Belle Game's Lo says she's looking forward to comforts of home
Belle Game’s first album garnered the attention of mainstream music publications like Rolling Stone. But that was in 2013. In September, the Vancouver band finally released its followup. Fear/Nothing marks a departure for the group, as it pursues a more spacious, atmospheric sound, though still grounded in pop melodies. We talked to vocalist Andrea Lo about the record, the change in the group’s approach, and dinner at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
Q: You did a songwriting residency at the Banff Centre in 2014. Is that how the collaboration with producer Kevin Drew came about?
A: Yeah, we met Kevin in Banff in the fall of 2014. We applied there mainly because he was the program director for the indie band residency. Having been fans of Broken Social Scene (Drew is a member) in our teenage years, it was hard not to jump at the opportunity. We were granted access to that program, which was great. We formed a really close relationship with him which led to him working on the album and now us touring with him (Belle Game is opening for Broken Social Scene in Vancouver and on several more West Coast dates).
Is there anything from that residency that made it onto the album?
It was a huge catalyst to changes we made to our music, and changes that occurred unconsciously and subconsciously rather than in a direct, step-by-step ABC-manual kind of way. It changed the way we engage with music, as a conversation we have with it, and how we write and relate to it.
Is the Banff Centre the kind of thing where artists from different disciplines create during the day and then all have dinner together, or do they keep you indie-rockers separate?
No. It wasn’t coordinated like that. We had a lot of freedom within the program. It wasn’t a huge mélange of social time. A lot of people were just creating.
Between the last show of your current headlining tour, in Edmonton, and your first opening for Broken Social Scene in Vancouver, you have five days off. What are you going to do?
One of those days is a drive day. Then we get home — we will have been on the road for about five weeks. So just a little R&R, and resting as much as possible.
What are you guys missing about Vancouver right now?
I miss the outdoors. And I think we’re looking forward to sleeping in our own beds.