Throwback looks and vintage sounds thankfully never went away in some circles of the world. In today’s landscape of electronic beats it is always great to see a live band get up on stage and tip their hats to the past while keeping a beat in the present. Berlin’s The Blow-Ups are just that kind of band and will be releasing their debut record Turn On, Tune In, Blow-Up on Friday at Antje Öklesund.

Here are The Blow-Ups, in their own words.

How would you describe The Blow-Ups sound?

We play a mixture of sixties beat, rhythm & blues and garage punk. We might have some soul and punk influences as well. The Blow-Ups sound is created with vintage instruments, but we’re not afraid of sounding a tiny bit more modern than original bands from the sixties. We’re not very loud but i’d say our sound is pretty powerful, especially when we play with both drummers.

Where and when did it all start for the band?

We started 10 years ago with a different bass player and a different drummer in Berlin Moabit. We are still in the same rehearsal place since then right under the S-Bahn tracks. Next to our rehearsal room there is a big garage sign – so we’re almost playing in a garage.

The upcoming show on Friday is a record release party?

Yes it sure is! The record took a long time. First recordings were done in 2007, the last ones in 2012. The whole record was mastered twice in Berlin and in Italy and the release on our label Teen Sound Records took about a year. And now the party is 6 months after the release. I guess we’re bit slow with those kinda things, ha ha.

Is Berlin a great place for a live band?

Of course it is! There are just so many options to play gigs here. Everyone in the band lives here for at least 20 years. Half of the band grew up in Berlin. And each of us played lots of gigs in Berlin in the last 20 years with different groups.

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The Blow-Ups Record Release Show with support from Manne & die Maulhelden is Friday, November 7th at 9:00 P.M.

Antje Öklesund — Rigaer Str.71-73, Berlin