Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: we’re both from Chicago and have always been in love with music. I don’t think either of us have ever thought about doing anything else!
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: All the music we listen to while driving has been other bands we’ve shared the stage with.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences, and why the name ‘Bellhead’?
A: Bowie.
Duran Duran was already taken, so that was the next best thing 🙂
Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new EP, ‘Good Intentions’? How did your creative process differ from your previous releases?
A: I pulled the name “Good Intentions” from our song “Unicorn Bones” lyrics “Like good intentions with broken glass She turned from pale to blue as death came so fast”. I enjoy the duality of “Good Intentions” being honest or potentially being more sinister.
Q: The EP covers a range of subject matter, from stalkers to sirens at sea. Can you speak about the themes explored on ‘Good Intentions’ and what drew you to these topics?
A: I like unreliable narrators. When there is a soul 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?
Q: What do you hope listeners take away from ‘Good Intentions’, and what message do you hope to convey through your music?
A: We always enjoy the listeners to come up with their own thoughts on what the music is about to them.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: We enjoy making music and sharing it with whomever listen. Of course everyone always hopes for more successes, but we’re happy with what we are doing and working at a pace that engages with the audience.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do you usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: 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. 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: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Everyone has horror stories, bad shows, stolen gear, broken down cars, shady people who steal money… I think the most difficult thing for us was how to stay relevant during the pandemic. We lost 2 years of being able to play shows and see people. We navigated it the best we could, keeping our heads down and continuing to work.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: It doesn’t seem like much, but putting out ‘IWD4U’- our Price cover, was a long time coming and a labor of love. We hit a lot of roadblocks with that release so when it finally was released into the world we were so happy. It was a passion project and the audience has been wonderful in their reaction.
