In this interview, I was able to catch up with Les Carlsen, former lead singer of the U.S. based Heavy Metal
band BLOODGOOD to ask him a few questions about his debut solo album 'He’s Coming'.
(Jacob) It's so good to finally be having this interview with you.
(Les Carlsen) Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
(Jacob) So, can you give us some insight into what got you involved in the music industry and what is the ultimate purpose of the band?
(Les) I got into music as a singer/songwriter in Northwest dance bands in the mid 60’s. Then in ’69, I landed a leading role in the Seattle, Miami and touring companies of the Broadway musical, “HAIR”. That’s where I got my love for drama and theatrics which I’ve used in bands ever since. After around 2 years of that, I started a couple of bands that played the Northwest and West Coast club circuits. My wife, Joyce was in one of the bands. We recorded 3 albums, and got to open for some national acts. It was during that time of playing in clubs that a local musician named, Don Gargerg, joined the band and led me to Christ. There’s a long story of my testimony, but I’ll sum it up to say I dropped out of the night club scene and several months later, I met Michael Bloodgood and became the lead singer of the band, BLOODGOOD.
(Jacob) Who was the founding member(s) and when did the band officially form?
(Les) If you haven’t seen it yet, there is an award-winning documentary called “Trenches of Rock” that tells the story of the BLOODGOOD journey. It was around 1984 that me and Michael, David Zaffiro and JT Taylor got together. The band went through several different line-ups. After David left, Paul Jackson joined the band in 1989 and we’ve stayed together ever since. But as you probably know, Michael Bloodgood passed away last July and the band is no more. So now I’m doing this solo project with Paul Jackson who cowrote some of the songs. Craig Church who played with BLOODGOOD in 1989 during the filming of Rock Theater and then in 2020 and 2022 cowrote three of the songs. Oz Fox and I also wrote a song together. So, I have 4 amazing guitarists on this project, Paul Jackson, Craig Church, Ox Fox and David Zaffiro. Ricky B Rogers plays bass. He’s also a seasoned musician who has played primarily with Gospel and R+B bands. I wanted to use a bass player that had a completely different sound than Michael Bloodgood who is irreplaceable.
(Jacob) What brand of instruments did you all use on the recording and why do you prefer that specific brand over another?
(Paul Jackson) I used a Steve Lukather Luke III Ernie Ball guitar. I chose this guitar because it is so universal. It can sound deep and crunchy, but also provides sustaining leads.
(Craig Church) All of my Guitars have modified setups for drop tuning, custom string gauges to maintain both low and light playing action on higher strings for solos with heavy low strings for rhythms. Guitar selection was based on the best tuning for each song. Guitars: - Ibanez Prestige 6 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups in Drop-D tuning - Ibanez Prestige 6 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups in Drop-C tuning - Modified Agile 7 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Active EMG pickups in Drop-A tuning Amps: - Mesa Dual Rectifier high gain amps with Celestion V-30 speaker profiles.
(Ricky B. Rogers) Gear I used for recording - 1. Logic Pro and Pro Tools on a couple tracks… 2. Avalon AD2044 Compressor in everything. 3. TC electronic 4. Eden WT-800 bass head 5. TC electronic 550/tone print 6. 1996 music man 5 string bass 7. Custom Fender Jazz bass 5 string 8. 6 string Ken smith bass (on River) 9. Ricky B. Signature series bass, my prototype made for me I played on Return Me to the Fire. 9. DR strings Fat beam strings and D'Addario NYXL 5 string, DR high beams for 6 string bass. 10. Mogami Gold cables and bass monster cables. 11. Picks- Dunlop, Fender and vickpics (Nashville) 12. Markbass studio bass cab/speaker 8X10 13. Neumann TLM 102 Large-diaphragm Condenser Microphone - Nickel, to mic bass cab. 14. A Designs REDDI 1-channel Tube Direct Box. 15. Apple/Mac M1 chip and now M2 Mac. 16. KRK studio monitors, and Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. 17. Grub gear, Fret wraps, 18. Bad ass bridges. 19. AKG and Shure headphones and in ears. 20. Tac scorpion analog is console for EQ. 21. Neumann KH 750 sub. And I’m not much into brands I find stuff for tone, it’s all about the song! So I would use about anything if it compliments the song!!
(Jacob) Do you all have any hobbies outside of music that help to rejuvenate or inspire creativity within your music?
(Les) yes, I keep thinking I might have an opportunity to play golf and it never seems to happen so my hobby is hoping that someday I will get to play 18 holes.
(Jacob) Are there any artists that have played a part in your sound?
(Les) I Loved the music of Elvis Presley, his showmanship and presentation were inspiring. The Beatles had major impact on my life. Janice Joplin just blew me away. I wanted rasp, and guts, rock and roll, but I also loved rhythm and blues. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown were a few of my favorites. These were my roots.
(Jacob) What is the biggest problem that you have had to overcome as a band?
(Les) the biggest problem while writing for and creating this album was dealing with the loss of so many close, friends and fellow musicians. In particular, BLOODGOOD drummer-Kevin Whistler in November of 2021 and Michael Bloodgood just a few months ago. It has been a very difficult year, highly emotional, filled with loss, but constant hope in the promises of Jesus.
(Jacob) Can you go into some detail about the musical direction on your latest release “He’s Coming?
(Les) There are certain elements in the creative process that appeal to me and "He’s Coming” has a number of things I like. For example, I love rhythm and blues, vocal riffing and fills, big chorus harmonies, sing-along hooks, theatrical drama, shredding guitar solos and… you can actually dance to this music. I wanted to come up with some new sounds, and melodies were considered heavily because they allow me to be dramatic with the lyric. I have spent years in bands and have always appreciated the journey with so many talented players. I was always part of the input, but this is the first time I’ve done a solo album, so I got to make a lot of decisions on my own. I had basically total artistic control of the album. I had an amazing team of players who contributed to the music, and I enjoyed encouraging them to take risks and stretch out! When we speak blessings on one another great things happen! The idea of singing harmonies with myself on big choruses was new for me.
(Jacob) Do you feel like you achieved what you set out to accomplish on your latest project?
(Les) This album has pretty much fulfilled everything that I wanted to do. the investment of time and effort lots of prayer and leaning on the inspiration from above. Yes, I think that it exceeded my expectations.
(Jacob) What is your favorite song to perform, whether live or in studio, and why?
(Les) There was more than one favorite. Songs are like children to me. They all have so much value. I try to pour my heart into the lyric as an actor would portray a character on stage. Having said that, “Judas Is Dead” embodies all of that. Next I would say that “The Jesus Freak Show” was exciting with the ringmaster and the chorus. The verses lyric were interesting and I love to perform that song live.
(Ricky B Rogers) Wow that’s hard cause every song has something special, but “I Wanna Know You”, “Faith is Tested”, and River” - and that’s because of the lyrics and messages on these. “River” hits me as a grandpa. “Faith is Tested” probably my favorite to play cause I can feel the pocket, groove in that one. Everyone of the songs are fun to play and amazing! I use music man basses mainly cause I can create about any tone I need, I used my Jazz custom for deeper tones, and my smith bass for pretty stuff like “River”. I’m playing with the world’s greatest guitar players! So it’s easy to love everything!
(Paul Jackson) My favorite song to play is “I Want to Know You” I just love the aggressiveness in the main riff. (Craig Church) My favorite song to play is "How Long" because it is both Heavy and Progressive. My favorite solo is the one I play in "River".
(Jacob) Were there any special or funny moments during the recording process of the album?
(Les) the times I enjoyed the most came in the form of three things. 1. working with my wife, Joyce, as my engineer. 2. Ricky B. actually came to my home studio and we laughed and had fun as he created base tracks. 3. When we stayed at Paul and Faith Jackson’s house a few days to work with Paul in his studio. It was amazing and wonderful and magical just seeing this thing being developed, It was there that PAUL recorded the ending of “River” a symphonic arrangement of guitars, so crazy and outside the box. It just continues to excite me every time I hear it. I also want to add that the solo that Craig Church plays in “River” is surreal. It actually makes you feel like, here comes a raging river that twists and turns, and then brings you into this smooth eddy, the whole song is like an amazing river ride.
(Jacob) At this time, are you planning to keep moving forward as a band and are there any plans for future projects in the works?
(Les) I’ve already started on several songs that will end up in future albums. We are planning future gigs. There will be some dates with the entire band that are now being developed based on the release of the album. Joyce and I also have been asked to speak and share in churches about our experience as Metal Missionaries. We plan to continue doing videos and we have talked to a couple film makers that are interested in working with us. Overall, we want to continue sharing our faith publicly in any way that we can.
(Jacob) Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses to each and every question. I am excited about your latest release and am looking forward to hearing more from the band in the future.
(Les) In closing, I would like to share with you, when I was younger we used to have album listening parties. This record is 40 minutes of entertainment. I would like to see people listening to albums in their entirety, not just my releases, but all the releases that are out there from other Christian bands, listen from the top to the end because some artist are purposely putting things together to take you on a spiritual ride.
band BLOODGOOD to ask him a few questions about his debut solo album 'He’s Coming'.
(Jacob) It's so good to finally be having this interview with you.
(Les Carlsen) Thanks for having me, I appreciate it.
(Jacob) So, can you give us some insight into what got you involved in the music industry and what is the ultimate purpose of the band?
(Les) I got into music as a singer/songwriter in Northwest dance bands in the mid 60’s. Then in ’69, I landed a leading role in the Seattle, Miami and touring companies of the Broadway musical, “HAIR”. That’s where I got my love for drama and theatrics which I’ve used in bands ever since. After around 2 years of that, I started a couple of bands that played the Northwest and West Coast club circuits. My wife, Joyce was in one of the bands. We recorded 3 albums, and got to open for some national acts. It was during that time of playing in clubs that a local musician named, Don Gargerg, joined the band and led me to Christ. There’s a long story of my testimony, but I’ll sum it up to say I dropped out of the night club scene and several months later, I met Michael Bloodgood and became the lead singer of the band, BLOODGOOD.
(Jacob) Who was the founding member(s) and when did the band officially form?
(Les) If you haven’t seen it yet, there is an award-winning documentary called “Trenches of Rock” that tells the story of the BLOODGOOD journey. It was around 1984 that me and Michael, David Zaffiro and JT Taylor got together. The band went through several different line-ups. After David left, Paul Jackson joined the band in 1989 and we’ve stayed together ever since. But as you probably know, Michael Bloodgood passed away last July and the band is no more. So now I’m doing this solo project with Paul Jackson who cowrote some of the songs. Craig Church who played with BLOODGOOD in 1989 during the filming of Rock Theater and then in 2020 and 2022 cowrote three of the songs. Oz Fox and I also wrote a song together. So, I have 4 amazing guitarists on this project, Paul Jackson, Craig Church, Ox Fox and David Zaffiro. Ricky B Rogers plays bass. He’s also a seasoned musician who has played primarily with Gospel and R+B bands. I wanted to use a bass player that had a completely different sound than Michael Bloodgood who is irreplaceable.
(Jacob) What brand of instruments did you all use on the recording and why do you prefer that specific brand over another?
(Paul Jackson) I used a Steve Lukather Luke III Ernie Ball guitar. I chose this guitar because it is so universal. It can sound deep and crunchy, but also provides sustaining leads.
(Craig Church) All of my Guitars have modified setups for drop tuning, custom string gauges to maintain both low and light playing action on higher strings for solos with heavy low strings for rhythms. Guitar selection was based on the best tuning for each song. Guitars: - Ibanez Prestige 6 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups in Drop-D tuning - Ibanez Prestige 6 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Seymour Duncan Distortion pickups in Drop-C tuning - Modified Agile 7 string w/Floyd Rose Trem & Active EMG pickups in Drop-A tuning Amps: - Mesa Dual Rectifier high gain amps with Celestion V-30 speaker profiles.
(Ricky B. Rogers) Gear I used for recording - 1. Logic Pro and Pro Tools on a couple tracks… 2. Avalon AD2044 Compressor in everything. 3. TC electronic 4. Eden WT-800 bass head 5. TC electronic 550/tone print 6. 1996 music man 5 string bass 7. Custom Fender Jazz bass 5 string 8. 6 string Ken smith bass (on River) 9. Ricky B. Signature series bass, my prototype made for me I played on Return Me to the Fire. 9. DR strings Fat beam strings and D'Addario NYXL 5 string, DR high beams for 6 string bass. 10. Mogami Gold cables and bass monster cables. 11. Picks- Dunlop, Fender and vickpics (Nashville) 12. Markbass studio bass cab/speaker 8X10 13. Neumann TLM 102 Large-diaphragm Condenser Microphone - Nickel, to mic bass cab. 14. A Designs REDDI 1-channel Tube Direct Box. 15. Apple/Mac M1 chip and now M2 Mac. 16. KRK studio monitors, and Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. 17. Grub gear, Fret wraps, 18. Bad ass bridges. 19. AKG and Shure headphones and in ears. 20. Tac scorpion analog is console for EQ. 21. Neumann KH 750 sub. And I’m not much into brands I find stuff for tone, it’s all about the song! So I would use about anything if it compliments the song!!
(Jacob) Do you all have any hobbies outside of music that help to rejuvenate or inspire creativity within your music?
(Les) yes, I keep thinking I might have an opportunity to play golf and it never seems to happen so my hobby is hoping that someday I will get to play 18 holes.
(Jacob) Are there any artists that have played a part in your sound?
(Les) I Loved the music of Elvis Presley, his showmanship and presentation were inspiring. The Beatles had major impact on my life. Janice Joplin just blew me away. I wanted rasp, and guts, rock and roll, but I also loved rhythm and blues. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, James Brown were a few of my favorites. These were my roots.
(Jacob) What is the biggest problem that you have had to overcome as a band?
(Les) the biggest problem while writing for and creating this album was dealing with the loss of so many close, friends and fellow musicians. In particular, BLOODGOOD drummer-Kevin Whistler in November of 2021 and Michael Bloodgood just a few months ago. It has been a very difficult year, highly emotional, filled with loss, but constant hope in the promises of Jesus.
(Jacob) Can you go into some detail about the musical direction on your latest release “He’s Coming?
(Les) There are certain elements in the creative process that appeal to me and "He’s Coming” has a number of things I like. For example, I love rhythm and blues, vocal riffing and fills, big chorus harmonies, sing-along hooks, theatrical drama, shredding guitar solos and… you can actually dance to this music. I wanted to come up with some new sounds, and melodies were considered heavily because they allow me to be dramatic with the lyric. I have spent years in bands and have always appreciated the journey with so many talented players. I was always part of the input, but this is the first time I’ve done a solo album, so I got to make a lot of decisions on my own. I had basically total artistic control of the album. I had an amazing team of players who contributed to the music, and I enjoyed encouraging them to take risks and stretch out! When we speak blessings on one another great things happen! The idea of singing harmonies with myself on big choruses was new for me.
(Jacob) Do you feel like you achieved what you set out to accomplish on your latest project?
(Les) This album has pretty much fulfilled everything that I wanted to do. the investment of time and effort lots of prayer and leaning on the inspiration from above. Yes, I think that it exceeded my expectations.
(Jacob) What is your favorite song to perform, whether live or in studio, and why?
(Les) There was more than one favorite. Songs are like children to me. They all have so much value. I try to pour my heart into the lyric as an actor would portray a character on stage. Having said that, “Judas Is Dead” embodies all of that. Next I would say that “The Jesus Freak Show” was exciting with the ringmaster and the chorus. The verses lyric were interesting and I love to perform that song live.
(Ricky B Rogers) Wow that’s hard cause every song has something special, but “I Wanna Know You”, “Faith is Tested”, and River” - and that’s because of the lyrics and messages on these. “River” hits me as a grandpa. “Faith is Tested” probably my favorite to play cause I can feel the pocket, groove in that one. Everyone of the songs are fun to play and amazing! I use music man basses mainly cause I can create about any tone I need, I used my Jazz custom for deeper tones, and my smith bass for pretty stuff like “River”. I’m playing with the world’s greatest guitar players! So it’s easy to love everything!
(Paul Jackson) My favorite song to play is “I Want to Know You” I just love the aggressiveness in the main riff. (Craig Church) My favorite song to play is "How Long" because it is both Heavy and Progressive. My favorite solo is the one I play in "River".
(Jacob) Were there any special or funny moments during the recording process of the album?
(Les) the times I enjoyed the most came in the form of three things. 1. working with my wife, Joyce, as my engineer. 2. Ricky B. actually came to my home studio and we laughed and had fun as he created base tracks. 3. When we stayed at Paul and Faith Jackson’s house a few days to work with Paul in his studio. It was amazing and wonderful and magical just seeing this thing being developed, It was there that PAUL recorded the ending of “River” a symphonic arrangement of guitars, so crazy and outside the box. It just continues to excite me every time I hear it. I also want to add that the solo that Craig Church plays in “River” is surreal. It actually makes you feel like, here comes a raging river that twists and turns, and then brings you into this smooth eddy, the whole song is like an amazing river ride.
(Jacob) At this time, are you planning to keep moving forward as a band and are there any plans for future projects in the works?
(Les) I’ve already started on several songs that will end up in future albums. We are planning future gigs. There will be some dates with the entire band that are now being developed based on the release of the album. Joyce and I also have been asked to speak and share in churches about our experience as Metal Missionaries. We plan to continue doing videos and we have talked to a couple film makers that are interested in working with us. Overall, we want to continue sharing our faith publicly in any way that we can.
(Jacob) Thank you for your time and thoughtful responses to each and every question. I am excited about your latest release and am looking forward to hearing more from the band in the future.
(Les) In closing, I would like to share with you, when I was younger we used to have album listening parties. This record is 40 minutes of entertainment. I would like to see people listening to albums in their entirety, not just my releases, but all the releases that are out there from other Christian bands, listen from the top to the end because some artist are purposely putting things together to take you on a spiritual ride.