Belle & Sebastian are not only making their long awaited return to Australia in the new year, but they have a new album to boot – the much anticipated Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance, their first in five years. Ahead of its release and the tour, I spoke to drummer Richard Colburn about it, working with producer Ben H Allen, recording in Atlanta, Georgia and much more.
Are you at home at the moment Richard?
Yes I am! Sitting in my house in Glasgow, on a very wintery snowy morning. We’ve had a bit of a storm in the last couple of days. A weather bomb, it’s a weather phenomenon, where you have snow, sleet and lightning… It’s calming down now, But it’s been a bit crazy. Hopefully it’ll brighten up in the next couple of days. Winter in Northern Europe, you get used to it!
So we’re a few weeks out from the release of your new record – how are you all feeling about it now?
We’re pretty fond of it. We started off with like sixteen songs that we took to the studio and recorded, and condensed them to twelve songs. On the whole we’re very happy with it. We loved working in Atlanta with Ben (H Allen, Producer).
You’d recorded in the US before hadn’t you?
Yeah, the last two records we did in Los Angeles, we also recorded a soundtrack in New York, I did a few of my own over there as well. I love LA in particular, it’s such a music town…
Does recording in a place like LA rub off on you?
Almost definitely. We were in West Hollywood, at a fantastic studio, where Beach Boys recorded… an amazing list of artists who have recorded there. Nothing fancy, just something where people have recorded over the years. And the weather, it’s always a blue sky compared to Scotland. Definitely inspires you. No storms, no rain.
Recording at home must have its own points, too.
Recording in Glasgow definitely has its own good points… going away on the last few records has been really necessary though, because once you’re there you’re committed to it. A few of us have young families, so when you’re at home and recording, it’s easy to get distracted. You can concentrate one hundred percent when you’re away. Not easy on our partners, holding the fort while you’re away though.
Do you always pretty much have an album written before you go into the studio, or have you ever let the studio and your experience with the producer create its own material?
We usually have everything pretty much done, arrangements and stuff when we go to the studio. For Girls in Peacetime…, we purposefully left a few songs open to get Ben to contribute to them. But we don’t want to waste any time. The last three four records have been like that, we’re quite diligent.
What did Ben end up bringing to the material?
Ben has a different way of working. He comes from a Hip Hop background… he started with Puff Daddy and a few bigger hip hop acts before he went off with indie bands and other things. He has a fast way of working, and he can change things in an instant.
If you’re an engineer in a hip hop world, you’re very fast, they work very instantaneously. They’re hard on you. You get onto it straight away, and things can change very quickly. It can be surprising. There was always something happening creatively which was fantastic. It was another way of working, which you put in the bank to maybe take on board in the future, too.
How did that compare to working with (previous Producer) Tony Hoffer?
Tony was fantastic on the last few records but in a different kind of way. We’d set up all day, we’d do take after take. With Ben, we’d arrive in the morning, and he’d get us to play the songs a few times, and then we’d be done. He uses technology in a really fantastic way. Every producer brings something different to the table.
The way you record and even perform now must be so different to how you started out…
Technology in the early days, we’d tour with analogue keyboards, Hammond organs, even a Mellotron out for a while – stupidly – they’d break down all the time. The amps wouldn’t work and this and that. Then in 2001, we realised we’d have to change the way we do things. We started using different producers who embraced new technologies and we knew we’d have to replicate that live. Everything is smaller now, you can do the same thing you did 10 years ago in 1/10th of the size. We use Ableton quite a bit, especially for the synths. It’s a big help. The bigger the record, the harder it is to replicate live.
How much preparation is going into your next tour?
We’re in a big theatre in Glasgow doing pre-production for the tour right now, our keyboard player uses Ableton live, he’s fantastic, he’s been up until 3am every day trying to get the system working well, and have a suitable backup, too, should something go wrong… you have to have that on the road. Hats off to Chris!
Looking at your upcoming dates, it’s looking like this release is going to pushed harder than your last on an international level… not to mention a very welcome visit to Australia early in the cycle, plus Hong Kong and what not…
Basically, with Matador and a new management company things have stepped up a bit. We haven’t done a massive tour for a few years. So we do the Far East and the territories, and then you guys. Then we’ll do the US, UK and South America. It’s great we will be able to really settle in to everything. It used to be so sporadic. Now we can really get up and running. It will be hard on our families, but I do prefer the more comprehensive tour where we can really find out feet, get into the live rhythm…
And it will be great to see you in Australia after so long… how have your past experiences been down here?
Audiences are great in Australia, we love it there. Our old manager lives in Melbourne, and Bob’s brother lives in Manly, so we have quite a lot of connections there. We have a lot of family there, we always have a good time. I love Australia. I could live there! Can’t wait to come down, play the new material and get in a few beers!
And finally, what’s your favourite percussion instrument?
I love playing with shakers and maracas, there’s a certain technique to it. I quite like that. It’s kind of funny, in the studio, I don’t do much percussion, everyone else does it! They put me back in my box…
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Belle and Sebastian will release their ninth studio album Girls in Peacetime Want To Dance via Matador Records / Remote Control on January 16th. Their first Australian tour in four years is on sale now. Dates and details below:
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN TOUR DATES
Supported by Twerps
January 28th – The Tivoli, Brisbane | ticketmaster.com.au | 136 100
January 29th – Enmore Theatre, Sydney | ticketek.com.au | 132 849
February 1st – Palais Theatre, Melbourne | ticketmaster.com.au | 136 100
February 3rd – Astor Theatre, Perth | showticketing.com.au | 08 9370 5888
