Interview with Blindless & Light

Author

Jarod Smith
April 06, 2025

Questions answered mainly by singer/song writer/guitarist Colin M Potter.

What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?

Now that’s a good question! Probably having guitar lessons at primary school at the age of 9. Once I had about 7 chords, the formal training ended and I thought what about writing my own stuff? Also what about playing chords that I like the sound of but can’t name? Progress was slow but it seems to have clicked into place decades later. Music has always had a profound connection with our lives and to not have it would be unimaginable.

What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?

I’m hyper-sociable to be honest and chat to all kinds of people. I need social interaction. I read a lot of sci-fi too. I think these things come together to form the basis of the lyrics through subconscious observations.

How long has your band been around?

After redundancy in 2022 I had time on my hands. Music filled the gap immediately and the songs I was writing attracted a bunch of collaborators – probably 12 in total – that come and go as they please. This is how our post-punk collective got off the ground and created a kind of perpetual motion.

Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?

I’m from the North West of England but live on the Isle of Anglesey now. The peace, beauty and remoteness is certainly an inspiration. The island gets battered by the wind and to watch the sea in a storm is truly awe inspiring. The rest of Blindness & Light are based in North Wales, Northern England, Argentina and Japan.

How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?

We’re massive Joy Division fans! Joy Division’s track Atmosphere was initially released on the French label Sordide Sentimental as an art package called Licht und Blindheit, which translates to Light and Blindness. We decided to swap it round. In fact Blindheit und Licht is etched on the run-off of our 2nd album “I Dreamt I Had Insomnia”.

What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?

The Cavern in Liverpool is great! We’d play anywhere to be honest but getting this collective together in one place isn’t easy.

If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?

I’ve had a long think about this but can’t really come up with an answer because what drives us more than anything is song writing and recording. The creative process is what inspires us 24/7.

If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?

Get a decent guitar as soon as you can. Trying to make do with an evil knackered beast, with crazy high action which is virtually untune-able just holds you back and wastes years. You don’t need anything fancy just one that can be setup properly and can hold its tuning. I use a Squire Telecaster Thinline and an Epiphone Les Paul which are great for the price.

Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?

Butterfly. This one’s about mental illness spiraling out of control and the eventual death of my mother.

Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?

Your Solitude, which is on the new album, is great to play and sing. Another song about liberation, which seems to be a reoccurring theme for me for reasons I don’t fully understand.

What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?

The songs are mainly written by myself and then I put them out to others in this post-punk collective to see who wants to contribute. The worst thing to do with song writing is to try to force yourself to write something. It just doesn’t work for me at least. I play guitar a lot and the songs gradually float to the surface.

What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?

Hope and liberation seem to be the underlying theme although sometimes you’d have to look pretty hard to see that in some of our songs.

Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?

We’ve all been in more formal bands in the past and it can get pretty nasty. Too many egos. I can’t say I’m perfect by any means. That’s why we like the idea of a collective. People come and go as they please. If someone doesn’t like the direction we’re going in they don’t have to get involved. It works really well.

What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?

We’re already busy recording the 3rd album but to be honest we really need to break even on the 2nd album to sustain this. Merch keeps us going so much more that royalties from Spotify etc. “I Dreamt I Had Insomnia” is available on Bandcamp on CD and coloured vinyl and also t-shirts etc are available worldwide on Amazon.

 

 

 

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