we did that for a friends birthday, so many drinks and pots of peas
What’s been yr fave food you had a gig?
We had some really good Ethiopian street food in reading [Tutu’s Ethiopian Table pop-up at doubledotbash! - ed]. Nothing quite beats waking up and the people we are staying with cook us a super great breakfast though. Very grateful to have a belly filled with lovely food in the morning to sustain me for the rest of the day. Oh, and we had some great homemade bread as toast ive ever had when staying in glasgow.
Breakfast is so important, right? Cos I guess between that and when (if) you get food at a gig, yr on yr own money and just nasty service stations?
Yeah pretty much, even a recommendation for a good cafe breakfast is great. I dread to think how many vegan sausage rolls ive eaten at service stations.
Is that yr go-to then? Any particular service station hacks?
Just yeah. Vegan sausage rolls
Greggs?
I’ve tried sausage rolls elsewhere, wouldn’t recommend.
Do you have a staple ‘in the van’ snack?
Not really, just as many vegan sausage rolls i can fit in my pockets before we leave.
Nice. Where’s good eating round yr way?
Shoe tree cafe is great, almost on my doorstep. The ship inn is amazing for pub lunch or slightly later meals. Ernest do a really good vegan breakfast.
Does anyone in the band cook much? What’s yr specialty?
I think we all do! I especially like japanese food, but ive also been obsessed with mapo tofu for the last few months
Aaahhhhh what Japanese food do you make?
I like making ramen/udon noodles from scratch! It’s fairly simple but just time consuming! Also quite like making gyoza from scratch too.
If you could make ramen and gyoza for any band, who would it be?
I dunno, just my pals I guess hahaha
OK OK. Some quick fire questions. Best colour pepper?
Pink
Nice. If a recipe says ‘1 clove of garlic’, how much do you actually put in?
Oh, good one. If someone says ‘use one clove’, the recipe is incorrect, and ill look for another one because i dont trust them. I usually use as close to a bulb as possible before i get bored of peeling.
Controversial food opinion?
Vegetables, apart from potatoes, do not belong on a full english breakfast (mushrooms arent vegetables).
What flavour is bass?
Umami? Unless you mean the type of fish, then I guess fish
Favourite 90s/00s celeb chef?
I actually have no idea. Maangchi from the youtube the closest answer I can give
Best sauce
Goldfish brand chinese curry sauce concentrate
Top 3 vegetables?
Carl Benjamin, Paul Joseph Watson, Stephen Christopher Yaxley-Lennon
Fav cooking/food related sound?
The sound when you pour water into hot oil when making gyoza before having to slam the lid on to prevent third degree burns or house fires
What are Blóm’s plans for twenty twenty?
Being nice, being kind, having a lovely time, got some vibrations being written onto plastic, meet some aliens, make some sounds, eat some food, going on adventures. Keep pushing forward.
Taken from CHEWn 4, forthcoming. Those vibrations have since been recorded onto plastic! Their record is called Flower Violence, it’s out on Box Records tomorrow (May 1st) and it’s amazing. And it’s Bandcamp day tomorrow, so…maybe go buy it? Also check out their Insta and tag into their virtual tour (London this eve - see you in the pit!)
In case - like me, Blóm and like half my online friends - you’re looking to fill this void of uncertainty with dumplings, I’ve included this lil rambly draft of a recipe for gyoza I wrote for a pal. They’re easy enough to make, and particularly fun to do with other people!
First you need pastry/wrappers/shells. I make my own, using this recipe https://www.justonecookbook.com/gyoza-wrappers/.
I halve the quantities in this. Usually makes about a dozen wrappers - few more with the leftovers. You can buy frozen gyoza wrappers in most Asian food shops, although many contain egg powder for some reason so aren’t vegan friendly. I’ve not known them to be found in supermarkets.
For the filling - get half a chinese leaf/cabbage or white cabbage, some ginger and a packet of mushrooms (I use shiitake because purist but closed cup or whatever is fine if yr not too fussy). Chop super super finely. Get a frying pan, heat some oil (veg, or sesame if you rly wanna go all out), chuck everything in with some soy sauce, a hearty glug of water and some sriracha or whatever other seasoning you think would be cool. Fry until it most of the water has gone - if it’s too moist it’ll screw around with the pastry. You should be able to kind of mush it together into a blob in the pan.
Once it’s done, take it out. If you have a food processer, whizz it so it becomes a paste but - so long as there aren’t any massive chunks of things in there - it should be fine if not. Leave to cool.
OK, assembling. This is where two people are helpful. Get your wrappers out of the fridge. Small bowl of cold water. Get a small teaspoon of your filling mixture, dollop it in the centre of a wrapper so there’s about a finger’s width of border. Dip a finger in the cold water and gently run it around the border to wet the edge. Gently fold one side of the pastry over the filling and press into a half-moon shaped dumpling, keeping all the filling in the centre. Pinch the edges to seal.
If you want the gyoza look (I’m visualising this right handed, as I am), pinch the flap of dough in the left corner and fold over to the left and repeat. It’s hard to explain. There’ll be a good youtube demo somewhere I’m sure.
Get a BIG saucepan with a lid. Heat up some oil - enough to cover the base - on a high-ish heat. Stick one in - flatter side down - to test the waters and when it looks like it’s going, put the rest in for about 4 or 5 minutes (or you think the base is crispy enough). Tip in a cup of water (it’ll kick off with steam but it’s cool) and leave them to steam for the lid on for a few minutes. Take lid off and wait for the water to evaporate away. Once it’s gone, spatula them ones and serve with some kind of dip.