Melodic Machinations -Lyrically Speaking : BELLHEAD

Monday 24 April 2023

BELLHEAD

Always attracted to songs with a big bass, Ivan of the Post Punk Chicago based band BELLHEAD has endeavoured to make his bass as interesting live as on a recording. “I incorporate various pedals for dramatic effect” he explains. Striving to write original songs that have never been heard before, Ivan makes the quirky admission that “To my knowledge we are the only band to rhyme Necromancer with Topless Dancer.”

Having been friends for quite awhile, Karen the second member of the BELLHEAD duo describes how the pair actually played in the same band but at different times for awhile. Due to what Karen describes as a “series of unfortunate events” the pair ended up being bandless at the same time. “So during a Chicago blizzard, we got really drunk, passed out to “To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar”, and when we woke up we decided to form a band.” Karen explains. For Karen her greatest musical influence is David Bowie who she describes as number one and “without him there wouldn’t be me.”

When asked about the bands unique name BELLHEAD, the duo quips “As for BELLHEAD Duran Duran was already taken, so that was the next best thing.”

The duos creative process starts out small as what Ivan describes as “a bar of soap”. He goes on to say “Sometimes Karen sends me a bass line and I get it up on trucks and show it to her. Other times I take a riff I liked from sound check and build it out for Karen to review.” From this point the duo rehearse and add intros and outros, structuring breaks before Ivan finalizes drums and any production such as piano or atmospheric sounds if the song requires it.

Lyrics are the final part of the creative process for BELLHEAD and they are created using what Ivan describes as “scribbles” he feels fit the mood of the song. Ivan believes that “if you listen closely to a song it will tell you the words.” Once the lyrics are complete the duo rehearse the song extensively. Ivan explains this may result in “a couple of words will get changed, a bass sound will get polished, sometimes we find a section needs to repeat or be shortened.” Ivan says “I would wager all our songs take around the same amount of time to write as it’s a process of living with the song and seeing how excited it makes us.” Any song that the duo loses enthusiasm for is binned because the band agrees that “You can fake a lot of things but you can’t fake enthusiasm.” Songs that make it through this creative process are the songs that the band truly enjoy and have genuine enthusiasm for.

Both of the BELLHEAD duo are heavily involved in the band aesthetic with complete involvement in everything including details such as what brand of shirt they should print merchandise on. Karen illustrates that “We really make sure we have a strong aesthetic and brand that note only we enjoy, but all of the fans do as well.”

When asked about live performances Karen declares that “I would be happy on a stage the rest of my life over being in a studio recording.” Placing high importance on their fans Bellhead talk and listen to their fans and as part of this interaction Karen mentions “ Before and after every single shown you will find me at the Merch Booth because it’s important for me to engage everyone. It doesn’t matter how exhausted I am after performing on stage I’m there meeting everyone.”

“I’d like to be the first band that plays on the moon” Karen states when describing where the duo see Bellheadheading in the future.

For new listeners to the band, Bellhead would like people to know “we make crazy sounds with two basses, and we will take you on a dark and exciting musical adventure.” The band have fun on stage and enjoy fans joining in on the fun. They also promise that “We’re going to sing about some intense stuff like serial killers and snuff films but after you see us the next day you’re going to be humming our songs in your head.”