interview: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Tune into WMSE as DJ Faux Eyes checks in with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club ahead of their gig at Milwaukee’s Rave / Eagle’s Club on Tuesday, May 15th.
For a select few, rock’n’roll is a life sentence. It’s in every muscle in your body, it’s in every thought you have, it’s written all over your face. When you arrive at Black Rebel Motorcycle Club’s headquarters in East Hollywood, you know you’re sidling up to the home of some of rock’s most primal prisoners. In the driveway there are motorcycles. In the living room there is gear splayed everywhere; random bits of drum kits, a pedal steel guitar, stacks of vinyl. Answering the door is a bleary-eyed, chain-smoking Peter Hayes (guitar, vocals) and his co-habiting bandmate Leah Shapiro (drums). In walks bassist Robert Levon Been too, Hayes’ BRMC co-founder, dark shades on, an even darker all-black ensemble. As a trio, they seem forever unsettled, even in the safety of each other’s companies. They take time over answers, seeking for perfect responses. It’s the same approach they have to rock’n’roll. If the end result is not flawless, they’re not interested.
In this house is where they’re currently putting the finishing touches on their forthcoming eighth album, the follow-up to 2013’s ‘Specter At The Feast’. Titled ‘Wrong Creatures’, it began in the summer of 2015. Shapiro was six months clear of a brain surgery. The trio had come off a tour and began to sketching out new songs in their private lockout space appropriately nicknamed ‘The Bunker’ in North Hollywood they arranged and sketched out basic ideas on guitar, bass and drums. “Just mumble tracks, inside big walls of noise” explains Hayes, lyrics would often morph out the sounds later.
‘Wrong Creatures’ returns to the core of BRMC’s alchemy, while also plunging the knife in even further. From the Cave-esque murder balladry of “Haunt” to the garage punk of “Little Thing Gone Wild,” it runs the gamut allowing the band to flex every muscle in their armor. They remain opaque about the songs’ greater meanings, fearful of past misunderstandings. “I find myself writing about death a lot,” says Hayes. “I find myself having a discussion with death, which sounds dark. For me, it’s dark humor.” Talking about mortality allows Hayes to explore life’s great mistakes and regrets. Channeling them through rolling riffs and dirge-laden rhythms that stir the pot before reaching boiling point.
Ultimately, the band may well be survivors of an era where rock’n’roll can often be overshadowed by dance pop, and garish commercialism. Robert Levon Been; “We are truly an island – come hell or high water, so it’s usually best to dress accordingly. Though i’m not sure what the proper attire is when drowning in fire. But leather usually goes with everything.”