Uniting the sun-kissed folk-rock of the ‘70s West Coast scene with the grittier edge of modern Americana, Belle Roscoe are poised to make a big impression in 2023
1. Thanks for your time. Let’s talk about 2023, and what are your hopes for this year?
Thanks for having us!
2023… We just hope everything goes according to plan! We are really busy at the moment with the release of the new single ‘The Birds’ and preparing the follow-up releases. We just had a sold-out show in London and are looking forward to performing in the UK and Europe over the summer months…And with any luck, we are back in the studio in Tennessee working on another record with our team over there!
2. So, obviously, you’re both siblings, but when did you start writing and performing together?
In early 2002, we were travelling together (like all Aussie backpackers do at some stage) and we ran out of money. We didn’t know how to find work so some of our mates organised us to play at their house parties and do some shows in dive bars around Europe. We never imagined this would be the start of a career as we thought all families sat around the table and played music together… As soon as we started playing shows, we were hooked and decided from that moment to start writing and playing music together and see where it would take us. The journey continues!
3. How big a feature of your childhood was music and what are your early musical memories?
Music was always a huge part of our childhood. Our parents played the best of the 60s and 70s records daily and we grew up listening to our Father and the extended family making music together at Christmas and family functions. We blame our Irish heritage. As soon as the whiskey came out, so too did the guitars, harmonicas and the spoons!
4. You relocated from Melbourne to London. What have been the most life-changing aspects of that move for you?
Our childhood was spent on our grandparent’s farms and running along sandy beaches close to Melbourne so when we think of Oz we see space and sunshine – probably why a lot of our songs have an epic quality to them.
Australia is an amazing country and it was tough to leave – we miss many things including family /friends, space, sunshine and ocean! As another winter rolls on we find ourselves saying every year – this is the last winter in London!
So probably it’s the weather is the most life-changing. We didn’t even own winter coats before moving here.
Coming into a new market and somewhat starting over was interesting… The concept that you pay to play was a hard pill to swallow. We’ve toured around the world and the UK is one of the worst countries for paying musicians. It’s something we’d love to change – we believe all musicians should be paid a minimum wage for a performance, no matter if it’s a festival, a show or a house party. We’ve played on big stages at festivals like The Isle of Wight and the Secret Garden Party and never received a fee or assistance for travel or accommodation. It’s quite brutal for any artists that are still trying to break. You rely on the fans… and thankfully UK does this well!
However, its not all doom and gloom living in London ☺ We are signed to Regent Street Records and have a great manager, Jon Bosaen and can access the rest of the world more economically and efficiently than travelling from Oz! We wouldn’t be in this position if we’d stayed in Oz. Austarlian artists know that if you want ta chance at an international career, you need to leave Australia.
5. Earlier this year, you released your single “The Birds” and the video features Mojo. Can you tell us a little about Mojo who they are, what they represent?
Mojo, The Walrus is the band’s spirit animal. He materialised one night when we were on a cheeky mushroom trip. It was during a writing a session in our studio in 2019, pre-pandemic. We had been stuck on a song for days and he popped in and finished it in 5 mins for us. He’s been on the journey with us ever since.
In this video we follow Mojo the Walrus on his journey to save the earth from extinction/ global warming. Mojo must (on his own) traverse many different lands fraught with danger to plant a mystical tree in a barren land.
Along the way, Mojo passes through ruins, epic dry mountains and scorching fires that indicate to the audience the very real threat of global warming and the extinction of planet earth. His is desperate to not only save himself but save all of us – And transporting and planting the last tree of its kind is the only way he can.
It’s ultimately a song about human flight – The Birds was written about refugees fleeing their homes due to civil unrest and climate change.
Mojo is a rare bread… he’s about as cool as you get. His name says it all, but he also stands for something and he offers us hope and exists to inspire empathy and human bravery.
6. Will Mojo feature other tracks on your new EP? What kind of themes do you cover?
For as long as he wants to hang around and be involved he’s feature in everything. We have no control over him. One day he may just disappear. He has become a huge inspiration for us. He offers us hope and change – we can’t abandon our spirit animal, and we hope he does not abandon us.
So, if you are feeling down about the state of the world, just remember that Mojo, the walrus and Belle Roscoe are out there, doing their part to make things better. And if you need a little pick me up, put on the soundtrack and let the music wash over you. It may not solve the world’s problems today but hopefully it inspires some change.
7. You have a few collaborations, how did they come about?
We met Matt Ross-Spang (our producer) through Jason Isbell’s manager, Traci Thomas. We met Traci while we were writing and performing in Cuba back in 2016, we were living with what turned out to be a far to charismatic arms dealer in Havana… but that’s another story.
Before we knew it we were working with Albama Shakes engineer, Matt Ross-Spang, Jason Isbell’s band and local gospel singing legends!
The experience was just as we’d hoped it would be. We were in and out in 5 days. No computers were opened… straight to tape with a full band. It was all about capturing the live energy and going for broke. Matt Ross-Spang is a big believer in getting it on the spot and not fixing it in the mix. So, we really finessed and sculpted the sounds and just hit record. We surprised ourselves when we got a few songs on the first take.
8. Who would your ultimate collaboration be with ?
Our Gods of Rock n Roll – Elvis Presley, Prince, Janis, Bowie Hendrix and Lennon.
We’d also be thrilled to collaborate with our living legends like Bruce Springsteen, Fr John Misty, Jonathan Wilson, Brittany Howard, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and The War on Drugs… just to name a few! We have been actively trying to get Paul McCartney to do some backing vocals on a new track for us, Mojo is on his case and hasn’t let us down yet.
9. Just for fun, if you could replace the other person’s voice with a really annoying animal sound what would you choose and why?
Such a great question.
A kookaburra obviously.
10. Finally, thanks again for your time. If we had this conversation again at the end of the year, what do you hope to have ticked off your personal/Belle Roscoe to-do lists?
We really hope we are having this next conversation with you from a studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Between that we imagine that we’ve put on some great shows for the fans, made enough money so that we no longer have to gamble on the horses to reach our recording budget, collaborated with some legends and probably caved and agreed to playing on Jules Holland.
Belle Roscoe are now set to connect with a new global following, After recently playing a showcase at the Camden Club hosted by their label, Belle Roscoe headlined the Camden Assembly on March 18th.
NEW EP ‘TALKING TO THE WALRUS’ FOLLOWS LATER THIS YEAR. Find out more here
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