Bumblebeez Interview

Probing questions with this Aussie group

Aussie group Bumblebeez have been creating a buzz (sorry!) in discotheques around the world with their blend of hip hop and rock. Amongst the most insane works of genius to pass through the Clash stereo in a while, debut album “Prince Umberto And The Sister Of Ill” is due out on April 28th.

Clashmusic.com caught up with the band to discover what’s its like to be in one of the dance world’s most talked about acts…

People usually consider OZ an isolated place musically, is there any truth in that and if so is it a help to create music as unique as yours?

Geographically it’s definitely isolated

Geographically it’s definitely isolated. But these days, no I don’t think it’s musically or culturally isolated at all. So long as you have internet access you can be as relevant on Ayres Rock or in Timbuktu as you can be in New York or London, it doesn’t matter where you are physically, it’s more where you head is at. However I guess being stuck in a country town with not a lot to do sorta forced me to look inside myself to come up with the most unique art I could imagine and what comes out is just a reflection of that.

It seems that there is a bit of a scene brewing, are there any other Oz ‘dance’ acts we should be listening out for? (Muscles?)

From Australia? There’s heaps of stuff… Cut Copy, The Presets, Soft Tigers,…..

Have you any experience of the UK’s Nu Ravescene? (Klaxons, New Young Pony Club, Shitdisco) Do you feel any kinship with that sound?

I feel like there’s a distant musical relationship with the Klaxons. James Ford came out to help me with my record & spent a month or so down in Braidwood with me, so there will always be that connection. I also really like the Klaxons guys and would consider them friends, but musically I don’t think we’re similar to any of those acts at all really.

How do you find working with a family member? Is it easier to communicate? Do you have a shorthand for things? or is it a total nightmare!

It’s only a problem when she gets pregnant! The rest of the time it’s the best of times and the worst of times. We bitch and fight like any brother and sister but at the end of the day no one understands us like each other, so it works out ok. Plus she’s amazing on the mic…..

When you’re making music are you thinking about the accompanying visuals or is that a separate process? Does the music inspire your art or vice versa?

Music is just a medium that I use on one given day, on another it could be sculpture, or I’ll do a drawing or I’ll write a poem…..art’s very similar to music in that it’s a about a whole feeling you get when you’re creating, and trying to capture that feeling or moment and then move onto a new one….

You had a recent exhibiton of your work in London, a proud moment?

Music is just a medium that I use on one given day

Yeah that was cool, that made me proud, definitely.

How did you hook up with your producer James Ford?

I don’t know, it’s just one of those things. I got asked did I want to work with him & I said yeah, great. I guess we we’re looking for someone who was cool to work with, someone who knew their stuff and would be easy to get along with. I had a conversation with him and got on really well with him, I liked the stuff he did with Simian Mobile Disco & he liked the Bumblebeez sound & I dunno, we just talked & it sounded alright & he came to my house to work and Bob’s your uncle, we got a record out.

Chris is known for his ‘one mic, one take’ approach to recording, how does that work given your music is in a genre usually programmed and carefully produced?

With that it’s mostly referring to live stuff. Programming can take a couple of goes to get right, but when you’re recording a live song, or adding a live drum kit or guitar part to something, it gives it a feeling of liveness and that’s hard to recreate. The more you labour over those things the further away you get from the feeling you were trying to capture.

Chris has been creating music since he was 13? Do you have any plans for those years of demos? An archive on your website maybe, or do you consider them dead ends on the route to your current position?

I’d like to make a copy of it. There’s stacks of it all around the place on various different computers, CD’s, cassettes, hard drives, in all different states of completion. One day I plan to make it more organised, have it all on a CD, release the lost tapes kind of deal. People will definitely get to hear them, just a matter of when and how…..

I can only imagine the Bumblebeez live experience, how does it go down?

A party I guess. It’s all about trying to capture some sense of crazy energy and chaos, and I think we usually do that cause we don’t usually even know whats gonna happen…

Download an exclusive Bumblebeez remix – Pump Up The Bass (Ed Rec Allstars Dirty Dirty Mix) – here.

-
Join the Clash mailing list for up to the minute music, fashion and film news.