Interviewed by Mark Balogh
Date: December 2009

Mark Balogh: Hello, and thank you for taking the time to talk with us here at RockEyez. Congrats on the new album, "Falling From The Moon". How do you feel it turned out and how has the reaction been so far?

Brian LaBlanc: Hi…Thanks for wanting to talk to me. I appreciate it. I’m very happy with the way it turned out. In my opinion, the production is much better this time so the recording just sounds better which is cool. It’s fatter. I think my brother’s vocals are better this time also. At my age if you can keep improving that’s a big deal. Ha Ha. Hopefully people will agree with me.

Mark Balogh: Let’s go back for a moment to the early days of the LABLANC BROTHERS. 1985 saw the release of Fury. Tell us a little about this project and album.

Brian LaBlanc: Not much to talk about really. We were just getting our feet wet so that’s the way I look at it although I thought there were a couple of good songs on that album.

Mark Balogh: What happened with the LABLANC BROTHERS musically in the twenty years from the release of the" Fury" record and the debut BLANC FACES disc in 2005?

Brian LaBlanc: Woow… I really don’t know how to answer that one. We were always just trying to sing better and write better with each passing year. It’s kind of weird looking back on your life but I think we were late bloomers. In our 20’s we just weren’t as good as we are now (not that we’re good now either…. just better than before). I wish we were making these records 20 years ago. I think they might have sold a lot more. It’s all good… our timing has always been off! I’m thankful to still be making some music and having some nice people enjoy it a little.

Mark Balogh: That debut came along as a virtual surprise of 2005. It was a marvelous, pure AOR release on Frontiers Records. Tell us a little about that record and how you hooked up with the label.

Brian LaBlanc: A friend of ours told us about this label that was putting out a lot of Eighties style music. At first we were going to write a song or two for the folks at Frontiers then my wife (Rosanne) persuaded them to let us record our own (album). I just listened to the first CD a couple of months ago. Before then it had been a while. I enjoyed listening to it! I like a lot of the songs on that CD. " Staying Power ", " We Will Rise " …to name a couple. If the songs aren’t good… there is no CD. It was easy to record becausewe had a fantastic drummer that was just perfect for us. It all starts there. If the drums aren’t slamming …time to quit. I let him do his thing and he played most of the songs in one take or two the most, without ever listing to them before. He also played on the new CD as well… talented cat that is sadly not with us anymore. I could cry right now. It sucks. I don’t know if I’ll ever find someone like him again. By the way, his name is Kyle Woodring. Real nice guy also!

Mark Balogh: Where the songs from the debut newly written tunes or where they songs you had in the "vault" for a while?

Brian LaBlanc: 95 % of the songs were newly written. It was a lot of work.

Mark Balogh: As brothers, you have a seemingly successful band going outside of BLANC FACES. The LABLANC BROTHERS BAND (www.lablancbrothersband.com) looks to be a top-notch wedding and corporate affair band. How long have you been doing this?

Brian LaBlanc: Three or four years… not that long. Whatever we can do musically that pays some bread is cool with us.

Mark Balogh: Was the "day job" of the LABLANC BROTHERS BAND a big reason why there was four years in between BLANC FACES releases?

Brian LaBlanc: Sadly yes… that was a big part of it. Next time it won’t be so long! Hopefully I can keep coming up with the tunes.

Mark Balogh: On the new record "Falling From The Moon" you pretty much kept the same band intact? And there was the sad news of the passing of drummer Kyle Woodring to deal with also. Can you tell us about the players in the band?

Brian LaBlanc: Jeff Batter … very talented guy who never got the big break. He can really play ! Butch Taylor … great guitar player and also a great singer. Michael Patzig … The now official 3rd LA BLANC BROTHER! Pretty amazing guy. He recorded most of the CD. Awesome engineer! Then nearing the end of the sessions we discovered that he is an equally talented guitarist. He probably would have played more if we knew about it.

Mark Balogh: Can you tell us about some of the songs from "Falling From The Moon" and even what are some of your favorites of the record?

Brian LaBlanc: I really love some of the songs from this CD. " Falling From the Moon" is one of my favorites. My daughter who was 7 years old at the time wrote the title. " I Come Alive " is my favorite track that we ever recorded! That song rocks! Also love " I will ". Thank God that I really like the stuff on this CD. In the long run, it’s all that really matters.

Mark Balogh: Did BLANC FACES play any live shows after the debut album was released and are there any plans to play any to support the new record?

Brian LaBlanc: We got to play in Germany, which was cool! Hopefully we will be going to Barcelona, Spain in the coming months to play. Hopefully we can also string some more shows together. That should be fun.

Mark Balogh: Tell us about some of your musical influences growing up?

Brian LaBlanc: Probably the first influences were the Beatles and CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL. Then my brother always loved the DOOBIE BROTHERS. We were also huge TOTO fans. Steve Lukather is of course our favorite guitar player. Let’s see… we like a lot of stuff… BAD COMPANY, VAN HALEN and all of the great Eighties rock.

Mark Balogh: Since you and your brother both are involved in music was there a musical background that ran in the family that led you to both become musicians?

Brian LaBlanc: Not really… No one ever played professionally. I really don’t know where it comes from.

Mark Balogh: Are there plans for future BLANC FACES records?

Brian LaBlanc: I’m sure we’ll do another one in the future… not ready to hang it up quite yet!

Mark Balogh: I guess that is about it. Thanks again for taking the time to talk with us here at RockEyez. Anything you’d like to say before we let you go?

Brian LaBlanc: Just thanks for your time… and thanks to all the nice people that have been listening to our music over the years. God Bless!