RICHMOND, Ind. – While the town of Richmond, Indiana sleeps, one longtime married couple is working through the night, lip syncing and reenacting the lyrics to some of the most iconic songs in rock history.
“Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne? Check.
“Dream On” by Aerosmith? Of course.
“November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses? They say that might be their finest work yet.
They’re “Vampira” and “Blood,” and together, they have amassed more than 114 million views on their TikTok channel Vampira.910.
Vampira joined the platform in October of 2020 after the duo already had a following on YouStream and YouTube. They were looking for a change after the companies changed their user guidelines.
“Vamp left and originally started this [TikTok] channel,” Blood explained. “She was only on here for about a month or month and a half. Then she asked me, ‘Hey Blood, why don’t you quit YouTube and join me?’”
They say they have loved music their entire lives, and Vampira managed bands before she became a content creator. But their passion for music is only part of what fueled their TikTok career. They say they were also looking to spread joy and positivity.
“There’s so much cruelty. There’s so much hate and negativity in this world, and we just wanted to be different. We wanted to brighten someone’s day,” said Blood.
One look at their TikTok profile shows you they’ve made A LOT of videos in less than two years.
“About 3,000 to 4,000,” estimated Vamp.
Usually, the idea for a TikTok is based off a song.
“I hear the song that I want, and I just add it together in my head,” said Vampira. “I got to have the perfect spot. It’s all in my head. Boom, boom, boom, boom. This is how we’re gonna do it.”
It can take them up to two hours to create a one-minute video because they rarely only use one location to record. They try to do at least two videos a day, and at one point, were churning out six a day.
“We usually start at midnight and don’t get done until 5 a.m.,” said Vampira.
Making videos can be a challenge for the couple, who are both 48. Blood has cerebral palsy, and Vampira is navigating through lupus and severe anxiety. They say they push through the pain for their fans.
“It’s hard for me to walk sometimes,” admitted Blood. “But I know have to do it because of the people. The people are what counts.”
Right now, their most watched video is a 15-second clip set to a cover of SLANDER’s “Love is Gone.” It currently has 4.4 million views. In the video, Blood lip syncs his heart out as Vampira plays the part of a jilted lover, giving him the cold shoulder.
Like so many content creators, Vampira and Blood say they’re not immune from hateful comments. But they don’t let it get to them.
“You’ve gotta have thick skin, ‘cause these trolls will be out to destroy you,” Blood advised. “You have to be able to take constructive criticism or anyone putting you down. You’ve gotta move past it. Overlook it and move on.”
Despite having more than 370,000 followers and nearly 8 million likes, Vampira and Blood say they earn less than $300 a month through their TikTok content due to the company taking such a large cut.
For them, it’s truly a labor of love.
“We’re getting the word out there that we want to get out there: the positivity [and] the love,” said Vampira. “One person might have a bad day [and say] ‘Hey, let’s go to Vamp and Blood’s page. They’ll make us smile. That’s what we want.”
“We love and cherish everyone out there,” agreed Blood. “We talk to people one on one. We’ve saved marriages. We’ve saved [people from] suicide. We’ve been there for people when nobody else would. We’ve been there for people when they had nobody. We were there.”
You can check out the Vampira.910 page for yourself here.
