Intervista ai Bumblebees

Quando sulla piattaforma Myspace era in voga richiedere amicizie e inventare ringraziamenti capitava spesso di aprire a caso profili di band a volte talmente simpatiche da meritarsi il click sulla stellina dei preferiti ché prima poi sarebbero stati riascoltate. Non ricordo se per i Bumblebees è successo così, ma è verosimile. Le poche canzoni che avevano su mi piacquero, indiepop del più lo-fi e felice che ci sia, colori e coretti, tastiere e ritornelli appiccicosi come zucchero filato. Dopo un breve scambio di email finirono nella playlist di un paio di puntate de "La Belle Epop" della stagione passata. Nel giro di mesi sparse notizie su questi tre appena maggiorenni di Bristol mi rimbalzano davanti, con enorme sorpresa un ep omonimo stava per esser autoprodotto nelle loro stanzette, pubblicato e distribuito dall'ufficio postale più vicino. Se vi venisse voglia di acquistarlo vi assicuro che ogni cd è personalizzato e potreste dunque trovarci il vostro nome impresso sulla confezione.
Ora parola a Ellis dei Bumblebees!

Hello Bumblebees, can you tell us the story of how you met and formed a band, calling yourselves Bumblebees? Who plays what?
Ellis: Roz and I met in college after she put up a poster asking if anyone
wanted to be in a band. I did! Soon a friendship blossomed, and the
songs wrote themselves! We thought the Bumblebees was a cute and
unpretentious name. Bert played bass with us for over a year, but as
he is about to move to Canada, our friend Nat is currently playing
bass for us. She is in a wonderful band called The Jelas.

You are very young, which are your favourite bands ever? Which current bands do you like or admire?
E: The band we both love is The Smiths. Today Roz is really feeling
Dresden Dolls, Rage Against The Machine and Crystal Castles. I would
go for Islands as my best current band - and today I listened to The
Three O Clock and they are great. Also recently we have been a bit
obsessed with They Might Be Giants.

Bumblebees is a four song EP about science, isn't it? Are you actual budding scientists?
E: No and no, I think! We are interested in science and maybe that comes
across, in that we try to find clarity, and that science can be just
as magical as superstition. But generally the songs are just about
feelings and shit!

Can you tell us something about the recordings on your EP? Is The Way a brand new song or what?
E: The EP consists of our four favourites out of our slightly limited
catalogue. We recorded it in our room with one mic on one day. The Way
was written after the EP was done. It was recorded for the Eardrums
Birdsongs, Beesongs compilation, but hopefully we'll release it in
another form as well.

What about the city of Bristol and its music scene? What is Local Kid?
E: Local Kid is a DIY feminist label run by a couple of people who are
local to Bristol. They are really nice and we're really looking
forward to doing something with them. As for the music scene, there
are a few cool bands like The Jelas, Corey Orbison, Munch Munch and
Arctic Circle, but mainly it's just the same dull music scene you'd
find in any city.

Since you said you have enough audacity to play for half an hour, what will be your next goal?
E: Wembley Stadium - playing for thirty-five minutes.

Can you pick a special highlight from Bumbleebees' life as band? Something that still brings a big smile to your face?
E: We played a really nice gig in our friend Steve's kitchen, Roz was
playing a melodica. That was fun.

How did being mentioned in Plan B magazine come about?
E: We sent them a CD, and they reviewed it! Really it has changed
absolutely nothing, we can still get our the door without being
hounded by the press. We haven't had a surge in popularity, I don't
think. We haven't sold out of EPs - you can still buy them!

Last question: do you have a motto?
E: C.T.F.O. - Chill the fuck out.

(♫) The Bumblebees - Cool Science
(♫) The Bumblebees - The Internal World