Posted February 25, 2008
By PATRICK EMERY
For much of their musical career Los Angeles band The Bellrays have crafted an ‘us against them’ aesthetic, an attitude that stems in part from the band’s strident belief in their music, and partly from the music industry’s ambivalence toward The Bellrays’ unique brand of rock’n’roll. But while resistance is inherently a political statement, Bellrays bassist/guitarist Bob Vennum isn’t convinced The Bellrays have been making political statements.
“I don’t know if it’s a political statement, but a statement about the political,” Vennum says. As for The Bellrays’ rally cry against antipathy – itself a statement of some political currency, Vennum says.
“I don’t think people go out there and say they’re apathetic. It’s not a call to arms, but about trying to make a difference at the personal level.”
The band's on its third Australian tour, this time in support of a new album "Hard Sweet and Sticky", and local crowds have taken to them with a vengeance. But for the duration of their existence The Bellrays have been described as a blend of punk and soul. To attempt to define punk is to place one’s self in the firing line of some serious ideological criticism – many an Internet music forum participant has been shot down in a hail of electronic bullets after purporting to prescribe the essential attributes of punk music, or punk attitude. With that in mind, I ask Vennum what – to him, and the band generally – punk is all about.
“To me it’s just free form,” Vennum replies. “It’s whatever you want to make it. It’s something that shouldn’t be defined. Punk is Stravinsky, Beethoven was punk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis were punk,”Vennum says. As for soul, Vennum sees it as “anything that is honest – it’s a pure sort of thing,” he says.
Vennum is on the phone from his home town of Fontana, about 50 miles from the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles. Los Angeles is a city that tends to attract divergent opinions. To some it’s the embodiment of the worst excesses of the contemporary American city, a cesspit of precious entertainment egos, decaying social infrastructure and a scene of environment degradation that will never be rectified. To others, it’s a place where anything is possible, where the near-perfect climate is a metaphor for the city’s ability to welcome all comers, and to make a star out of anyone. For Vennum, Los Angeles is “like any other city – it has its good and bad parts,” he says.
The Bellrays often portray themselves as a collective, an homogenous, harmonious outfit on a quest to preach the virtues of the rock’n’roll form. The flip side of a solid collective spirit, however, can often be a practical difficulty in determining the collective’s unified focus. Vennum acknowledges that there are times when there are internal disagreements on the band’s future direction, but that such disagreements are rarely insurmountable.
“Oh yeah, any time you get four people in a room trying to do one thing you can get differences of opinion,” Vennum says. “But hopefully all of the people are all willing to work it out”. In the case of The Bellrays, embarking on a new course can occasionally be the source of friction.
“With us it’s all about trying new things,” Vennum says. “It can cause problems because every now and again there’s something someone’s wedded to, but you try and work around it,” he says.
Having been together for so long, do you think you’re better at getting around any differences of opinion? “Yeah, I think so,” Vennum replies.
Vennum refers to the recording of the band’s 2006 album, "Have A Little Faith", as an example where the band’s collective spirit prevailed after initial divergent views. But "Have A Little Faith" wasn’t only significant for that aspect. "Have A Little Faith" has been described as The Bellrays’ ‘crossover’ album, when the band’s popular acclaim finally escaped from the shadow of cult interest. Rather than attribute this broadening of appeal to the music industry finally waking up to the potency of The Bellrays’ attack, Vennum says it was the band that made some fundamental changes to its approach.
“Early on in our career we were much more ‘us against the world’,” Vennum says. “No-one really knew where to put us. After a while you find people who are on your side and who want to help you – that was the biggest thing that happened to us,” he says. Vennum says that it was the band that accomodated the industry, not the other way around.
“I kind of think we bent more than the industry did,” Vennum says. “From our perspective I wanted that record to be smoother compared to the earlier albums, where we had pushed to be more out there,” he says.
Vennum says the major change with The Bellrays’ new album, Hard, Sweet and Sticky, was to consciously allow greater external influence on the writing and recording process.
“Have A Little Faith was very much my album,” Vennum says.. “There’s a lot of me about that record. With this one we let other people in to help and to contribute to the album”. At the beginning of the recording process the band walked into the studio with about 35 songs.
“Then we said, ‘OK, which ones do you like?’,” Vennum says. Vennum invokes a sporting metaphor to describe the positive effect of such outside assistance. “It’s a bit more like an All Star game when the fans get to pick who’s playing,” he laughs.
While The Bellrays have set a cracking touring pace for much of its career – there was a time about three years ago when it seemed the band’s European touring commitments would prevent it coming to Australia – The Bellrays spent much of the latter part of 2007 in California recording Hard, Sweet and Sticky.
“We like touring – you’ve got to get out there and take the music to people,” Vennum says. Playing in different locations, and enjoyng new cultural experiences is part of the fun – as is seeing how different cities and towns respond to The Bellrays’ shtick.
“To some degree the different type of reaction depends on the times,” Vennum says.
“When we first started touring the first place we went to was eastern Europe. We’d play Hamburg then East Berlin and there was a huge difference, even though there was only 300 miles between them. At that time the people in East Germany were responding to what was happening it – some times you go to places and the fun seems to have gone,” Vennum says.
Friday 14th March: Sydney, Metro Theatre
Tickets $36.50 + bf available from feelpresents.oztix.com.au the Metro Theatre Box Office on 9550 3666 or online from:
www.metrotheatre.com.au
Saturday 15th March: Perth, West Coast Blues & Roots Festival
On sale now!
Tuesday 18th March: Melbourne, Corner Hotel
Tickets $36.50 + bf available online from feelpresents.oztix.com.au and www.cornerhotel.com . Also available from the Corner Hotel box office. Phone bookings: 03-9427-9198.
Wednesday 19th March: Adelaide, Fowlers Live!
Tickets $28.00 + bf available online from feelpresents.oztix.com.au, www.fowlerslive.com.au or www.venuetix.com.au . Also Venuetix phone charge: (08) 8225 8888 and and all CIB outlets - phone charge: (08) 8231 0824
Thursday 20th: Brisbane, The Zoo
Tickets $33.00 + bf. Available online from: feelpresents.oztix.com.au, www.thezoo.com.au. Also Rocking Horse Record store.
Monday 23rd: Byron Bay, East Coast Blues & Roots Festival.
On sale now!
