INTERVIEW: BLIND OATH (US)

Get ready! Blind Oath are ready to take 2023 head on! Find out what they have been up to and what’s coming up for the band this year in this interview with Thenwothm.com!

THE NWOTHM: For those who do not know who you are, can you tell us your band name,
who is in the band, and where you are from?

Blind Oath: Blind Oath was formed in 2018 in the rusted Bible Belt city of Tulsa, OK. The band includes
vocalist Eric Miller, rhythm guitarist Mitch Gilliam, lead guitarist Robert Gutierrez, bassist Jacob
Fuller, and drummer Stu Hetherwood.

THE NWOTHM: How did the band form and is there any interesting story surrounding its
formation?

Blind Oath: The story of Blind Oath is one of super-fandom and a commitment to the true heavy metal
community. The Boys have spent a large chunk of their lives traveling to different metal fests,
booking metal shows for touring bands in Tulsa, and racking up meaningful friendships and
magickal experiences.

A chance encounter in Norway found guitarist Mitch Gilliam traveling by train with Slough Feg
bassist Adrian, to scope tiki bars in Bergen. He and Philomena Lynott broke down crying in each
other’s arms in her Dublin home when she said “thank you for loving my boy.” Mark The Shark
Shelton gave him a cigarette, and Fenriz called him a hipster in Oslo and said it was “a good
thing” in Norway.

Blind Oath has built true metal friends from across the globe simply by adventuring and
partying and appreciating the talent of others. Now we have our own bands and have been
sharpening our swords to compete against the output of our inspiring peers. Back in 2015, Mitch and Rob originally played in an old-school metal cover band, Dr. RockDoctor. The group was formed during a period in which Mitch was booking and promoting shows in Tulsa for bands such as Night Demon, Visigoth, Speed Wolf, Gatecreeper, and of course-the MIGHTY Manilla Road (who are a principal influence.) Dr. Rock Doctor played covers from Venom, WASP, Priest, Maiden, Omen, Manowar etc; and acted as the host band for the traveling hordes.

Eventually, Dr. Rock Doctor morphed into Satanico and the Demon Seeds, a live band karaoke
ensemble that played Tulsa’s cultural hub, Soundpony Bar. The songbook was over 60 classic
genre-bending songs, expanding to include tracks from Slayer, Blondie, Heart, The Dead
Kennedys, Misfits, and a shitload more.

This group featured Mitch and Rob, with the role of Satanico (karaoke host) being played by
future Blind Oath bassist, Jacob Fuller. It was during the Satanico live shows that regular
karaoke participant and future vocalist, Eric Miller, was discovered.
Around this time, Mitch approached Rob for approval of a handful of thrash metal songs he’d
been writing in his spare time. Rob immediately fell in love with them and asked to start the
project which became Blind Oath.

The first demo was played only by Mitch and Rob, with Miller coming in the fold to re-record
vocals with his signature Lemmy by way of Cronos yarl. Just like that, the Blind Oath sound was
crystallized. A fated trip to Houston as spectators to the inaugural Hell’s Heroes in 2018 solidified the notion
that Jacob and Miller fit the mold of the band, which was eventually rounded out by the
surgical yet soulful attack of Stu Hetherwood’s drum work.

THE NWOTHM: Since the band’s formation what big milestones have you achieved?

Blind Oath: The first milestone we have to mention came from our first show with Night Demon and Blood
Star in Tulsa. Manilla Road and the riffs, drive, and wisdom of Mark The Shark Shelton was the
chief influence on starting Blind Oath. There are Easter eggs to Manilla Road hidden throughout
our lyrics. As fate would have it, the night we received our demo masters, we played them at
The Soundpony Bar, and jubilation turned to sorrow as we received the news -at that moment-
that Shark had passed.

The importance of Shark to Mitch cannot be overstated. Discovering Manilla Road in the early
2010s turned Mitch’s casual love for metal into a full-blown calling. A chance encounter at the
final Chaos in Tejas saw Mitch and Shark become legitimate friends, a wild thing for a boy from
a small Oklahoma redneck town.

Blind Oath played their first show the week after that and closed with a tribute to Shark with
“Flaming Metal Systems.” They were anointed by the metal gods when Manilla Road vocalist
Bryan Patrick joined them on stage to belt the song out for his fallen brother. All our milestones involve solidifying our bonds with our metal family.

Another huge moment for us was when recorded our debut album in Ventura, CA with Armand
from Night Demon. Tim Baker of Cirith Ungol (with whom Mitch conducted one of the first
Cirith Ungol interviews after their return)* was rehearsing with his legendary outfit next door to
the studio and was swayed to record his vocal cameo (on the spot!) on our song “The Flame,”
which is about the magick, strength, and beauty of heavy metal community.

More recently, we opened for Ares Kingdom for the anniversary of The Gate record store in
Wichita, KS. The show was extremely well received and served to strengthen our ties with the
legendary American black metal scene, of which waters we sonically dip our toes. We’ve played with many friends, the likes of Haunt, Bewitcher, Nite, Night Demon, Hellfire,
Seven Sisters, Silver Talon, High Spirits, Deceased, Intranced, Savage Master, and Vicious
Rumors. The inaugural Two Minutes To Tulsa fest on April 1st will see us share the stage with
Satan and Exciter for the first time, along with friends like Sadistic Force.

Other highlights include the time some of the dudes from Spiter/Devil Master clandestinely
ended up in our music video as they were touring through Tulsa. And of course, the day we
took the Swedes in Screamer to Olive Garden and watched their 7-foot-tall drummer vomit in
the parking lot after eating too much pasta and breadsticks.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us any fun/ interesting facts about the members of the band?

Blind Oath: Mitch and Eric are both teachers at a charter middle school/high school. Mitch teaches a rock n’
roll class and Eric teaches 3D animation. Mitch worked on the Food Network show, Pioneer Woman, and with a red wig on, was reality- TV star Ree Drummond’s stunt double in her red F-150.
Jacob’s stage name is Jake Don’t, and you’ve gotta see us live to find out why. He’s also the
manager at Tulsa’s heavy metal hangout The Whittier Bar. Rob is a banker and is originally from California. He’s known colloquially as Doctor Rob for his unmatched guitar prowess. This man has a Ph.D. in shredding.
Stu is an obsessive NBA basketball fan of the OKC Thunder, and has a baby named Graham,
which Jacob thinks is cool because he is “named after weed.”

THE NWOTHM: What bands and artists have influenced you and helped you to carve your
sound?

Blind Oath: We are particularly influenced by the iconoclastic era of early American heavy metal. Chiefly,
the wildly experimental and stalwart output of Manilla Road, Cirith Ungol, and Brocas Helm. To
say you can’t hear Cliff-era Metallica in us would be an absolute lie. We will die believing that
no one writes better song structures than Mercyful Fucking Fate.

THE NWOTHM: Can you tell us about your most recent release(s) and any background
information to the music? How did the songs come about?

Blind Oath: This is our debut album and the first proper release since our demo. The record is really the first
recorded output of Blind Oath as a fully-realized band. While three songs were from the original
demo and were written solely by Mitch and Rob, the rest of the tracks are full band efforts and
indicative of Blind Oath’s strength as a living unit of metalsmiths.
The lyrical content ranges from hermetic, gnostic, and alchemical lore, to historical accounts of
witchery, and epic gothic poems of old.

It was recorded/produced/mixed by guitarist, studio genius, and Steven Segal historian Armand
John Anthony of Night Demon at his Captain’s Quarters studio in Ventura, California. He not
only brought out the best sound possible, but with subtle suggestions he helped turn good
songs into formidable ones.

THE NWOTHM: What shows have you got coming up for 2023? Any major performances you
would like to highlight?

Blind Oath: A major highlight for us is playing the inaugural 2 Minutes To Tulsa showcase at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, OK on April 1st. It’s our hometown album release show and we’ll get to do it at a
legendary venue with Exciter, Vicious Rumors, Night Demon, Satan, Haunt, Night Cobra, Sadistic
Force, and Hammerhedd and all our friends & families.

THE NWOTHM: Any other plans for 2023? With it being a new year, what do you hope to
achieve in the upcoming months?

Blind Oath: With our new album being released on March 17th, we’ll get our music out to a broader
audience. Our ultimate goal is to play some festivals in the US/EU/UK and jump on some tours
with some of our like-minded metal brethren. We’re also working on new material with the
goal of getting back in the studio within the next year to build on the momentum of our debut
release.

THE NWOTHM: Where can people check you out on social media and buy your music/merch?
You can find us on Facebook or Instagram at @blind_oath and on our Bandcamp page. Horton
Records is our Tulsa-based non-profit record label and they’ll be helping us manage online sales
and global distribution (digital & physical), including their Bandcamp page
(hortonrecords.bandcamp.com) and at hortonrecords.org.

THE NWOTHM: is there anything else you would like to mention?