Magazine Research 33

Interview With Local Band 1
Le Bete Blooms

Taslima Tarafdar

Hey guys, I'm an illustration student currently doing a project on making my own magazine, so I plan to include a double page spread about local bands and was hoping you could answer a few questions for me? No worries if you can't. I'll leave my questions here for you if you're available to answer them...
What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name?
Have you changed the band's name before?
What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are
your major influences?
How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
Where have you performed? Do you have any upcoming shows?
Which songs do you perform most frequently? Do you ever play any covers? Do you have a set play list?
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
Could you briefly describe the music-making process? (What job roles each member has in making the music)
What are your rehearsals generally like? Do you have a set time each week in which you practice or are rehearsals more spontaneous?
How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
What's your ultimate goal for your band? (Fame and fortune, etc)
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
Is there anyone you'd like to acknowledge for their help and support?
Any last words?
Don't have to answer them all, can be as brief as you like, don't want to hassle you too much...
THANK YOU!


La Bête Blooms

What's the name of your band? What's the origin of that name?
La bête blooms, it's a mix of words I had on a page when I was 18 and strung together
What genre of music do you consider your work to be? Who are
your major influences?
Our lazy answer is just to say post punk. Our background's in music are all pretty weird and separate but the Pixies are a band we all agree on.
How long have you all known each other? How did you meet?
The lineup's chopped and changed a bit since we first started. I met our drummer at college studying music, then pretty much met the others over the course of two years at music nights around Hull.
When did you form your band? What inspired you to make music together?
We formed when I was 19 (in 2010). At first it was kind of a charity for the others to step in and help me do my stupid thing, but over time it became a collective creative effort.
Do you have a record label? Are you a member of any music organizations?
We've not worked with anyone but ourselves and other bands really. We've never approached or been approached by any label, despite the fact we have friends who run great local independent record labels of their own. The three places that will always feel like home to us are The Warren (where Stew Baxter has always been supportive of us) The Sesh (a night ran by Mak Page who is the founder of Humber Street Sesh) and the Adelphi (where we first started and who gave us our first opportunities to play).
Where have you performed? Do you have any upcoming shows?
We've performed in Sheffield, Leeds, London, York and Hull over the past year or so. We have a show in Leeds at The Library on April 12th.
Which songs do you perform most frequently?
We have two singles online called 'Home' and 'Sigh Away' they are in and out of our set at the moment. The rest are entirely new and have been written in the past 4 months. We record an E.P of stuff hopefully before summer.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs? Do you think these topics will change over time?
I write the songs and then bring them to everyone to add their own parts to them.
Friends and family like to poke fun at me for writing such depressing lyrics, it's kind of my thing haha. But more recently they've become more optimistic, and less centred around me which is probably refreshing for everyone!
What has been your biggest challenge as a band?
The biggest challenge by far for us, is to continue being productive despite the fact that our guitarist beckie and keyboard player Louisa are both students down south. Our drummer James is also in a band called the Colour Line who frequently tour the UK. It can be pretty tough to get anything done!
What's your ultimate goal for your band?
The band gives us a platform to be creative together and I'm grateful that it still exists after three years.
To be able to be self employed as a musician, to tour and release material which can be my main income would be an absolute dream, but we're realistic and know the chances of that are very slim. For now the ultimate goal is for the songs to be heard by as many people as possible
What advice do you have for people who want to form their own bands?
The trickiest bit is to get going. When I first started I knew I was terrible at guitar and couldn't really sing. Nothing's really changed in that aspect but I know I've played some great gigs and recorded songs I'm really proud of, achieving a whole lot more on a personal level then if I'd have stayed at home and decided I didn't want to play a crappy open mic on a Friday night.
The Sesh at The Linnet and lark is a great place to meet people within Hull who play music. Promoters, musicians, photographers are there every week on a Tuesday night and can help you get started. And if you're struggling to get people to join a band, visit the Adelphi on a Monday night, it's a free entry music night and countless musicians have met and started bands thanks to it. Recording songs and playing gigs will cost you a lot of money and sometimes you can travel 100 odd miles and play to nobody. But then there's always that one gig which is amazing and makes you want to keep going. If you love music and want to form a band, get on with it

Hope that's okay Taslima, thanks for including us and let us know if you post the magazine online, we'll happily share it about.
All the best

Daniel

La bête blooms x

Taslima Tarafdar
Aww wow! Great detailed answers! Thank you so much and of course I will, thank you so much for helping me out!