Belleruche
Belleruche are set to return with their new album Rollerchain, their first album since 270 Stories back in 2010.
I caught up with the three piece to talk about the new record, influences behind its sound and what they are going to be up to for the rest of the year.
- You are about to release your new album Rollerchain so what can we expect from the new record?
This album i pretty special. We're very lucky that we don't feel we have to make music that sounds like a particular genre and therefore this record is us continuing to explore what we can create mucsially together
- This album is darker and a more bass heavy sound that what would have heard from you before so why have you gone in this direction?
I think we've always lent towards quite a bass heavy sound. We've always had a big interest in the space in music and how it can be used to create a unique sound between two notes, just by leaving note out.
There's something very special having a big space between the bassline and vocals. kind of beds the vocals and holds them above it
- How would you describe the sound of the album for those who haven’t any tracks from it yet?
We tend to sample ourselves playing guitar, bass, drums, synth, vocals and then chop them with the computer to create new sounds. Then we sometimes play it back out of the computer through amps, record and start chopping again.
We love the sound of natural instruments and how they sound, all the little subtleties. but we like the idea of trying to manipulate that sound to make something unique. we're all very into 20s and 30s blues and jazz, but we're not intersted in trying to emulate the songs, but try and evoke the atmosphere through new means.
- This is the fourth studio album for the band so how have you developed musically and as a band in that time?
We took 6 months out from touring to make this record which is the first time we've done that.
It was great experience just writing and recording fr 6 months and is a pretty good snapshot of what we were like as people and our muscal ideas in this period. I think as a band we went further not feeling that we have to have a particular sound and made a record which we wanted to make.
- Kathrin you have a very unique sounding vocal that is time quite haunting so I was wondering how you developed that style?
Thanks! I haven't really thought about it.. I was indoctrinated pretty early to be myself when singing and emulation isn't really appealing to me.
I do believe everyone has their own voice and if they use it its going to be a lot more interesting than a version of someone else. I don't find much integrity in that kind of thing.
Listening to a broad and eclectic range of music and of course working with Tim and Ricky influences what i do a lot on the Belleruche albums.
- You have all written, recorded and produced the record so why did you decide to do it all yourself and not bring in a producer?
We've always done things ourselves. We used to self release 7" vinyl and we've always maintained that DIY sensibilty.
It has been suggested to us before that we bring in a producer, but a lot of of studio recordings are about the process we went through to get that sound or idea for a song.
It's not as simple as bringing in someone to record what we do as we are changing a lot, and sometimes the changes don't happen until we're halfway through a song.
Saying that if we met someone whose ideas inspried us we'd definitely be interested in working with them to find out what could come out of it
- So how does the writing process work from you - is there a main writer or do you all write them together?
Writing this album in particular has been a big jump in our songwriting. A song called Cloverleaf on the album was the start of this change. Kathrin and I wrote a very rough song acoustically to some lyrics she had written.
The vocals and melody were really catchy but I wasn't that happy with the chords. We put this on a back burner for a while, but it kept coming up in conversation.
One day I got into the studio early and changed the chords under the song. It was strange as it was like the song was supposed to have these chords and not the ones it was originally written to.
Then Tim (DJ Modest) arrived at the studio, who had never been very keen on the song albeit the melody was good. He thought there was something in the new chords and replayed them using a bass synth.
Then we put a whole lot of filtered drums over it and a change at the end. We were really excited by the song, but were conscious Kathrin had always seen it as an acoustic song and loved it that way.
When she got to the studio we played her the song and I remember feeling quite nervous as I felt this was the way forward but was very different to what we had done before.
I remember looking over at her whilst we were listening to it and she grinned at me and I knew it was all good. After that kept pushing songs, stripping away the foundations and sliding in new ideas, to see how they would sound. It was a huge step forward and also a really exciting learning experience
- How do you find writing together?
We've always been good at writing together as we have a lot of respect for each other opinions and taste in music.
We're all very open to listening to each others ideas about how each other parts should sound. A lot of the time I'll play something on the guitar, but then Tim and Kathrin will chop it on the computer so it sounds nothing like what I originally played.
It's getting used to being open to ideas and that just becasue you can play the instrument and they can't doesn't mean you have the better musical idea or have an authority over it.
- How did the band form?
Tim and I have known each other since college, and whilst other people we knew were just into DJing or playing in indie bands we were always interested in making loops and beats.
We started a jam night which took place every sunday evening at a pub in Angel which used to be called the Salmon and Compass. When I say jam night it mostly just us, some friends DJing and a few regulars.
We then met Kathrin through friends of friends and she started coming don to the night and improvising vocals over the stuff Tim and I had been making. We then started getting booked for 'real' gigs, and so we thought we better start writing some songs.
We found out we enjpoyed writing songs so we started to release 7" vinyl of our stuff. After doing a few of these we were offered a album deal from Tru Thoughts
- There is an electric sound on the album, heavy bass as well as being quite melodic so what inspires you to write and create this music sound?
We listen to a lot of different music but basically the three of us like songs. I think 16 minute 8bit electronic oddessy's are cool but I'm not that interested in making that myself.
We all like listening to pretty odd stuff for ideas, but all three of us together like writing songs with hooks. With regards to bass, a really simple bass line can say so much and create world for the vocals to move in. It's interesting how the simple sounds can say so much
- And are you going to be hitting the road some time this year? If so what can someone who hasn’t seen you live expect from the show?
We're touring Europe and the UK in May and June. We're looking forward to this tour as it's the longest and most extensive with done in one period. The live show has changed a lot as Kathrin is playing bass on a lot of the songs and Tim is doing all sorts of strange stuff with samplers and a turntable, and also singing on one song.
We've never rehearsed for a tour like we have for this one and feel the live show is going to be something quite unique to see. That said it's still just us three playing the songs, just finding new ways to play the music we've written.
We've also used the studio tracks as starting points for the live songs. The songs haven't stopped at the studio recordings as we're still writing new sections for the songs live and working out how to play them live as some of the sonds were created in quite unique ways
- What about festivals have you got anything lined up for the summer?
In the UK we're playing at Shambhala, Solfest and the Playground festival down in Brighton.
We're also doing a few European festival and the Soundwaves festivsal in Croatia.
- Finalkly you have a huge fan base so do you have a message for any of the fans who will be reading this interview?
Thanks for listening and supporting our music