Entertainment Features

BIRDS OF BELLWOODS: Canadian Alt Rock Takes Flight

BIRDS OF BELLWOODS: Canadian Alt Rock Takes Flight

BY DAVID DeROCCO

Canada’s oil sand production might be down, but there are still a lot more potentially lucrative products to be found bubbling up from the Canadian underground. Take BIRDS OF BELLWOODS for example. You may not have heard of this Toronto-based alt-rock quartet, but that’s probably because you listen to carefully formatted radio stations, the kind that ban “Baby It’s Cold Outside” for being too controversial. To find BIRDS OF BELLWOODS, you’d have to be someone who keeps their ear to the ground, listening in places where great new independent music flourishes, visiting clubs, attending festivals and tuning to stations that actually champion great new Canadian artists.

Of course, you can always hear them December 15th at Taps in Niagara Falls, when BIRDS OF BELLWOODS arrives to celebrate the recent release of their debut album, VICTORIA. That 10-track collection of folk-infused indie rock is rich with soaring harmonies, catchy melodies and infectious dance-hall stomper energy – an undeniably enjoyable sonic stew that deserves a place on mainstream radio. Comprised of Stephen Joffe (lead vocals/mandolin), Adrian Morningstar (guitar/vocals), Chris Blades (banjo/electric guitar/vocals), and Kintaro Akiyama (upright bass/vocals), BIRDS OF BELLWOODS deliver boisterous indie pop that should compel you immediately to the dance floor. In anticipation of their show at Taps, Kintaro took time to chat with GoBeWeekly.com.

GoBe: Congrats on the October 19th release of VICTORIA. What was the overriding emotion when you first got that initial CD or Vinyl pressing.

KINTARO: That’s an interesting question because we actually had that first CD done over a year ago. The album’s been finished for a while and we’ve been sitting on it. We finished it on our own with the help of eOne, our record label, last summer. We had pressings of it last September. That was a fantastic feeling, but then we had to sit on that album for a year. Basically as soon as we finished it we were approached by eOne. We worked out a deal with them to do the release more professionally. So I’ve still got that box of 1,000 CDs sitting in my basement. We actually just got the vinyl two days ago. There really is a sense of accomplishment getting that package.

GoBe: You guys look so young I’m surprised you know what vinyl is.

KINTARO: (laughing). As long as we look young. We’re deceiving in that way.

GoBe: So you’ve had the album for a year, and had to go through this process to finally have it released. What lesson did that teach you in your ongoing education about being part of the Canadian music scene.

KINTARO: I don’t think we have any reservations about the way we’ve done things so far. We would have liked to have put it out and then moved on to the next project. But I do think slow and steady does win the race as cliché as it is to say. There are benefits to that. As a band we want to be putting out as much music as possible and moving way faster than we should be. The music industry is changing rapidly as well so there’s a fine line between trusting the people who have been doing it all their lives and being ahead of the curve.

GoBe: You talk about slow and steady, some of the songs on the new album got their start over five years ago. When a song morphs and changes over such a long period, is the end result more satisfying or is it more an end to the frustration caused by holding onto something for so long.

KINTARO: That’s probably a good question for what we’re experiencing right now as we’re back in the writing zone. Sometimes with songs you write a little voice memo, and then you don’t look at it for maybe a year. Then you’re going through your phone or your note pad and you think, oh wow, that could be something. You maybe work on it then, or touch it up a little bit or leave it for a year and go through the process again. That’s kind of one way it happens.

GoBe: Regardless of how long songs took to write, the sound you have created on Victoria is a mature sound, kind of an indie pop folk feel. Were you all like-minded musically when you met. Or how did you get four disparate souls to gel their differences into such a cohesive sound.

KINTARO: I appreciate that you think it’s a cohesive sound (laughs). I think musically everyone does come from different backgrounds. We all do listen to different stuff. Obviously there is some overlap or the project wouldn’t make sense. The overlap is where we find interesting things, and then people stray out on their own path to bring other tastes and elements into the music. As for the Victoria sound and having that be cohesive, in my mind there’s 10 very different songs, each with their own sound. There are some songs that are more country, some are more rock, others are more electronic and then there are good old folky love songs. Within that album, trying to make those all blend together, I think at the end of the day it’s all coming from musicians with the same intentions. That is really the glue that holds it all together.

GoBe: Rather than impose the label your agents and press people might have given the sound, how do describe the sound at the heart of Birds of Bellwoods.

KINTARO: You actually described it pretty good. It’s folk indie alt pop indie alternative jam rock (laughing). I think the closest description would be alt rock right now or alt folk if you had to go into one of the pre-determined boundaries. The musical evolution is continuing. The next project is going to sound different as well. We don’t want to put ourselves in one musical corner.

GoBe: The press info describes the new album as a time-capsule for band members. What period does this capture in your evolution and what are the best and worst memories sealed up in that capsule.

KINTARO: Looking at it from a discography perspective hopefully we have a lot more in the chamber. This would be the beginning, and at the same time everyone’s getting older. We’re not kids anymore, so there’s a reflection and a turning point in this for us. It’s a landmark for us having created our first album. I’m not sure what’s in the time capsule. If you ask that question in 10 years I might have a better answer for you.

GoBe: Is the significance of the album’s title, VICTORIA, in reference to British Columbia, some woman or perhaps a Kink’s song.

KINTARO: It’s not about a girl and it’s not about B.C. The main reason is that most of the album was recorded in my house in Toronto and I live on Victoria Park. A lot of the album was conceived there, recorded there. As well, the part of the trick of the name is that it is a girl’s name, a lot of these are love songs, you can kind of interpret that any way you want to.

GoBe: I’m big on interpreting, and looking at the track listing I see you end it with “Leaving Song.” Was that done purposefully and if so what was the intent.

KINTARO: Yes, that was kind of the fun part and stressful part of getting the track listings in the right order. When we created this is wasn’t just 10 singles. We wanted to have an arc in there. And so that was kind of the perfect way to end the album. And that sound is kind of closer to where we started, and at the same time more country than anything we’ve ever done before. We wanted to leave ourselves open to future possibilities.

GoBe: Listening to the sound of the new album and seeing your tour dates included everything from NXNE to Boots and Hearts, you do skirt multiple musical genres with your music. That certainly gives the band flexibility.

KINTARO: That’s kind of in the plan. Slowly we’re honing in on exactly what we want to do, but you never really know. We’ve played a lot of venues, and there’s one quote we always talk about from this festival in Kitchener. As soon as we got off stage, someone went up to Adrian and said ‘I love when punk bands play acoustic.’ That’s back when we didn’t play with drums. We were all playing straight acoustic instruments. That was kind of a turning point. We try to bring a certain energy from that genre. I don’t really know what we’re creating, and that’s kind of the fun of it.

GoBe: When you look at what you’re creating as a musical stew, the different genres you incorporate are just the spices you’re flavouring the music with. There’s no downside to doing that.

KINTARIO: 100% that’s something we’re trying to do. We’re looking forward to exploring different flavours in the stew, and discovering what the next stew will taste like. We’ll use the same base from this one, maybe take a few scoops out of this pot and put it in the next pot just to keep some consistency there. You’ve always got to be on the hunt for new flavours.

GoBe: Well, it’s 2018. It’s really been all about the pot this year hasn’t it.

KINTARIO: Well, our album came out two days before legalization, so…

GoBe: You had a good year in 2018, over a million streams, the launch of the album, some radio airplay. Has the launch got you feeling good about what’s been accomplished or are you at that point where you realize there’s still lots of work ahead.

KINTARO: We have a lot of work to do. And that’s not to discredit any of the things we have done. But I think everything is working toward the bigger goal constantly. Songwriting, musically, everything. We had a great summer touring, we played a lot of great festivals that were landmarks for us. Moving forward we want to play bigger ones. Obviously we love Canada, but getting down to the States, getting across the pond to Europe, doing those kind of things and getting those numbers up. And writing music that means something to us always, if we keep doing that it will connect us to more people. The job’s just begun. The release of Victoria is the first step. It’s been five years leading up to the first step, now we’re learning to walk.

GoBe: All your write up speak about what a great live band you are. For fans who may have heard your music but not seen you live, what can they expect at Taps.

KINTARO: I can say that we’ve always been a live band. We played for two years without ever recording anything. We’d develop songs and then say, maybe we should record these and sell something. It’s always been a game of catch up. The live show is where we shine. It has a little bit of everything for everyone, from hard rocks to intimate four part harmonies. We try to really put it out there, doesn’t matter if it’s two people in the audience or 2,000, we try to send it in the same amount.