By Karen Bliss

The Bloody Five will be releasing an 11-song album in the new year. Courtesy Martin Wojtunik

The Bloody Five frontman Kevin “KD” DeFreitas, a former Annex resident who is now a high school teacher living in suburban Toronto, is lining up a giveaway for his band’s show at Lee’s Palace (529 Bloor St. W.) on Nov. 26.

KD is happy to be playing in his former ’hood. “I used to be a student at U of T so I lived there when I was in teacher’s college, at 666 Spadina.”

The members of the alternative rock band—including KD, guitarist Tomi Fear, bassist Chris Hau, and drummer “Raw Beats” Sedran—have an 11-song album in the can, produced by Brighter Brightest singer Derek Hoffman, but won’t be releasing it until the new year.

Instead, KD says, “We are planning a surprise for fans who show up at Lee’s Palace that will be related to our upcoming single, video, and album releases.”

Chances are it will be a download card or CD with the single and maybe a few extra tracks.

The multi-generational band—Hau and Sedran were both students of KD’s and would perform at their Catholic school’s talent shows or in the liturgical band—has been together since 2009.

“We’ve got a heaviness to us; we’ve got a melodic flavour as well, kind of a trippy sound in some places,” said KD.

They released a five-song EP in June of 2010 that included songs “Never Again” (also available on the video game Rock Band in the “grunge” category), “And Me For The Forest,” “Bedroom Music,”  “Under This Mountain,” and “Just Joking.”

The Bloody Five’s cover of “(I Wanna Go To) New York City” by Canadian punk band the Demics (1977-1980), the forthcoming single on the still untitled album, is a departure from the band’s other material.

“The guy who owns Autoshare.com [Kevin McLaughlin] is our guitarist’s step-brother,” says KD. “He grew up in the ’70s and loved that song. When Tomi was a kid, for one of his birthday presents [he said], ‘When you try to get into this music business, I’m going to give you one music video.’ And that’s what this is. He wanted this song.”

The video, directed by Martin Wojtunik, was shot last summer in New York and has a rather amusing premise.

“We start off [with] us running around the Manhattan area taking things. ‘Oh, here’s sunglasses; here’s a wig; here’s a leather jacket,’” recounts KD. “We end up at Bowery and Bleeker which is the location where [legendary punk/new wave venue] CBGB used to be, and that’s where we posed as the Ramones.

“So we’re looking like ourselves and throwing on the costume as we run around and end up as poseurs,” he laughs.

The cover art for the single was designed by another former student of KD’s, Krista Arnold, now at OCAD University.

KD says the punk song fits The Bloody Five’s sound because “one thing that definitely is in common with the rest of the album is the rawness of the guitar sound. That’s something Tomi is trying to put across.

He’s more into that heavy side and I’m more into the Beatles. I like the harmonies.”