Austin Lace - Pop delights from Belgium

I think " Easy To Cook " is one of the best pop albums of 2005. And to think that without the Homesleep reissue, hardly anyone here noticed your album. How did the contact with the Italian label come about?

Enzo: The boss of our label has known the Homesleep guys for a few years; he'd seen Yuppie Flu play live in Belgium four years ago and really liked them. So they stayed in touch afterwards, and he passed our record on to Daniele Rumori and Matteo Agostinelli (singer-guitarist of Yuppie Flu, ed.).

You've been playing together for almost ten years, yet you've only put out two albums. Was that a deliberate choice, or were there particular circumstances you'd like to tell us about?

Enzo: Fabrice, Fred and John are the three "veteran" members, I joined the line-up about 4 years ago... A few days ago we got a new guitarist.

Fabrice: (talking about the band's new member) We'll see if he plays well tonight... Otherwise we'll fire him! (big laughs, ed.).

Enzo: We've only put out two albums despite playing together for so long, because each of us is also involved in side projects, even though Austin Lace remains the main one, the most important. It should also be said that "Easy To Cook" required a huge amount of studio work, it wasn't at all easy to get everything to come together. It took about four years to finish it, because of issues with both the line-up and the production.

We stuck with the same tracks for too long, losing a bit of freshness in our approach. When you think too much about what you're recording, it's easy for doubts to creep in about what you're doing, about the songs and the arrangements.

Aside from the 60's pop feel that runs through the album, what other music do you listen to?

Enzo: We have very different listening habits. Every member of the band has different musical passions: Fabrice, for instance, prefers the experimental electronic pop of Tarwater and anything close to the sound of Germany's Morr Music, while I listen to a lot of reggae… If I had to name a band that unites us all, I could simply say The Beatles.

More generally, what's your take on the current music scene? Are you attentive listeners who don't miss a single release, or do you not really keep up with it?

Enzo: It depends, I take a lot of recommendations from friends, and I also write reviews for a webzine in Belgium, mostly covering world music.

It seems like there are quite a few good bands in Belgium? Can you tell us a bit about them?

Enzo: In Belgium everything is divided. There are the Flemish in the north, who speak Dutch, and the Walloons in the south, who are French-speaking. It's very hard for a Flemish act to go play in the south of Belgium, and vice versa. It's also a cultural matter: the Flemish have a more "Germanic" outlook, and they don't really appreciate French-language vocals. The Flemish play very well, better than bands from the south. They have a more distinctly jazz-oriented approach. dEUS are a great band, in my opinion, and a perfect example of how having strong technical skills matters for your music. On top of that, they're excellent experimenters, with a very adventurous approach to music. That said, we also have great bands in the south, just think of Girls In Hawaii, our labelmates (on 62TV, ed.).

You made no fewer than three music videos to promote the album: "Come On, Come On, Come On", "Kill The Bee" and "Say Goodbye". That's a lot! Is it something you enjoy doing? Tell us a bit about how they came about…

Enzo: It happened that some young directors approached us. "Kill The Bee" and "Come On, Come On, Come On" were shot by two guys, very young, on a very tight budget. For "Kill The Bee" we spent around 1000 euros: we shut down two streets in Brussels.

For "Come On, Come On, Come On", on the other hand, we had a bigger budget to work with. The latest video, "Say Goodbye", cost us practically nothing. Some of our fans came to us with ideas and were determined to work with us on the video.

In my opinion, the most successful of the three is "Come On, Come On, Come On", though it suffers from somewhat rough editing.

Anyway, I read somewhere that Mtv Italy is also taking an interest in you. It seems they'll be promoting your video. So are you ready for the big leap? Or would you rather stay tied to the independent world?

Enzo: We were actually at Mtv recently. As for "the big leap", well, we just hope our music can reach as many people as possible.

Tell us how you write your songs… Is it a collective process, or does someone write everything first and then you play it together?

Enzo: More or less. Fabrice, in some cases, comes to rehearsal with songs that already have a defined structure and just need a full band arrangement. On "Kill The Bee", though, he brought in a guitar riff that I later developed by adding a bit of electronics. There are no "compositional" rules in Austin Lace.

If you add a touch more electronics, you'll be rivaling Notwist on their own turf; if you strip it away, you could even become a sunnier version of Kings Of Convenience. Which direction do you think you'll take after "Easy To Cook"? Do you already have any ideas?

Enzo: We have no idea which direction Austin Lace's music will take. Right now, our approach is very much that of a rock band, meaning everything is played and arranged with typically rock instruments. That said, we like to take care with our sound and experiment, and I think the only way to come up with interesting new sounds is to combine that guitar-band attitude with the use of electronics that are unobtrusive but still clearly present.

*special thanks to Alberto Guidetti

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