Blood on the Wall

Blood On The Wall is a brother and a sister and a brother.

Courtney Shanks (bass, vocals) met Miggy Littleton (drums, vocals) on the way home from shopping for records with her girlfriends. As they got off their stop on the L-train, she noticed a man selling records on the corner. That man was Miggy. Once her friends got done throwing themselves at him, Courtney and Miggy struck up a conversation about music and soon became best friends and band mates.

Meanwhile, back in Lawrence, Kansas, Brad Shanks (guitar, vocals) had just graduated from college and was in the middle of a four month long drinking binge. He couldn't find a job and all the girls in town knew his reputation (you wouldn't date him either if you knew), so he accidentally wrecked his car, got the insurance money, and within a month moved into his sisters apartment in Williamsburg, NY.

And then the world shot up into flames.

The name Blood On The Wall came about when Brad and Miggy were happily driving around listening to Slick Rick. It was then that the age-old game of coming up with the best band name ensued. Blood On The Wall was not the best or funniest, but before they knew it they were telling everyone that the name of their band was Blood On The Wall. Courtney grew to love it.

When BOTW got started it was slow moving. It was more just for the three of them to get together and play music. In 2000, they played maybe a total of three shows just so some friends could have a reason to get out of the house. By 2001, they decided they should record their songs just to have them on tape. They spent one night in the Hall of Fame practice space on Orchard Street in Manhattan recording on an eight-track that only had five channels operating with Nicolas Vernhes and Dan Brown. Seven songs in seven hours, with vocals - it sounded like shit at first. Then with a little magic, two songs came to the surface and were self-released on the Big Deal/Rejoice label.

Miggy has been in a lot of bands - from the hardcore outfit The Shit to Ida and the present NYC band, White Magic. Brad was in a two-piece drunk band called Bandit Teeth and Courtney plays music with solo death blues act T.K. Webb. However, when BOTW come together to play, they still do it just to get together and have some fun. They still smile a lot when someone says they enjoy them and they still feel like they are in the practice space when they a