Electric Blankets set to warm up Dusk

Providence’s Electric Blankets have a guitar-driven sound that’s very versatile. It can lean towards punk at some points and it can also gravitate towards pop at times. There’s some weirdness that goes into it as well, but a little dose of weird in any artistic endeavor is necessary.

On Thursday, Nov. 4, the band will be hopping on the stage at Dusk, located at 301 Harris Ave. in their home city, as part of a show presented by the Cranston record label Pitch & Prose. Rounding out the bill will be the wizard rock act The Whomping Willows – who’ll be releasing the vinyl of their latest record, “Revisionist History” – as well as indie pop artist Olivia Dolphin and local unknowns The Unmen.

I recently had a talk with Christian Rhodhamel from Electric Blankets about how it started, having his own solo project, having a recording studio at home, and a new record that should be out next year.

ROB DUGUAY:  What’s the story behind Electric Blankets? How did the band start?

CHRISTIAN RHODEHAMEL:  We started in 2017, and three of us were in a band right before that called Disconnected Dots. After it ended we wanted to keep something going, so we started out fresh with a new name and new material. It was originally me on guitar and vocals, my wife, Kelly, on bass, and Dan Christopher on drums for the first couple of years, and then right before the lockdown Dave Trudeau joined us as a second guitar player.

RD: Is there anything that makes Electric Blankets different than any other bands that you’ve been in before?

CR: Over the years, I’ve been blessed to have a lot of really great bandmates and known some really cool people, but the one thing that has made this band kind of special for me is that we’ve all known each other for years so there’s a real family feel. We’re good friends, we’re real tight together and I feel like I can be myself and put myself out there. I feel like Kelly, Dan and Dave have my back.

RD: You also have a solo project called RCMR that has more of a pop vibe to it. You also play all the instruments on all the project’s recordings so how do you go about the process of accomplishing that?

CR: I mostly start with just guitar and vocals for a while, and then for the recording process I usually lay down the drums first, then bass, and then it builds up from there.

RD: Do you do it all at home? Do you rent out a recording studio or do you have a studio where you live?

CR: I got my own studio, which is where Electric Blankets practices as well, so it’s just me and the band there.

RD: How has it been playing out for the past few months? Do the shows feel different?

CR: Well, we’ve only done one show so far since things started opening up, which was outdoors at Dusk during the summer. That setting is always a little different, but we’re excited to be indoors this time around and see how it goes, but we had a really good time at our first show.

RD: It’s been a couple years since Electric Blankets put out their last recording, which was a double-sided single of “Not Too Late” and “John and Paul.” Can we expect an EP or album from the band in the future?

CR: We have tracked six songs for a new mini-album, I guess you could call it. We don’t have a release date as of yet, but I would say definitely within the next few months and probably during the beginning of next year is when it’ll be out.