Monday, 28 November 2011
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Band Round Up... Bo Ningen, Blue On Blue
Record launches over the last few weeks....
The amazing Bo Ningen topped the bill for the release of their latest single Henkan/ Jinsei Ichidokiri on Stolen Recordings at Camp basement on the 26th of October. Flinging their long locks with compulsive flair Bo Ningen create a psychedelic trauma with their experimental and artistic sound.
(Supporting them Blood Music, watch out for more on them - currently recording with Tim Burgess.)
Blue On Blue gave it up at an instore launch at Rough Trade off Brick Lane this week. Dee Sada and Billy Trivial create an atmospheric ambience of electronica and guitar. Smoothly wafting into ethereal vocal lines they are releasing a self titled EP on Tip Top Recordings.
On the new band front Blue On Blue stand out as a force gently easing their way into a music neiché of their own, for the past year and a half they've been striking a chord with a devoted bunch of followers... Core members Dee Sada, Billy Trivial have set up a calming dimension of music making that is as apt for both introspective moments as it is for a soundtrack to reflect on wilder times. Dee Sada says, 'From a writing perspective it's pretty self-focused and I only write about what I think will help ease issues on my mind or help me come to terms with things. So I have a personal audience of one.'
They talk about and have a concienous streak to the way they relate to the intrcocies of life's up and downs, Billy's approach also takes on a personal slant, 'There's a quote in Slapstick by Kurt Vonnegut about how every successful artist creates with an audience of one in mind, and I think he's absolutely right in saying that. For me, it's one or two very close friends who's opinion and integrity I fully respect. I've never thought of an audience beyond that and I don't think it's healthy to.'
Dee started out initially in Experiment On A Bird In An Air Pump, the overlap came in August 09, when she considered forming Blue On Blue as a side project, she explains, 'I was sick as a dog for 6 weeks and wanted to document what I believed to be the last songs I would ever write as I thought I wouldn't live to see the end of the illness. Most of these songs were bedroom demos from my death-bed.' Meanwhile Billy had been experimenting with his own solo endevours both bumping into each other on the London circuit. Dee continues, 'Billy came to the fold in January 2010 and then we became a live band, at the time we had drummers (Mark Abbot and when he left, Samir Eskanda from Flats). Billy and I really wanted to delve into a true musical journey so we decided to continue as a duo and mix in layers of sounds both natural and electronic.'
The thoughtful conviction Dee and Billy have to Blue On Blue is apparent, when you see them play live they're not in your face, they seep into your subconcouness in very subtle style creating moods without being stropy. Dee says, 'I bring the bleakness and Billy brings the hope to our music. So we are somewhere in between heaven and hell; a constant state of purgatory.' It's a good balance, honest and reflective, infact true to life, Billy goes on to add, 'So many bands get stuck in having what they think is a 'mood' - and then end up churning out the same shit album after album. What's the point in saying 'we're a happy sunshine pop band' or something like that - when you end up excluding 95% of human emotion from your work. Its a creative constriction of the worst kind. No person is always sad, or angry, or ecstatic - and neither should any honest band.' They write from the heart, lyrically Dee takes a personal stance spilling her heart out, 'From a songwriting perspective, it's usually about myself and my life experiences. Unfortunately human nature tends to focus on the unforgivable so I tend to write about people that have been in my life and the madness and sadness that continues to haunt me. It's meant to be a therapeutic process but lately I've realised that each time I perform these songs, it takes me right back to the emotional place when I wrote them; the place I am so desperate to forget and run away from. So in fact, these songs are more like constant thorns in my side that are screaming to get out.' Billy backs up Dee's thoughts, his musicality compliments the set up, 'When it comes to writing for me, the most powerful songs come out of intensely personal experiences. I tend to be able to hold simultaneous conflicting viewpoints, which also comes out in the music.'
More recently they've supported The Charlatans which to all intents and purposes seems to have given Blue On Blue the impetous to become even more prolific, 'That was probably the most diverse crowd we've ever played to. It was a challenge as their fans all thought we were 'scary' and 'depressing' but we really enjoy playing out of our comfort zone. The fact that songs written in your bedroom are now making some kind of impact on people continues to fascinate me.' In a sense their taking things as they come, there's no strict agenda or expectation, Billy explains, 'Thinking about stuff like that waters down music, and the pure intention of creativity. If we ever thought at any point that we had to have a particular drum sound to be played in clubs, or be compressed to fuck so it sounds good on radio, we'd be doing our work a great disservice.' The dreamlike quality they expel is at once captivating, soundwaves that envelope you, Dee Sada's softly sung vocal style comes from her utter conviction, 'Most of my songs have come out of hazy states of numbness so I think the dreamlike quality is intrinsic to the style of the song rather than just the production.' I think the sounds we tend to gravitate towards are quite blurry, or smudged. I've always thought of our music as quite painterly in some ways. Having said that, in our most recent stuff there's a lot of precision - completely untreated analogue drum machines. I think Dee's voice is very ethereal as well, so maybe that has a lot to do with it.'
Blue On Blue are releasing an EP on Tip Top records and Tim Burgess from The Charlatans having produced some of their tracks which will be released on his Oh Genesis label.
Princess Julia
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