Cinema for the Blind Q&A: Rio Kruz

Q: Cinema for the Blind has been a band since 2012, what made you want to start it?

Kruz: Honestly, the short answer is Rock Band. My sister and I played Rock Band all the time. I have an uncle that used to work in the recording business in LA. He always told us, “You guys should just do this for real, why are you just playing the game? You know? Might as well just do it for real.” So I think that was the original origin.

Q. How does it feel to be well established in the area despite tribulations that can often lead to setbacks in a band?

Kruz: I'm really grateful to still be doing this because I know many people that pursued music but it was kind of a phase for them which led to them burning out. We definitely have been through a lot of members. I'm grateful for everybody who's been a part of it. I really love the people that I have right now. Things get better over time. And so I'm really happy where we are at right now. I'm just very grateful to still be doing this because, technically, I'm the only original member at this point. Everybody else is sort of like coming on but I feel like we've got a really cohesive fit right now.

Q: How did you come up with your band name?

Kruz: I wanted to do a three or four-word type phrase. We had been trying to come up with a name for about two years. We needed to commit to one because we would switch names every few months or so. None of them ever stuck or felt good. Cinema for the Blind was one that I had suggested a year into the naming process. Everybody rejected it at first, but they were so worn down from trying to figure out a name that they settled for it. It's funny because now I don't really like it as much. I’ve been debating whether I should change it or not. Everybody I’ve talked tells me it's really cool. Now I’m like, “Oh, damn, I guess I can't change it everybody seems to be pretty into it.”

Q: What would you change the band name to if you did?

Kruz: I don’t know! I play around with ideas. Sometimes I’ll try to think of something shorter because it's kind of a mouthful on stage. You don't always have the exact vocal clarity when you're announcing things. I've never had a show where I didn't have to tell somebody afterward what the name of the band was, despite having announced it three times on stage because they can't understand Cinema for the Blind over all the noise of the venue, it's just too much. If I changed it I think I would do something really short and sweet like “panic room” or something cool like that.

Q: What do you think draws people to your band?

Kruz: I would say the biggest thing is the variety of song styles we play. I’d say that's a strength and a weakness. We can be really inconsistent and I like that because some of the bands I like tend to stick to their niche and don’t evolve from that. I think we go out of our to mix things up in each song whether we change the instrumentation or the vibe of the song, speed, and everything like that. So I think our constant dynamic change makes us entertaining and people don’t get bored listening to our music. Plus, I can’t commit to doing the same thing for very long, it’s the curse of being creative.

Q: Are you the main songwriter?

Kruz: Yeah, mostly right now. It kind of depends on the song. There have been times when it has been more of a collaborative effort, but as members come and go it takes a second for me to get back into it. I have to feel like I can depend on them and feel confident that they are going to stick around for long enough that it makes sense for us to collaborate on work together. These guys have all been around long enough that I'm starting to be more open to it. I would say on most of them as of right now, I am the main songwriter.

Q: You’re also a multi-instrumentalist. You frequently play the drums and the guitar, but which instrument would you say you're the most comfortable with?

Kruz: Definitely drums. For a while, our configuration was me on drums and lead vocals. I was pretty decent at that overall, but it's when you're playing at smaller venues it can become a problem. That's just from an audio engineering perspective, it becomes a tough thing because when you've got the lead vocals at the front of the stage that mic is still picking up drum noise like symbols. We would get to the point where energy-wise and skill-wise I was doing everything correctly, but nobody can hear me or understand me. I had to move to just vocals. I love music because of the drums. That’s where I feel most comfortable overall. Hopefully, I’ll feel the same way about vocals soon.

Q: Is it difficult to play drums and sing at the same time?

Kruz: I think it sort of depends on the beat. My uncle had pushed me to learn drums. He would take me to my lessons. One day, he was supervising and I guess I had been working on vocal stuff separately. He suggested that I start trying to play and sing at the same time. So we just tried it with some pop songs at the time and I was able to hold a beat and sing. I’d say it did come somewhat naturally. Although, sometimes there's a track or a beat where there's too much syncopation in the pattern and it's like it's a weird run. That's why I have a lot of respect for bass players who sing because I think that's a very similar vibe. I like doing a lot of syncopation and rhythm. It can be hard to reconcile that with keeping a straighter vocal melody sometimes. So it depends on the song, but usually, it comes pretty naturally to me.

Q: Is it difficult to be the frontman and where all of these different hats or have you been so accustomed to it being in the industry for as long as you have that it's just kind of fun for you?

Kruz: I'm kind of used to it and I appreciate the variety. I have a lot of roles to fill but for the rest of the band, our team is like so good that they make it pretty easy overall. I know I can depend on my band. What has been hard is learning the technical side of music. I’ve been learning the studio side of music for the past couple of years like audio engineering and production. I don't feel like I've had as much time to focus on writing the stuff for the band. I haven't been able to focus as much of my energy on the band as I would like to. So that that's a little hard when it just comes down to like, time delegation of what I'm putting my energy on. When it comes to the things I do the band supports me really well. They make it pretty easy.

Q: When is your next song coming out?

Kruz: Any project always takes longer than expected! I feel like that's just a thing for life. Like whenever you plan something is bound to happen and it's going to end up taking longer than expected. We do have a lot of songs saved up. We also have a lot of pressure to put them on streaming services, but there’s sort of a combination of factors that delays me from doing that. Don’t worry the songs will be on places like Spotify. I believe I have something that will be ready roughly in the next few months. What hinders me is that you only get to release a song once. Some people are super prolific at writing new stuff. So they'll release stuff and they'll get better. I'm a little slower and more methodical with my approach. Sometimes I have a song and I write it and we record a demo. It sounds good, but it's not great yet. I choose to wait a little bit longer, and I learn how to produce it better. Part of it is just perfectionism. I end up sitting on material for a really long time wanting it to be absolutely perfect. I think within the next three months I have something that's ready to go. I think within the next year, I should have several things that are ready to go. I think I'm getting where I want to be on the audio engineering and production side enough to finish some product and get it out.

“Indie pop that is sure to get your head bobbing. Cinema for the Blind brings energy to everything they do. A must-see group in the DFW/Denton Scene. ”

-BlueGirlHours