Have A Little Faith:
An interview with The Bellrays
(all pictures by Ragephoto)
Whether you realize it or not, most of you have heard the Bellrays. Their song "Revolution Get Down" was featured in commercials all over the US for the Nissan Extera, so if you own a TV, odds are you've heard them at some point. For you channel surfers though, a little primer. The Bellrays are an ass-kicking Punk-infused Rock N Roll band with a secret weapon. That weapons name is Lisa Kekaula, who's soulful vocals bring to mind classic R&B divas like Aretha Franklin. I know what you're thinking...how do you mix punk and soul?? Well, The Bellrays do it, and they will blow your damn mind! Our Forum poster Ragephoto turned me onto the band, so when I saw the band on tour with Clutch I brought her along to talk with Lisa, guitarist Tony Fate, bassist Bob Vennum and drummer Craig Waters about the band, the music industry as a whole, and Hell...it's music fans talking about music...what more could you ask for? This is what I strive for with every interview we do, but its never come together quite as well as it did here. The conversation, like their music was organic, natural and free-flowing. So sit back, enjoy the conversation, and get to know The Bellrays.
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Anarchy Music: You describe your music as "maximum rock and soul". Tell everyone what that means, how you guys came together and catch us up on everything that’s gone on so far with you guys.
Lisa Kekaula (vocals)-(whispers) Everything
Anarchy Music: EVERYTHING! I didn't know you had so many records and then I went onto your site and thought MAN they have been kicking ass for awhile. Just briefly how you guys formed, that sort of thing.
Bob Vennum (bass)- Lisa and I started the band...whenever it was, '91
Lisa: Whenever it was (laughs)
Tony Fate (guitar)-It was '64, wasn't it?
Lisa: 75 years ago
Anarchy Music: (we all laugh)
Bob: I was playing guitar. Tony was in another band at the time. We were doing our own things for awhile and we were having a real hard time finding bass players and Tony's band was having a hard time staying together so we had Tony come play guitar and I played bass. We started THIS in '96, I think.
Anarchy Music: Usually when you say a band has a unique sound it's usually just completely inaccessible to average listeners. You guy are completely accessible, but you've sound like no one I've ever heard.
Lisa: You seem to get it!
Tony: Yeah, I wish radio programmers were more like you.
Anarchy Music: But at what point did you say "lets take some punky rock, and mix it with Motown"
Lisa: People ask that and it was never a concerted effort "lets mix" anything. It think one of the reasons we sound like we do is because it was a very organic process. The songs that Tony write sor the songs that Bob writes, they just sound like they do. We all come from wherever we come from musically. We've got four individuals who are contributing their piece of what they bring to it and we're not saying "oh you can do that in this band". Everything is allowed to just kind of live through songs. As long as its appropriate for the song, then its appropriate for the band So we just lead the way with the songs and I think that’s where you get that soul. It's not necessarily just a Soul music thing, its actually letting your soul in it.
Bob: It really is just mixing the playing styles, the way we play. When we're playing the punk stuff...I learned to play bass listening to everything Paul McCartney ever did. So, when I start to play something that's hard and fast, that’s my reference point. That’s what I draw from, so it's not just Dee Dee Ramone over and over and over again. That’s what Tony brings, that what Craig brings, that’s what Lisa does.
Anarchy Music: I can totally see someone who's 60 years old listening to this, and I can totally see a 20 year old college kid enjoying it as well...
Lisa: You SO get it!
Anarchy Music: Is there a typical fan that comes to the show?
Lisa: It's like you just mentioned. We've seen them as young as 11 and 8 years old coming up just excited about the music, just really fanatical about the music. And at the same time you get somebody who's 60 or older just really into what’s going on. It's wonderful!
Tony: We get people at our shows who are older sometimes in their 50's or 60's. It's weird how they all seem to say the same thing. No matter what country they are in they say..."Man, I gave up on rock n roll a long time ago...I went to see The Who in 1970, i saw Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock". And they say "Man, seeing you guys...you guys gave me faith in Rock N roll Again". It's weird how many of them say that. we hear that a lot as we go around the US and Europe. They always say the same thing. It's really bizarre.
Lisa: And they’re not saying that we sound like that music. They're never saying that. They are saying that we rekindle that faith in somebody just going out there and rocking, not trying to look like you're rocking.
Anarchy Music: Isn't it also that back then everything was so fresh and new, and since then everyone’s just been trying to be those bands, whereas you guys are just being the Bellrays. I think that that comes through.
Bob: Its weird because , like you were talking about, back then, the bands that were popular, yeah there was a hard rock band but you had this guitar player like Jimmy Page playing songs like "Hot Dog" and stuff like that. he had these things going on in the songs that they would release, and that isn’t going on today. When you hear these "Drop D" guys, they all play the same way. Even guys like Steve Howe of Yes, he's playing these country riffs through what was one of the first techno prog-rock bands. He's playing country riffs and stuff through it. I think that’s what people tend to see in what we're doing,, is we're actually using everything that we have. We actually use the influences and not just giving them lip service to them.
Lisa: And we take that new stuff. A lot of things have happened since that shit happened. Hip-Hop has come. Any rock band that acts like they haven't been influenced by that is out of their minds. It has absolutely influenced Rock- N Roll music and Soul music and everything about what’s going on in music today. I can feel it in some of the songs that Bob and Tony write, whether its a conscious effort or not, you can feel that influence. It's definitely an influence on the way I approach singing songs. Not that it's an intentional thing like "ooh, lets throw in a little Hip-Hop flavor in there". But I heard Chuck D, its in there!
Tony: Here's the thing, you're talking about the old rock bands from the 60's. A lot of the rap pioneers were born in that era. So the thing that the 60's had was, there was Pop music and later in the 60's there was Rock music. It wasn't divided at first. In the late 60's/early '70's you had Rock music over on this side and Pop music over on this side. Occasionally bands would have the sensibilities of both, like The Raspberries lets say, or Blue Oyster Cult. That whole thing got lost so Punk Rock came along again. Then they understood okay, you can make a catchy song and you can make it hard. Then later, that got watered down into the whole Pop-Punk thing, which destroyed that whole concept. But, the rap guys understood that a catchy tune, with a good hard beat, they understand that. The bands that do understood that now, we get along with real well because its a songwriting concept.
Ragephoto: What bands are you talking about specifically?
Tony: Well, there's a band in Canada called Shikasta, that I think is one of the greatest bands alive in this day and age. More people ought to know about them. There's Zen Gorilla...
Craig Waters (drums): They're not together anymore.
Tony: Yeah, that's too bad. There's a lot of bands that are doing it, and generally they don't get the recognition. Even Nirvana understood that. They could be real hard, but underneath there was that catchy tune. There's even grindcore bands that know how to do it. There's a few.
Anarchy Music: Let's talk about the new record. Have A Little Faith seems like more than just a title, it's also a mantra that you've adopted...
Lisa: Oh yes, in order to keep going.
Anarchy Music: Lets talk about that.
Lisa: For me, we needed something more. I'm not talking just about the fact that we've been the next big thing for 10 years. We hear that all the time. When you're with people this long, you come to a point where you’re at a crossroads and you just need to make sure that alright, am I really sure I'm doing what I need to be doing? I know for sure that I was at that crossroads just wondering if this is where I was actually supposed to be. So, it was definitely a leap of faith for me, this last record. It's been proving to be one of the best returns on an investment, emotionally, that I've ever had.
Anarchy Music: Was it a hard record to make?
Lisa: For me it was. I don't know about everybody else but for me it was.
Tony: They're all hard to make.
Ragephoto: What got you through that period of not being sure if this is the right thing for you? What got you back to having a little faith?
Lisa: Part of it was just not trying to control it. Just saying "alright, this might fall to pieces, and so be it". "Let it fall to pieces". I don’t have to try to hold this together anymore. And it's an ongoing process. It could still just fall to pieces at any moment.
Ragephoto: But that mindset that it's okay gives you the freedom to keep going.
Lisa: Yes it does. It really does. What did that girl say last night? "I put down that big old heavy sack of flour and left it at the bottom of the stairs". She's like "oh, that/s a lot lighter", so that makes it a lot easier.
Craig: Not having to carry shit you don't have to carry
Lisa: It don't belong.
Anarchy Music: Bob, you're a little more well known overseas than you are here. Tell me about the difference in the music press over there as opposed to here. Is it more open to new and different stuff?
Tony: Yes, they appreciate artistry and here they appreciate record sales.
Bob: Art for arts sake is more of a thing. The education system over there pays a lot more attention to art in general and creativity holds a higher standing over there.
Craig: A lot of things do, history...
Bob: Yeah, and they've had so much more practice at it I guess. I dont know if the American thing is just "I don't have to pay attention to that". "Lets go over here now". I don't know if we're more well known over there, I think it just happened faster. They seem to get ita little bit more.
Ragephoto: The press seems to like you a little bit better than they do over there...
Lisa: That's because they recognize us. (laughs) Because there are really good people who have been holding the torch for The Bellrays for years. It can only go so far. I think the geography of it has something to do with it. The United States is such a BIG place. If you get big in France you gotta travel a lot less, or any of those other areas you can have a country=wide spread and it really makes a difference.
It's a two hour train ride to the next show.
Lisa: That’s why so few bands come from over there to break in over in the states, because it doesn’t work that way. It's pretty amazing that we've been able to keep going in the United States the way that we have without having anything big or any record labels to give tour support or do any of this stuff. We've been able to do all this on our own for all these years.
Ragephoto: Where do you find your support? As in people or areas.
Lisa: That’d be real hard to pinpoint to one specific area. the west has been good. the east coast has been good. There’s just different pockets.
Craig: Canada is real strong
Ragephoto: More like the European countries?
Craig: Yeah, real receptive audience.
Lisa: (in a fake British accent) They like to rock!
Craig: Really energetic and enthusiastic.
Bob: And they seem to be ready to let go easier than Americans. You don't see a lot of crossed arms at rock shows or shows in general.
Lisa: The Bellrays are the kind of band where you kind of have to make up your mind. You really can't sit on the fence with us. That’s before we even open our mouths. Just the whole idea of us is such a controversial idea, without it really needing to be. It doesn’t need to be. I don't understand that, but you have to make up your mind long before we do anything.
Anarchy Music: You did get on tv recently, on the Late, Late Show. How did that go and what was the reaction? Did you get a big increase in hits on the website the next day?
Craig: I think so!
Bob: I think it went real well. The publisher, the record label, and the publicist worked that out for us.
Anarchy Music: Did you find that there was a immediate reaction from new fans?
Tony: We got emailed probably 15 copies of the Youtube link
Craig: And we got this huge boost at Myspace. We always like to get more plays and stuff.
Ragephoto: Myspace and Youtube are good indications these days.
Bob: Plus, its got in our DNA now.
Tony: Yeah, Youtube is bigger than MTV
Lisa: It should! There's more music on it than MTV!
Anarchy Music: You can find anything on Youtube. There's videos that MTV wouldn't touch that so many people want to see.
Ragephoto: Its amazing that a video can have 13,000 hits on it.
Anarchy Music: Meanwhile they say no one wants to see that video. SOMEBODY wants to see that video, and I guarantee its not one guy watching it 13,000 times. Those are OTHER sites.
(everyone laughs)
Craig: Exactly, you’re reading my mind. I was that guy.
Lisa: We're at a time when you get to see everything get born and then become a dinosaur. And its hard for somebody when they realize that you're that dinosaur. It's hard for MTV to realize. It's hard for the record labels to realize that their time is coming to an end.
Craig: (in his worst evil mastermind impression) The walls are crumbling
Lisa: Unfortunately we're all caught up in it. everybody that's in a band is caught up in it, but as long as you can keep doing what you're doing and get you're stuff out there.
Ragephoto: You're not making money off of Youtube, except that it gets people to come to the shows.
Craig: And that's where the markets changing.
Lisa: And the audience is changing too. I pray for audiences all the time. I pray that they keep the faith and that they learn how important it is to be in your show. In that thing that you just paid money for. Because, if you don't learn how to do that, then you’re not going to get anything from it and you’re going to dumb yourself down. You won't even get a chance to enjoy what it is that you think that you're enjoying right now. We see so many shows where people are just kinda half there. You paid 25 bucks and your half there? What’s wrong with you?
Bob: That’s how a lot of people live their lives these days.
Lisa: You pay 5 bucks and you're half there, what’s wrong with you? You spent time and money to get here. Quit standing there with your arms crossed like somebody’s supposed to come and unfold them for you. What’s up with that?
Bob: looking at the next guy, "oh, does HE think its cool"?
Anarchy Music: God bless the first guy to go off at a concert.
Tony: There's always a Fonz in every gang
Lisa: They should make up their own minds about what they liked and what they didn't like.
Tony: We've played shows where the opening band is some really good band and I've walked out and there's this 20 foot gap between the band and the people. So I just walk down and stand right down in front and like two minutes later everybody's there. Why did I have to do this? I don't have a key!
Craig: It's the same thing on a dance floor. Its always empty until one fool walks out there and starts flopping around, then oh, now its okay to let go.
Anarchy Music: Because you're not going to look as ridiculous as that guy.
Lisa: People need to realize, aint nobody lookin at you!
Bob: I was at a show really recently and someone pointed and says "look at that girl". And there's this girl just going off and having a great time and she’s jumping around and everybody was looking at her and laughing and I'm like "You know, you should all be ashamed of yourselves because you should all be having as great a time as she’s having".
Lisa: Exactly!
Bob: If we could have 2,000 people doing THAT then we'd have a great show!
Lisa: She aint the freak. You are because you can't do it.
Bob: Okay, next thing...your song "Revolution Get Down" was in a commercial for the Nissan Extera...did you all get free cars?
Lisa: They tried that!
Tony: They wanted to pay us...they wanted to give us each a Nissan Extera.
Craig: No, ONE
Lisa: They wanted to give us one to split between the 4 of us.
Tony: oh, I didn’t know that. I thought they wanted to give us four.
Craig: No, it was one
Lisa: Are you kidding? If they wanted to give us four I'd have said "Yeah, we'll do that!". Sell three of those bitches!
Craig: I get the steering wheel! I get the speakers!
Tony: I'll take the tires, i can sell them.
Anarchy Music: Just to know who's in charge here, who gets it on the weekends?
(everybody laughs)
Was that another case of some advertising guy being a fan?
Bob: Initially it was them being fans and then our publisher sold it to their bosses. They were fans beforehand.
Lisa: They were trying to get something of ours for the longest time. Revolution Get Down had been up for so much stuff and got bumped every time. They tried to get the stones for this one scene in Nip/Tuck and the Stones said "minimum, we gotta have this much money". So they said "okay, we found this song, we want to use that". then all of a sudden when we said "yeah" all of a sudden the Stones okay we'll do it for that much. We have been cockblocked by so many people it aint even funny.
Anarchy Music: Damn, when you're cockblocked by Jagger!
Bob: The Stones have a big cock.
Lisa: Overlay on the underlay, to quote Mr. Andre Williams..
Bob: I hear a lot of people saying that The Stones or whoever sold out for doing commercials, but it's gotta be damn good to be known as the band from the commercial right?
Lisa: Last time I checked, I didn’t see none of those people going to buy groceries for me.
Bob: Don't you know that you make money in this business you're a sell-out?
Anarchy Music: Your cds are supposed to be free, you're never supposed to be on the radio.
Lisa: Back in the day, it was a little different. You had a thing called artist development. You had labels to put money out there to keep your bands alive. That is a thing of the past. That don't happen anymore. A bands gotta live. So, you see a lot more bands try to get that kind of exploitation, because that kind of exploitation gets your music heard.
Tony: And, they're exploiting YOUR music. It's actually the song the band recorded and their using it to sell. They're not going to the band and saying "yeah, we like the song, but can you sing 'buy our soap'". It's not like that.
Anarchy Music: It's not "Revolution Nissan"
Craig: Or "Extera Get Down"
Anarchy Music: Although that is an option for future remixes! Keep that in mind!
This tour to me seems like a dream tour. Clutch fans are so open-minded because Clutch is such a diverse band. So, to me this is about as perfect of a fit for you guys as I can imagine.
Lisa: If last night is any indication, it absolutely is. We had one of the best times. In one of the smallest clubs I've ever been in, but that crowd was... I told them, I said "I was not ready for YOU". I was not ready for these people. I LOVE these people. GOD BLESS Clutch for letting us open for them.
Tony: It wasn't at all like what we were talking about before with people standing 20 feet back and standing with their arms crossed.
Lisa: Oh, they were GREAT!
Anarchy Music: That's one thing you can say about their fans is they absolutely LOVE their Rock N Roll, and hopefully there'll be a lot of people turned onto you guys through the tour.
Lisa: Usually you've gotta pump people up. You don't have to do that with these people, if last night is any indication. I didn’t have to do that. I had to change my whole game plan! I had to for these Clutch people, and I'm glad to do that.
Anarchy Music: Lets talk about the live show. Rage sent me the link and other people have been saying "You've never heard of the Bellrays?". Everyone says I need to check you out live, because when you do, you're gonna be dancing, and let me tell you something...MY WHITE ASS CAN'T DANCE! everyone says that the live show will turn you into a fan. lets talk about the energy and what goes into that. You give 100% right?
Lisa: And then some. And try to give more. if there’s a way to put percentage factor up.
Ragephoto: Up to eleven
Lisa: Onto fuckin TWELVE!
Anarchy Music: (in my HORRIBLE British accent) Ours goes to twelve.
Lisa: that's the best way to describe it because there's really no way to describe it. We try to push ourselves harder, all the time.
Bob: That’s our fun time. That’s our time to let go. Anytime you get to play, whether its practice or whatever, that’s the time to open up and have fun.
Craig: That’s why i started doing it. That’s why i want to make sure I still do it that way., and not lose that reason you started playing to begin with.
Anarchy Music: I think was a quote of Tony’s where you said it was like a communal thing. You feed off the audience, they feed off of you, that kind of thing.
Tony: Yeah, its not TV. Some audiences, they want to go up there, stand there, and act like they're looking at a giant television. You're supposed to jump around and act goofy and then they go get a drink. But it's not that way with us. If you meet something half way. It's like looking at a painting. lets say you’re looking at a big abstract painting and you can't figure this thing out. What is this guy doing? He's just throwing paint around. If you meet it half way you will understand what he's doing.. if you don't, if you just stand there and stare at it like you’re looking at a television, you will NOT get that painting. Music, to me is on the same plane as good painting or good film-making. You've got to meet it half way. You've got to put yourself in the place of what you're looking at. By the same token, we put ourselves in the same place of the audience. when we go see bands, i expect them to be bigger than life. i don’t care who they are. I don’t care if its one guy sitting on a stool with a banjo. i want him to be bigger than life. i want him to look like he's twelve feet tall. i want to walk out of that show thinking I just saw the greatest thing I've ever seen in my whole life. Every show!
Anarchy Music: Oh yeah, Rage wanted to know about the side projects Lisa had done before
Ragephoto: Oh yeah, the MC5, absolutely!
Anarchy Music: Was there more coming up or are you focusing on The Bellrays?
Lisa: There's always stuff coming up, but you never really know until its out that its coming up. Because you always just throw stuff out there, and its kind of bad to mention what they are if you're stuff doesnt eventually come out.
Ragephoto: But you do have some things that youre looking at?
Lisa: Yeah, you've always got differnet things that are coming out. The main thing is always The Bellrays but its always just nice to have that kind of stuff.
Ragephoto: What do the other guys do while you're running through Europe with the MC5?
Tony: I try to find something to do.
Craig: Playing music, all over the place.
Bob: Mixing the album
Ragephoto: You were working!
Lisa: usually when i do something like that its when we've got some down time then I'm able to go do something. it doesnt usually work in reverse.
Ragephoto: How did the MC5 come about?
Lisa: We actually got to do a show with them when they first got everything back together. i think it was early in the summer, we got to do a show with them. And then mid-way through that tour, in Australia, Evan Dando fell out of it. On that show we did with them I had done "Human Being Lawn Mower" with them and I was just kind fo called up in an emergency thing because I was already going to be in England to do some Basement Jaxx shows. I was already going to be over there, so they said "since youre going to be there maybe you can come and do these shows". And then they said "maybe you can just finish the rest tour". it was really a surprise, help somebody out and it really worked. It was really cool but i feel into it.
Anarchy Music: Whats the plan now? To just kick ass all over the world for the next few years?
Lisa: All of the above
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The snobby music press can have their canned, detatched interviews all they want..THIS is how i want our interviews to be! I think that by showing the personalities of the bandmembers you get a better understanding and appreciation for who they are, and a better appreciation for what they do. The Bellrays understand the synergistic relationship between fans and bands as well as any other group I've ever come across, and I think that shows in the interview, and in their music. I'd like to thank the band, their staff, and of course, our Fourm poster ragephoto for taking part in this.
be sure to check out their website TheBellrays.com
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