Honeyblood is the Scottish indie rock solo project of guitarist and singer-songwriter Stina Tweeddale, originally formed as a duo in Glasgow, Scotland in 2012.
History and formation
Formation and beginnings
Shona McVicar from Cumbernauld and Edinburgh-born Stina Marie Claire Tweeddale met when the bands they were playing in were playing the same concert at Bar Bloc in Glasgow. Tweeddale, who wanted to write and play her own music, approached McVicar about playing together. They formed Honeyblood in early 2012. The name came from two places, a Halloween concert that Tweeddale played with her previous band, Boycotts. She states: "Honeyblood is actually a mixture of water, honey, cornflour and red food dye." She continues: "It comes from a lazy Hallowe’en costume I once made for a gig. I swirled it round in my mouth on-stage. And then I spat it over the audience." The other source is from the lyrics of the song "Gutless" by Hole. Originally, they intended to add other band members to fill out their sound, but they were asked to play gigs as a duo. It was here they realised they "weren’t missing anything musically." In January 2012 they recorded the songs 'No Spare Key' and 'The Girl on My Left ' in a bathroom with a 4-track tape-deck. These songs would end up forming theThrift Shop EP, a 50 copy limited run cassette the band released on the night of their first ever concert at The Old Hairdressers in Glasgow on 4 April 2012. Speaking about the band's lo-fi style on Thrift Shop,Paul Lester of The Guardian wrote that "The lead track, 'No Spare Key', sounds like Taylor Swift's 'We're Never Getting Back Together' performed by two Scottish goth-girls doing an impression of the Jesus and Mary Chain in a tomb, or an enervated, dejected Haim in need of a square meal." After just their second concert at Wide Days music conference in Edinburgh at Sneaky Pete’s on 12 April 2012, Honeyblood drew the attention of Alex Knight of FatCat Records, the label who would eventually sign them. Knight's advice to the band was to concentrate on gigging. Around six months into Honeyblood's existence McVicar was forced to take a break in order to complete her Dentistry degree. During this time, replacement drummer Rah Morriss worked to sustain the band's growing career. When Morriss had to leave the band in 2013 due to her Visa expiring, McVicar was free to re-join the band.
Honeyblood (2014-2015)
In November 2013 the band travelled to Connecticut, USA to work with producer Peter Katis on their self-titled album. The album was recorded in just ten days and released on FatCat Records on 8 July 2014 In September 2014 McVicar left the band to pursue other endeavours and was replaced by Cat Myers. Honeyblood toured extensively in support of their debut album. They supported several acts including Foo Fighters, Palma Violets, Sleigh Bells, Deap Vally, Courtney Barnett, We Were Promised Jetpacks and Superfood. They played showcases for the likes of The Skinny and Vice, and festivals including the Great Escape, Wide Days in Edinburgh, T in The Park and SXSW.
Babes Never Die (2016-2017)
In the winter of 2015, Stina and Cat were joined by acclaimed producer James Dring, who had previously worked with the likes of Jamie T and Gorillaz, at London's Fish Factory studio to work on their second albumBabes Never Die. The album was released by Fat Cat records on 4 November 2016 in the UK/EU and 28 October in the US.
In 2019 Honeyblood signed with Marathon Artists, and announced an album would be available for pre-order on 7 February. Publicity only showed Tweeddale. On 7 February, they announced that their third studio album, In Plain Sight, would be released on 24 May, and released the lead single, "Third Degree". On the same day it was announced that Honeyblood will move forward as a solo project, with Myers no longer part of the band. They played Belladrum in 2017, televised on BBC Alba.
