Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: Karen – I was an awkward kid who grew up in the 80’s on Star Wars, Flintstones’ Vitamins, and Kiss. I never fit in with any particular groups in school and ended up being lumped into “goth” because I used to paint my nails black with sharpies during class. Classmates would call me a “freak” and I ended up hanging out with others like me. Once you’re labelled as a pariah you tend to just lean into it. I was never going to make pretty music for pretty people.
Ivan – Past Ivan listened to “Stray Cat Strut” over and over. I was obsessing over music. How it worked, where the sounds came from, the formats, the packaging, all of it. It has been ever present in my life as far back as I can remember. Reading comic books turned into a lesson in graphic design. The vocabulary words became descriptors for songs. Everything I absorbed would eventually inform future songs, song ideas, artwork, stage shows, outfits, etc.
Q: Can you describe the musical style of Bellhead in three words?
A: SEX DRUGS AMPUTATION
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: Karen – our fans are very important to us. Without them we would not be able to tour successfully. Our business decisions are always made with our fans, our customers as our #1 priority. We keep our merchandise costs low at the live shows so that’s it at an affordable price point. We only use high-quality products like bella+canvas for shirts so that things last, and people will want our shirts. When bandcamp physical purchases are made, we send everything out with extra goodies, personalized notes, etc.
A few years ago we reached out to our fans asking what cover, if any, we should do if we did a Bauhaus song and they helped us identify “Sanity Assassin” – which is a favorite of our releases.
Q: You have just released your new EP, ‘Threats’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Ivan – We are really proud of this release. Musically it shows a lot of growth from the two of us, and we really tried to come up with something fresh. We went through personal losses that resulted in emotional outbursts. Mourning has a way with word and song. The record is not about death. It’s not that one dimensional. Death, she is the progenitor of the work. We hope everyone enjoys it as much as we enjoyed writing and recording it.
Q: What is your favorite track from the EP and why?
A: Ivan- “Threats”. It was the last song we finished for the EP and the most exciting for us. A bit of a race against the clock but we knew we had something special. I was writing lyrics on motel stationary and reworking verses lyrics while driving trying to get everything just right. The song is a whole movie told in just over four minutes. I think it’s one of my favorite songs to-date we have put out. You get a real understanding of the character, the environment and the emotional stakes all with enough room that you the listener can interpret the finer details to fit your world.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the EP, “Threats”?
A: Karen – The song ‘Threats’ really embodies how Ivan and I work and write together. Ivan came up with a solid chorus-style riff and arrangement, but got stuck on some of the other parts to pull it all together and he tossed it over to me. I filled in the blanks and sent it back. I think it’s one of my favorite songs to-date we have put out.
For this release we wanted to lean into a different direction. We did a fantastic photo shoot with Fleurette Estes, and once we got the images back, we were “why not” and decided to lead with our faces this time. It’s good to be able to see the face of your opponent.
We’ve worked with the same production team for all of our releases. Neil Strauch is the wizard behind the board, and Carl Saff takes care of mastering.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for Bellhead so far?
A: Karen – I like to be cheeky and say “all of them, but honestly, we find fun in every single show we do. Sure, the bigger events like opening for Stabbing Westward or Clan of Xymox are spectacular, but every show is a fond memory.
Particularly, I’ll say the show this weekend in Minneapolis was off the rails. We haven’t been in Minnesota since 2022, and were welcomed back in a packed house at a terrific venue. Currently, on this tour we are playing our cover of Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” and I was REAL nervous going to play that song in his hometown. Thank goodness the crowd appreciated it.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: Ivan – “Knife” was the first song we wrote the first day we got together in the rehearsal space in real time just riffing ideas. We proved to ourselves it was going to work. “Runaway” was the first song I got Karen to sing co-lead on so we could get to “Unicorn Bones”. “Unicorn Bones” is the pirate flag on the ghost ship of BELLHEAD. When I told Karen “I’m working on a song that rhymes necromancer and topless dancer” and she said “why am I just hearing about this now?!?!” Co-lead vocals trading lines back and forth while the basses interplay. We set the template and broke our own mold at the same time.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Bellhead’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: Ivan – It’s a lot like throwing a medicine ball back and forth. Songs start out small like a bar of soap. Sometimes Karen sends me a bass line and I get it up on trucks and show it to her. Other times I take a riff I liked from sound check and build it out for Karen to review. Once we have determined we have something we are enthusiastic about we rehearse it adding intros & outros, structuring breaks and the like. I’ll take it home, finalize the drums, and add some production if the song suggests it, such as piano or atmospheric sounds.
Finally lyrics that I have hopefully already started or am now pulling together from bits of scribbles I fancy fit the mood of the song. If you listen close to a song it will tell you the words. I like unreliable narrators. When there is a sole survivor of a shipwreck, do you take him at his word? I wanted to go all in on song lyrics that were open to interpretation. Are the intentions truly good or is there something else unseen?
Now the rubber meets the road. We rehearse it, and rehearse it, and rehearse it. a couple words will get changed, a bass sound will get polished, sometimes we find a section needs to repeat or be shortened. I would wager all our songs take around the same amount of time to write as it’s a process of living with the song and seeing how excited it makes us. If we lose enthusiasm and can’t get it back the song goes in the bin. You can fake a lot of things but you can’t fake enthusiasm. I can honestly say we truly enjoy our songs and are excited to play them at every show.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for Bellhead, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: Goal – First Band on the Moon
BELLHEAD 2025 Tour
4/24 Rose Bowl Tavern – Urbana, IL – Bat Factory
4/25 Art Sanctuary – Louisville, KY w/ Radio Arcane DJs
4/26 Spectrum Record Lounge – Cape Girardeau, MO w/ Gary Robert and Community
4/27 Sk8bar – Kansas City, MO w/ Cables & Lace / Juliette Frost
5/03 Liar’s Club – Chicago, IL w/ Skatenigs
5/04 Falcon Bowl – Milwaukee, WI w/ Skatenigs / Choke Chain
5/10 Small’s – Hamtramck, MI – Fixatiton 2025
5/30 Chicago Steampunk Expo 2025
Message – Don’t go chasing waterfalls!
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