Unfiltered & Uncensored: The internet's hottest viral band

"What people call offensive, that's what's happening, that's what's real."
Set Text Size SmallSet Text Size MediumSet Text Size LargeSet Text Size X-Large
Share
Updated: 11/07/2012 11:47 pm
JACKSONVILLE (ActionNewsJax.com) --   Streaming through the internet at lightning speed, a Jacksonville area man is part of one of the hottest underground bands around.   “Blood on the Dance Floor” delivers an in-your-face manifesto on life.  The band’s explicit songs tackle teenage sex, self-image and bullying.

Action News traveled to Orlando, where BOTDF gave us an all-access pass, and a no-holds-barred interview with the two stars of the show, Davie Vanity and Jayy Von Monroe.

Sitting down with the pair, you’re struck by their elaborate makeup, tattoos, spiked hair—and Vanity’s colorful contact lenses. But beneath the glam exterior, were two well-spoken, articulate, and polite young men.

Vanity, the bands founding member, draws his inspiration through experience.  He admits he was bullied in school, saying “Me and Jayy had it rough growing up,” Vanity said, “When I started standing up for myself, I started living better and music was my freedom.”

One of the band’s most popular videos is for the song “Rise and Shine.”  A boy is being picked on at school. The adults don’t appear to care about what’s happening.  In a Columbine-style dream sequence; he imagines he’s gunned down the bullies.

Monroe, who admits he was kicked out of Middleburg High School for wearing makeup to class, says parents have this band  all wrong,  "What people call offensive, that's what's happening, that's what's real--and if you don't enlighten people they have no idea what's going on in their kids life." 

Blood on the Dance Floor
Blood on the Dance Floor
"People who don't understand, I don't spent time trying to convince them. They're stuck in their ways, back in the 80's. The only way you can do that is to have them listen to the message and the music.”
BOTDF has a following, with fans as young as nine, plugging in their headsets to listen to some very adult-themed music.

During their concert, we asked a young fan what she thought about the graphic lyrics.

“That’s what makes it fun,” she said.

At the Orlando concert we saw several parents who accompanied their kids to the show.  Monroe has a special appreciation for them saying, “Every time I see a mom at the show, I applaud.  You actually give a (expletive) about your kid!”

Traveling with the band is singer Haley Rose.  She talked about why BOTDF’s music seems to resonate with girls. She said, “To have a band that’s conveying a message that’s like, we’re all different here and we accept that, is such a powerful thing for girls to have.”

It’s a kind of rock-inspired reverse psychology.  Many of the bands songs are written about things they hate.   They’re songs to spark a dialogue, and Monroe says it’s not their fault if parents don’t get what they’re saying.

"People who don't understand, I don't spent time trying to convince them.  They're stuck in their ways, back in the 80's.  The only way you can do that is to have them listen to the message and the music.”

Blood on the Dance Floor will soon tour overseas with stops in England and Scotland.

 

Share
Inergize Digital This site is hosted and managed by Inergize Digital.