“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.” - Hunter S Thompson
They have their forthcoming single ‘Stormbird’ coming out on the 26th March followed by an album called ‘Rollerchain’ on the 7th May here is an interview with DJ Modest from Belleruche:
Hello - things seem to be going epicly well for Belleruche.. you’ve been playing the HMV Next Big thing and have a pre tour album tour on 27th May at Scala-London.. you seem to be getting quite a lot of commercial success – that must be very rewarding for you – have you noticed a dramatic increase in your fan base?
Not really! We’ve been lucky I think that we’ve grown pretty organically – we’ve never had loads of money for press and PR, we just like playing shows and making music, and people seem to have caught on to what we do. I think the best way to get people to know about what you do is the old fashioned way – get on the road and play shows.
What are your musical influences?
Many, and varied. We’ve all three of us got very differing tastes in what we are listening to at any one time, from early blues through to 1960s Atlantic sounds to independent US electronic hip hop, via Nicki Minaj… we’re always interested in what the others are listening too, which is a good way of discovering new stuff.
You’ve been going since 2005. What is it that has kept you motivated and inspired on the rise upwards.. ?
I don’t think we’ve seen it as a ‘rise upwards’. Sounds a bit like we had a plan for this, which is the one thing we’ve never had! We’ve just been very lucky in that we’ve continued to enjoy and evolve what we do, and that people have given us the time to try and do it. There’s always a new idea worth trying in the studio or onstage – we always try and push the ideas forward a bit.
What can we expect from your latest album.. ?
It’s louder, darker and more like 3 o’clock in the morning I think. We’ve had a new studio for the last 8 months, and I think the freedom to try louder ideas has shown through on this record. That and the ability to use software like Abelton in new and interesting ways, that wouldn’t have been possible even a year ago, has meant we’ve been able to make the record we wanted.
If a genie came to you and said I’m afraid we have a problem – I have to take your musical talent away – BUT! I get to give you a different talent instead.. what would that talent be?
I’ve always had a wish to speak any language - we travel a lot, and the thought of being able to chat easily to anyone in the world is a pretty good one.
What’s other musicians/acts are you hailing out there name us three?
I’ll divide this up into dead/current/new… seems easier that way….
Dead: Son House – there are very few clips on line of him thrashing the hell out of a old guitar and shouting the blues like hell. Seek them out.
Current: Atmosphere – these guys built their own label and 15 year career on the back of uncompromising, musically deep and poetic modern hip-hop… inspirational.
New: Jukka – a producer who puts a 12″ out on Donky Pitch records – a joyous and exuberant set of bass and electronic dance noise
What is the best festival you’ve ever played? Where should we be looking to go this summer?
A little bird tells me Shambala festival might be worth a look in this year. For us the best festival was probably a French blues festival that we ended up playing at that had a stage invasion and crowd surfing in a small mirrored tent.
Do you prefer the linearity of a musical magazine or are you a blog hopper? If so where do you get your music fix?
We’re magpies when it comes to music – always looking for things, no matter where it comes from. Even 1950s music mags are worth finding in car boot fairs.
Tour bus book to read – read any outstanding ‘can’t put me down’ books recently?
We travel around Europe on the trains, so get lots of reading time… if I had to recommend something it would be Sydney Bechet’s autobiography, which was dictated as he couldn’t write, and is transcribed exactly as he spoke, which is pretty evocative of 30s and 40s music.
Fashion: what inspires your style.. ? Any fashion brands you love?
To be honest I’ve been mainly buying clothes in Bulgarian charity shops – as it was pretty cold there and we needed woollen garments…. that said Howies merino tops are grand for wearing on tour, keeping warm in freezing sound checks.
Give us another inspirational quote to leave on?
“All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music” – Walter Pater
You can catch Belleruche on their pre-tour London show at London’s Scala on 27th May.
