What definition would you give of how Bell Orchestre sound? Have you experienced any odd attempts by journalists?
Fortunately that’s not our job! We make the music, and we’re lucky enough to have people help us tell people about it. One thing that seems to come up a lot is that our music is cinematic. By that, I assume that people mean to suggest that it is evocative of images, which is a nice compliment. We never really think of it as film music. In fact, we’ve worked on film music before, and it invariably comes out very different from what we do on our own impulses.
How do the songs emerge – are they written about specific themes or are they the result of experimenting with the band?
We write mainly through improvising with each other. We record everything and piece together the parts that sound best to us. It truly is collaborative, and as such quite painstaking and slow. Improvisation is at the heart of what we do, although the pieces are ultimately composed. I think there are themes, but that’s not something we discuss very often.
All of the band appear to be multitalented on stage – were you all from musical backgrounds?
We’re all from wildly different backgrounds. Sarah has played violin since she could walk and talk. Richard has played every instrument in every type of band. Pietro is highly trained, but he’s forgotten everything. Stef is the merging of discipline and freedom. Kaveh lives in the moment and plays music there too. I grew up on punk rock and I’m really good at writing lyrics, so naturally I play lap steel. Colin Stetson, our erstwhile woodwinds associate, is the Barack Obama of the saxophone.
You’ve recorded songs in a tunnel in the past – are tunnels the future of recording?
Not unless our first record was made in the future! I’d have to say tunnels are the past of recording. We use whatever tools are available to us to get our ideas across, regardless of the era to which they belong. We just walk toward the light.
Are there any influences that stand out above the others that have been crucial to the band?
There is some music that we all love, but mostly it’s a really wide spectrum. We each bring our own inspirations and experiences to the table. Further to that, we inspire each other. So, the more we do together - and the more experiences we go through together - the more inspired we become as a group.
What is it about Canada that is producing so many great bands at the moment?
Canada has always made great music, it’s just received some notice lately. There’s good music everywhere.
How does the experience of touring with Bell Orchestre compare to touring with Arcade Fire?
That would be one for Richard and Sarah. I think it is safe to say that there are a lot of major differences. Our audience is much smaller, and as such, more intimate maybe. Our music is well off the mainstream map.
While we’ve obviously benefited from some spill-over attention, the two projects are really very separate.
What does the future hold for Bell Orchestre?
We are excited to get working on some new music, since we’ve mainly spent our time touring in support of As Seen Through Windows. Now that we are back home, we’ll take a short recuperative spell, and then get
back to what we love best: hanging out and making up music.
Montreal’s Bell Orchestre release ‘As Seen Through Windows’, on October 5th 09 through the Arts and Crafts record label.
Pics: Bart Photography
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