For local musicians Damien Blaise, Jesse St. John and Gianna Gianna, music has become a family business.

The tight-knit sibling trio is behind one of the more unique acts to emerge from behind the Orange Curtain in recent years, taking the local scene by storm with rapid-fire hip-hop lyrics, loud and varied electronic beats, and wild performances. Under the moniker BLOK, they bring it hard on stage, sporting cutting-edge outfits that incorporate vintage, street and high-fashion style, and indulging sporadic movements typically developed in the moment, not rehearsed.

Click here to see more photos of BLOK from our photo shoot.

Since its inception four years ago, BLOK has gone on to headline various local venues and found itself welcomed with open arms. The group’s style doesn’t always fit what’s dominant in the current scene, yet the threesome often winds up appearing on nights heavy on indie rock.

“It’s about bringing those new concepts into areas where those concepts don’t exist,” Blaise explains during a break from a recent photo shoot at the Register. “That’s a big goal of this project – with all of my projects, period – is to bring concepts into something that doesn’t necessarily incorporate that concept typically.”

“When we’re making (music), we don’t necessarily consider the ‘target audience’ or how it will get reacted to,” St. John adds. “We have a vision and we’re excited to express it. We don’t think of it comparatively melding into a certain scene or a certain sound – it’s our art, it’s what we want to express. Anywhere we go, we’re doing something that’s unique to us and organic to us … we don’t fit exactly anywhere.”

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