It’s an undeniable fact – New Zealand makes great rock music. Today, the birthplace of Die! Die! Die! and The Mint Chicks has delivered another burst of guitar-driven fury with Voodoo Bloo’s debut single ‘MMA’, which we’re premiering here at Music Feeds.
Voodoo Bloo is the new project of young Wellington-based artist Rory McDonald, erstwhile frontman of hard rock group Lucifer Gunne. McDonald says he draws on a fairly wide range of influences for the project, citing both System of a Down and Neutral Milk Hotel.
‘MMA’ is the first taste of a forthcoming debut album from the Voodoo Bloo project, titled Jacobus, which is set for release later in the year. McDonald recorded Jacobus with Niel de Jong of New Zealand metal outfit Alien Weaponry at Hammerhead Studios.
Driven by growling guitars and McDonald’s full-chested vocals, the songwriter says ‘MMA’ is about “that one drunk friend or even just an intoxicated asshole you meet when out in town on substance-driven adventures. The characters you sometimes meet teach you great lessons about what an ego is and how, when inhibitions slip, you can see a person’s true personality come out. And it’s not always pretty.”
The video for ‘MMA’ sees McDonald pelted by all manner of things, from bottle caps to eggs and “other miscellaneous items you might find on a grand night out”. McDonald says this seemed like “a fitting way to show how I can sometimes feel when having to put up with the nuisances you meet as being a person growing up and experiencing more of the outside world for the first time.”
Watch the video for ‘MMA’ below.
