The Song
“Bloodletting was a game changer for Spylacopa. Before the song was written the project was based more on electronic and experimental music. When Greg Puciato sent me the demo he had put together and suggested it be considered for Spylacopa it completely changed my perspective on the project’s trajectory. The song was also a real game changer for us because it would be the first song to feature vocalist, Julie Christmas.”
Greg Puciato In The Gauntlet
Spylacopa Bandmate, Greg Puciato, had this to say about Bloodletting in an article for The Gauntlet in 2008. “A while into our writing process, when we were finding our way, we had been basically writing primarily with midi instruments, programming, making electronic music. At some point I was playing guitar, for fun, not thinking of Spylacopa really, and just came up with a chord progression and vocal melody simultaneously, that really seemed to go well together. I recorded the guitar part, and then days later, even after NOT recording the vocal, I would listen to the guitar part and would still hear the same exact vocal melody over top of it, another sign that something is working, that I should probably pay attention. So I recorded the vocals over it, did some really crazy screaming underneath it, and sent it to John, even though it was way different at the time than what we were writing. I think that was the real spark that set us off, where we realized we wanted to write guitar/vocal based songs together too, and that totally changed the vibe of this band from that point on and really opened the floodgates for us creatively, because for some reason we had been resisting doing what came naturally to us up to that point. John said that Julie heard the song and really wanted to do the verses, leaving me with the chorus and a bridge, which was fine with me. She did a great job and I think her voice and phrasing adds a great contrast to mine, and since the song essentially is a long continuous repeating of one motif musically, her added dynamic keeps it interesting.”
The Process
“Recording the song was an interesting process because we wanted to use some of what Greg had written and recorded on his own. So we had to work backwards from there and build the song around his original concept while incorporating the new bridge section of the song. After we had the song mapped out and the basic structure in place, we began laying down all of the elements of the song. Jeff Caxide's Bass tracks, which also included this cool delay overdub, Troy’s drum tracks which stayed pretty true to Greg's original idea, my rhythm, and overdub guitar tracks and finally Greg and Julie's vocals.”
Photo by A.F. CORTES
The Voice
“Greg’s vocals happened pretty fast, it was a matter of him laying down the chorus, which he already had in the bag, and his vocal idea for the bridge section, which turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the song. The scream overdubs were already in place from the recording Greg had done on his own. It was a really great experience watching Julie track vocals for this song. I have never seen her record before, and although her process isn’t extremely complicated or unorthodox, there is a raw immediacy to her vocal performances that makes her a unique recording artist. There is a confidence and trust in her own ability that enables her to deliver something moving and impassioned when she performs and records. Her gasps, whispers and nuances are a thing of raw beauty in Bloodletting.”
The Mix
“Michael Barile mixed the song fairly quickly with just a few edits and remixes. One with and one without the screams in the chorus. We wound up going with the original concept and although I played a very small part in the creative process and the writing of this song, I am extremely proud of what we accomplished together with it. Bloodletting is a pivotal song that set Spylacopa off on a broader path than we had previously anticipated and I am really glad it did.”
