Belle Phoenix
-Nine Lives was out in March, has that received any good feedback?
Everybody that hears it loves it, I haven’t heard anything negative yet; if that’s people being polite or not I don’t know. Each time I do a gig there are a few more fans that you remember faces. It’s going well. Australia has finally adopted Bell Phoenix; my stuff is quite dark and Aussies are quite light because of all the sunlight they get there. For the first time in my publishing contract one of the songs Dancing All the Time has been put on a TV series called Bandai Rescue (laughs), that same song has been used by a theatre production. Generating some really positive vibes, so I’m really happy about that, it’s a bit different from the last album; it was a bit too confronting for people.
-You have been described in the past as Schizophrenic Punk Rock and Roll, but this album has some more acoustic tracks on it. Where do all these different songs come from?
I don’t know where they come from (laughs). It’s something that happens to me, it’s not what I want to write, I don’t sit down and say ‘I’m gonna write about this subject, I’m going to get this kind of sound’, it’s not pre-empted, I’m a conduit for something that is bigger than me. It is me, but it’s like an internal muse; I’ll wake up with this music in my head, or I’ll walk down the street and a whole song will be there. If I can hear it, I can play it; I get the song then I try and do a demo of it, then I pass it to musicians that I feel would understand that expression. The reason it is schizophrenic is because I have this push and pull the feminine side of me, and then also my masculine energy; it’s schizophrenic in that it’s a process of trying to accept my whole self.
-Would you be able to work with a full band then? Or would it get in the way of your creativity?
In Australia, the band that I had for the album was the perfect band. The guitarist had his own band and he was the front-man; it’s really interesting the people who I resonate with the most are songwriters who get the same phenomena happen, like they don’t know where it comes from. I have worked with some great musicians, but some are in New York and some are in Toronto; it’s just getting them together. I have found a few people in London and as we speak we are rehearsing, it’s sounding brilliant. One thing I like about working with new people is that they interpret the songs in a spontaneous way; in that playing with a live band is really refreshing. It’s never exactly the same and I kind of like that. The expression doesn’t become a dead carbon copy cover song. You keep it living and you keep the energy alive. I think people are really open-minded to hear new versions of songs.
-Nine lives nine tracks? What is it about? Is there a cat involved?
I went for Nine Lives for a few reasons; I recorded it at Nine Rangers Road for free, that was so lovely, then we went to Melbourne to get it mastered at another building which was number nine, the plane seats were number nine and we finished on the 9th (laughs). I felt like I had nine lives, I had felt a little rejected on the previous albums and there were a lot of obstacles, maybe I wasn’t playing the game, I felt like I had more than one life; every time I get knocked down I’m going to get back up again. I had a CD going to print in Germany and I had not even a day to get the artwork to the printers, so I thought ‘how do I feel?’ So I drew this picture of a cat. As an artist I feel like a shabby little cat that hardly eats anything and has been run down a few times, but it keeps getting up.
-You have travelled quite a lot, what’s your back story?
I’ve travelled a lot just trying to find someone to relate to (laughs). I’m an anomaly on this planet... no not really (laughs). No I believe that travel broadens the mind, my father is from Finland which is a very strange place. I went to Finland and hung there for a while over the summer and I rowed boats and ran around the forest naked, got back with nature. Basically the Finnish perception of life is something I adopted, so I tend to look a little on the darker side; I love nature and beauty. The Finnish are strong people, the smallest country dealt with the biggest Russian invasion. Something that has been instilled in the Finnish culture is equality, education there is free and the little people have the power; the Finnish people have proved that everyone can share the power. In Australia I always felt a bit like an outsider, all my friends were punks or eccentric and never wanted to conform.
-Where would you want to see yourself in five years time?
I do what I do, I sing and I play. What I would love to do is play more festivals. I’m pretty new to London, I would like a large promoter... what else?! I hope that I’m playing music, it’s all I want to do with my life, and I don’t really want to do anything else. If I lost my voice I would write a book, I’m doing that at the moment.
-What do you think the highlight of your whole life has been so far?
I don’t think there are any highlights (laughs). I think I’ve been quite let down by life. When I was a child I believed that I would grow up and life would be this fantasy; I think life, the way it is at the moment in nearly every country I’ve been in has been quite a letdown. That may sound depressing but I expected a bit more. We all go through the motions, we work really hard to pay our rent, and it’s hard to have a life; life is a challenge, but it’s lucky I thrive off challenge. But I have loved every moment, no matter how hard it’s been, I’ve always loved every moment of it. I have a real passion for life, and I want to prove that the little person can win and make their dreams happen. I want to be a reminder of that for others. We have enormous suffering the world but we also have enormous beauty, I tap in to both of those realities of life; I like to empathise with the suffering in the world. I don’t like to forget suffering, because I feel empathic for those that are affected by it. If there is any way for me to help I would like to do it. To be a whole person you have to know the whole spectrum of emotion and what’s happening in the world; it’s extending your brotherly and sisterly love towards each and every human being. I don’t want to be in a bubble, I want that bubble to be burst and understand people and situations. I want to expand my awareness.
-If you could have a fantasy tea party with three people alive or dead in the world, who would you invite?
Only three!? That’s really difficult. Let me think... I don’t have idols any more, I had them once. What happened to the heroes? I don’t know where they are! One would be Ghandi, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave. All men, isn’t that awful!
(Note: Belle texted in the next morning to add a few people to her list... breaking a few rules she added quite a few! Martin Luther King, Nina Simone, Julian Assange, Carl Jung, John Lydon, Rudoplh Steiner and the Funk Brothers.)
-If you could go back five years in a time machine to tell yourself one thing about the future, what would it be?
I’d say, get out of your publishing deal. Don’t sign that contract, it’s all lies! (laughs).
Nine Lives is out now, you can listen to her music at www.bellephoenix.com make sure you keep your eyes peeled for tour dates, which will hopefully be coming soon.
Female First Edward Lewis
-Nine Lives was out in March, has that received any good feedback?
Everybody that hears it loves it, I haven’t heard anything negative yet; if that’s people being polite or not I don’t know. Each time I do a gig there are a few more fans that you remember faces. It’s going well. Australia has finally adopted Bell Phoenix; my stuff is quite dark and Aussies are quite light because of all the sunlight they get there. For the first time in my publishing contract one of the songs Dancing All the Time has been put on a TV series called Bandai Rescue (laughs), that same song has been used by a theatre production. Generating some really positive vibes, so I’m really happy about that, it’s a bit different from the last album; it was a bit too confronting for people.
-You have been described in the past as Schizophrenic Punk Rock and Roll, but this album has some more acoustic tracks on it. Where do all these different songs come from?
I don’t know where they come from (laughs). It’s something that happens to me, it’s not what I want to write, I don’t sit down and say ‘I’m gonna write about this subject, I’m going to get this kind of sound’, it’s not pre-empted, I’m a conduit for something that is bigger than me. It is me, but it’s like an internal muse; I’ll wake up with this music in my head, or I’ll walk down the street and a whole song will be there. If I can hear it, I can play it; I get the song then I try and do a demo of it, then I pass it to musicians that I feel would understand that expression. The reason it is schizophrenic is because I have this push and pull the feminine side of me, and then also my masculine energy; it’s schizophrenic in that it’s a process of trying to accept my whole self.
-Would you be able to work with a full band then? Or would it get in the way of your creativity?
In Australia, the band that I had for the album was the perfect band. The guitarist had his own band and he was the front-man; it’s really interesting the people who I resonate with the most are songwriters who get the same phenomena happen, like they don’t know where it comes from. I have worked with some great musicians, but some are in New York and some are in Toronto; it’s just getting them together. I have found a few people in London and as we speak we are rehearsing, it’s sounding brilliant. One thing I like about working with new people is that they interpret the songs in a spontaneous way; in that playing with a live band is really refreshing. It’s never exactly the same and I kind of like that. The expression doesn’t become a dead carbon copy cover song. You keep it living and you keep the energy alive. I think people are really open-minded to hear new versions of songs.
-Nine lives nine tracks? What is it about? Is there a cat involved?
I went for Nine Lives for a few reasons; I recorded it at Nine Rangers Road for free, that was so lovely, then we went to Melbourne to get it mastered at another building which was number nine, the plane seats were number nine and we finished on the 9th (laughs). I felt like I had nine lives, I had felt a little rejected on the previous albums and there were a lot of obstacles, maybe I wasn’t playing the game, I felt like I had more than one life; every time I get knocked down I’m going to get back up again. I had a CD going to print in Germany and I had not even a day to get the artwork to the printers, so I thought ‘how do I feel?’ So I drew this picture of a cat. As an artist I feel like a shabby little cat that hardly eats anything and has been run down a few times, but it keeps getting up.
-You have travelled quite a lot, what’s your back story?
I’ve travelled a lot just trying to find someone to relate to (laughs). I’m an anomaly on this planet... no not really (laughs). No I believe that travel broadens the mind, my father is from Finland which is a very strange place. I went to Finland and hung there for a while over the summer and I rowed boats and ran around the forest naked, got back with nature. Basically the Finnish perception of life is something I adopted, so I tend to look a little on the darker side; I love nature and beauty. The Finnish are strong people, the smallest country dealt with the biggest Russian invasion. Something that has been instilled in the Finnish culture is equality, education there is free and the little people have the power; the Finnish people have proved that everyone can share the power. In Australia I always felt a bit like an outsider, all my friends were punks or eccentric and never wanted to conform.
-Where would you want to see yourself in five years time?