Interview: The Bellrays

The Bellrays play the Exchange on Wednesday 27th April and the show is gonna be a gas – if you like high octane rock n roll blasted out at punk velocity with soulful funky vocals then this is the gig for you. Lisa Kekaula (vocals) & Bob Vennum (guitar) took some time recently to answer a few questions for us, mostly Lisa but Bob too where indicated.

There’s yards of verbiage on the web trying to pin down your sound, but how would you describe it to anyone unfamiliar with your work?

Never been into describing our music at a time when everyone tries to describe everything. I get it – everyone is in a hurry. So for that reason I would say the Bellrays sound like all the hype you hear about how hard a band can rock and how great a singer can sing except no one hired someone to hype it because it is just what they do.

It’s absolutely fantastic to see UK dates from the band, how important is it to be successful here in the UK?

Glad to be back in the UK especially for the longtime fans. We are always more concerned with being successful on stage where ever we are, if that happens to be in the UK great.

When you see British dates on the schedule what do you most look forward to the most?

Fish and chips and maybe a Sunday roast.

And when you see those dates, what do you look forward too least?

Inclement weather and all the BBC reports on weather.

Meanwhile what will you miss most about home?

My pillow, which is on top of my bed.

How different are gigs back home to UK & European dates?

Aside from the plane ride and the occasional language barrier not much. All have great crowds and fans and we are very lucky to have great fans everywhere.

What are the bands that you are all collectively happy to listen to on the road, and what bands drive massive wedges between you?

We’re all pretty open minded and tolerant of what other people like to listen to, people like what they like. I’ve never been into arguing about what rings someone else’s bell – I certainly wouldn’t want anybody to tell me what’s wrong with what I liked.

What currently makes you most proud to be an American…?

The fact that we codified a set of ideals towards individualism and built a country around it. I just wish we could live up to it as a nation.

And what currently makes you least proud of your country?

Donald Trump and his really sad group of supporters.

How important do you think artwork is for bands in these digital days?

Artwork is content and content is important.

The N.M.E., Rolling Stone, Mojo, Classic Rock – how important is print media to a working band in the age of social media?

It can be very important because it’s actually the media’s job to hire competent writers and photographers to document what’s going on. It’s important to hire people with a command of their art to communicate in an accurate and entertaining way. Unfortunately what tends to happen is that the print media lowers itself to try and run with the rabble in an effort to remain popular and waters down its own viability.

Speaking of the digital world: vinyl, CD or download – does it really matter?

If it is good music is what matters most to me.

Looking back, what were both the best and worst things about being a musician in the nineties?

It was cool because people like me, who liked doing things a certain way (they liked to call it retro) were sort of illuminated by all the flashy new technology i.e. “wouldn’t it be great if we got all those old guys into a ‘modern’ studio!” I also liked the searching for new ways to do things. Digital formats offered immediate, easy access to a broad horizon to work with. Unfortunately, since the technology was quick and easy, it brought out a bunch of people with shallow ideas who didn’t really have to work for what they were doing and it subsequently became the norm that we’re living with now.

And by contrast what are the best and worst things about being a musician in the 21st century?

See above!

You have a well-earned reputation for fearsome live shows, are there any bands that make you feel you need to raise your game when you’re on the same bill?

The Fleshtones are great live band and always made us feel like we had to bring it.

During their time Elvis, the Stones, the Tubes, the Pistols, NWA, Lady Gaga and others have all shocked the mainstream and their fan’s parents…is there any way that a mere band can cause the same level of outrage and shock in the 21st century – especially given what can be found on the internet?

Probably but you know I think shock is overrated. Shock and awe are everywhere and now what is expected, from cat videos to “real housewives”. The new mainstream shocker will always be outrageous to those that don’t get it. In today’s world there is a lot not to get. I see visibility getting smaller and more direct. Obviously, we’re not about the masses but we are into finding who is into us, which any artist is. The cool thing about the artists you mentioned above is that for most the intent was to play the music of their soul the way they wanted to, not to shock someone like most world media is trying to do today. Anything is possible I just think we shouldn’t be looking for the outrage and shock to be the marker what shakes the mainstream.

(Bob) Shock and awe shouldn’t be the point. If you’re making music simply to shock and awe someone you’ve already made yourself irrelevant. Stravinsky wasn’t out to cause a riot when he did The Rite of Spring. He was out to break form and give the world a new set of tools to work with, not piss everybody off. The bands you mentioned were doing the same thing. They saw roads to travel that nobody had gone down, then they went down them. Anybody who says they’re doing music to scare the previous generation secretly (and desperately) wants that generation’s acknowledgement.

In fact, should rock bands even be deliberately trying to shock anymore? If not, what is their purpose…?

Rock bands deliberate? Who gives a fuck? Rock bands should be rockin’ and not whining. That’s just how i see it.

(Bob) See the previous answer. Any artist’s job is to entertain, that doesn’t mean it has to be a plate spinning dancing bear. You can reflect society and culture but writing and singing a song is not going to bring world peace.

Women in the music business have come a long way since Billie, Janis & Aretha; do you think women artists now have true equality with their male counterparts?

You are asking a black female front woman of a rock band if I feel that we now have true equality as male counterparts? If we are judge merely by what we bring to the stage and the world is a perfect place and people look at us blindly and rainbows walk the streets and the sun is purple then yes. But if we are talking about the world I live in absolutely not.

Many of the younger female artists (naming no names) are certainly willing to flaunt what they’ve got in videos & on stage in a way that’s totally different to the natural sensuality of, say Tina Turner or Janis; do you think this is a sign of empowerment as they claim, or are they just kidding themselves they’ve some control over their use of their sexuality?

I think most of them know not of what they speak. They may think they are empowered and a few of them truly maybe but I think in a world that hypersexualizes youth and naiveté in females the lines between them choosing or following are blurred. Tina Turner and Janis Joplin were grown women with life experience in their corner when they became that picture of natural sensuality. They probably had a good idea who they were at that time.

(Bob) – I don’t think most of them care. I think they like the attention, money and notoriety it gets them and they have some idea that they might make enough of it to make a career. But they’re buoyed by an industry that doesn’t give a fuck about what drivel it shovels. This industry caters to the shortest possible attention span and there’s always someone younger and prettier in the waiting room. 

America is conquering the world but rather than using the Marines or Navy Seals, it’s doing it with St*rb*cks, Black Friday and mcd*n*lds aided and abetted by the Kardashians and their ilk: Discuss…

I honestly think (and hope to hell) America conquering the world with our culture has hit the downslide. It actually seems to me that the rest of the world has started resisting the American way of doing a lot of things (big aggro, Wall Street, etc.) The last recession really showed people that the American penchant for playing fast and loose to get rich is really pretty counterproductive for all but a few people who get really rich. The rest of us just end up trying to climb out of the sink hole we just created by playing the game. America has really grabbed on to the idea of the short cut and now that so many countries got burned so badly trying to keep up, i get the impression that they’re really taking a hard look at it and digging in their heels.

Finally, what’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a musician starting out right here, right now?

Start making your mark right now: do not wait. Practice-practice-practice and then play-play-play. It will never be perfect, it should never be perfect. It will never be the right time. As soon as you start it will be the perfect time. Be kind. Be ruthless. A leap of faith can only happen if you jump.

(Bob) Really love what you do…or don’t do it. Really love the bad stuff about what you do; really love the hard, ugly, negative stuff about what you do: do not complain about it. There are so many people who will never get (or take) the chance to do what they really want to.