Just months after calling it quits in Brooklyn, Night Manager alumnus Ezana Edwards is back with Blood Sister, a new Ganglians-backed pop-punk trio out of San Francisco, California. Read through as we chat him up about the origins of Blood Sister, his relationship with Ganglians’ Ryan Grubbs, his latest entrepreneurial startup, and their upcoming release.

When and where did Blood Sister form, and why?

Very recently in San Francisco because that’s where we live! Ryan Grubbs (Ganglians) and I were into each other’s music—I saw Ganglians at Market Hotel in Brooklyn a while ago, and he had heard of Night Manager through Jeans Wilder (who rules) when they played a few shows together. I was new in town when we met and it clicked.

Do you view this project as an extension of said bands?

Ryan and Kyle Hoover (Ganglians) are in another band called Tiaras which is more of an extension of Ganglians. They’re stepping a bit out of the box for this one, I think, which they dig. I did a lot of the writing in Night Manager, so there’s gonna be some similarity there in Blood Sister—but at this point we’re at the tip of the iceberg in terms of where we can take this musically.

How do you guys divvy up the writing for Blood Sister? Do you change it up from track to track?

Yeah, I mean, “BART SIMPSON” (stream above) and “Why Would You” (stream above) are my brain children, but each member brings their own style, which will be more apparent in future songs. We’re putting the final touches on a new track now (preview below). All we need is a celeste player and an urban youth choir who are cool with recording in my mom’s living room. We’re getting heavy with this one. You play bassoon right?

I wish! Does the new song call for a bassoonist?

God no. I wanted to make a bong out of it, but more on that later.

[Laughs] So why do you call yourselves Blood Sister?

It focus tested the best. Hit all the right demographics. Thinking up a band name is a pain. I’m not gonna subject myself to that. Besides, all the good names are stupid.

And what demographic might that be?

Mostly losers. We met a third party band naming consultant in Dolores Park selling integrated business solutions and ganja oysters, so he did most of the testing. His methods were sound. That’s what’s great about San Francisco—the creative/business friendly environment—it used to be mainly hippies, junkies, and compulsive fornicators, but now its a great place for alternative, forward-thinking entrepreneurs. My startup, for example, takes classical instruments that were played on indie records and turns them into designer weed paraphernalia. We recently developed a vaporizer out of a french horn that was featured on a Feist record—it gets you riiiiipped. Granted we don’t typically produce anything physical—we’re more of a think tank. Most of our revenue comes from consulting other tech startups on how to incorporate orchestral drug use into their business models.

[Laughs] So tell me about the themes on your debut EP, ‘‡’. What are “Why Would You” and “BART SIMPSON” all about?

I was in a dark place when those two came about—betrayal, obsession, loneliness, etc. were all feelings that went into it. “BART SIMPSON” is a pretty simple tune but somehow it was a total pain in the ass to write. “Why Would You” came together quickly and was like the opposite experience. I’m proud of how they both came out though.

The new song is called “Psychic Flashes” (preview below). It’s about an experience recently where I felt telepathically bonded to someone from my past. I didn’t go out looking for this link—I’m not really superstitious but it’s happened enough times where by now I’ve just accepted it. I’m 100% serious—I can’t hear their thoughts, but I can tell when they’re in pain or want to reach out—every time it’s been validated. There may or may not be mutual dreaming involved.

Was the name “BART SIMPSON” a nostalgic reference of sorts?

No, I just had to call it something. Bart is such an icon of a certain time and place, you know? Ever notice how a lot of shitty band names would make for decent song titles?

Indeed! Too many to count. So what’s next for Blood Sister? A west coast tour, perhaps?

We recently got a licensing deal with Citibank, and they said every time someone robs one of their branches, they’re gonna blast “Why Would You” at all locations in USA and Canada. Kids, if you wanna help us out, go rob one today! Yeah, otherwise, Ryan is laying some vocals down this week and we’re working on a vid for “Psychic Flashes.” We’ll get someone to put a record out soon. Holler at us world!

Can you think of anything else the world needs to know about Blood Sister before we wrap this up?

The world? Fuck that guy.