| Blaak Heat | |
| Origin: | Los Angeles/Paris |
| Genre: | Psychedelic rock, Progressive rock, Surf rock, experimental |
| Years Active: | 2008–present |
| Label: | Svart Records Tee Pee Records Improvising Beings |
| Associated Acts: | Spindrift Nebula Sonny Simmons Abrahma |
| Website: | Blaak Heat official website |
| Past Members: | Tom Davies Antoine Morel-Vulliez Timothée Gacon |
| Current Members: | Thomas Bellier Mike Amster Guillaume Théoden Nicolas Heller Henry Evans |
Blaak Heat (formerly known as Blaak Heat Shujaa) is a French-American musical group whose recordings blend psychedelic rock with a number of outside sources, such as traditional Middle Eastern music, progressive rock, surf rock, spaghetti western, and metal.
The band was founded by Thomas Bellier and Antoine Morel-Vulliez in 2008 in Paris while they were graduate students at Sciences Po.[1] In 2012, the band relocated to Los Angeles, signed to Tee Pee Records, and subsequently hired Orange County-based drummer Mike Amster.[1] Blaak Heat has toured Europe and the United States, appearing at festivals such as Levitation Austin, Reverence Valada, and Red Smoke Fest.[2] The band collaborated with Nobel Prize-nominated Gonzo poet Ron Whitehead on two of their releases, leading to multiple live appearances with Whitehead in the US and Scandinavia. Blaak Heat's latest full-length album, Shifting Mirrors, was produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Matt Hyde and came out in the Spring of 2016.[3] It has been called "A new standard for a new generation" by PopMatters[4] and "Almost too good to be believed" by Loudwire.[5]