Blaak Heat

Blaak Heat (formerly known as Blaak Heat Shujaa) is a French-American outfit whose recordings blend psychedelic rock with a number of outside sources, such as traditional Middle Eastern music, progressive rock, surf rock, spaghetti western, and metal. The band was founded by Thomas Bellier and Antoine Morel-Vulliez in 2008 in Paris while they were graduate students at Sciences Po.[1] In 2012, the band relocated to Los Angeles, signed to Tee Pee Records, and subsequently hired Orange County-based drummer Mike Amster.[1] Blaak Heat has toured Europe and the United States, appearing at festivals such as Levitation Austin, Reverence Valada, and Red Smoke Fest.[2] The band collaborated with Nobel Prize-nominated Gonzo poet Ron Whitehead on two of their releases, leading to multiple live appearances with Whitehead in the US and Scandinavia. Blaak Heat's latest full-length album, Shifting Mirrors, was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Matt Hyde and came out in the Spring of 2016.[3] It has been called "A new standard for a new generation" by PopMatters[4] and "Almost too good to be believed" by Loudwire.[5]