1. Growing Up
Music was like a running tap in our house, always on! Of Irish descent, we grew up spending our family occasions sitting around tables singing, playing instruments and drinking whisky. Singing in harmony came only second to walking. Every Saturday was ‘The King’s Day’. We’d sit around with Dad and watch Elvis movies. Music was never forced on us; it was just something we all did as a family. There is no doubt that we were affected by these experiences, both good and bad!
2. Inspirations
This is the hardest question in the world, next to ‘What style of music do you write?’ So many different artists have influenced us. I grew up listening to classic records from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s; mainly storyteller folk artists were high on the menu, followed by some blues and rock. Artists such as Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac and Neil Young are some of my early key influences.
3. Your Band
The core of the band is my brother Matty and I. We write and compose the songs and try to manage the business as best we can as independent artists. Having grown up with one another and spent almost a decade together writing and recording music there’s a familiarity of trust and support when it comes to workshopping ideas and arrangements.
However, onstage, Belle Roscoe is actually a six-piece band – although our musicians rotate depending on the country we are in. We recorded the second album with Belgian musicians and have a French band for our European tours. We also have a band in Australia and are really looking forward to touring with these guys at the end of the month.
4. The Music You Make
For this new album, we decided that we would ensure 90 per cent of the tracks were written and recorded before going into the studio. As independent artists, you try stretch the already limited buck as far as possible and one way to do this is maximise studio time and have the songs written and demoed before officially recording them.
We also decided to experience recording an album in Europe. As much as we love Australian production, we wanted to experience recording in different countries to evolve our sounds. We soon discovered Belgian producer/DJ Luuk Cox and loved his work so approached him to produce this record. We hit it off instantly and knew he would push us to our limits. Little did we know that he would have us recording between Malta, Belgium and France!
5. Music, Right Here, Right Now
I think the music business is at an extremely confused and desperate crossroads – no-one really knows which way to turn next. As a result the obstacles we have to overcome are pretty major, particularly as independent artists. It’s a constant struggle for artists to simply afford to hang in and create music.
Belle Roscoe plays Lizotte’s Sydney on Wednesday November 27 and FBi Social Thursday November 28.Boom Boomout now.
