The Bilinda Butchers
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The Bilinda Butchers

Oakland, California, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2008 | INDIE

Oakland, California, United States | INDIE
Established on Jan, 2008
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"Interview: The Bilinda Butchers discuss debut LP ‘Heaven’ and release show at The Chapel"

This Thursday night The Bilinda Butchers will be throwing a record release show for Heaven at The Chapel, with Craft Spells headlining. Their ambitious debut full-length is a historical concept album set in 19th century Japan with themes concentrating on loyalty, the afterlife, and suicide. Michal Palmer, Adam Honingford, and Ryan Wansley comprise what most should catch as the My Bloody Valentine reference, and have recently been signed to Orchid Tapes (Elvis Depressedly, Alex G). After two successful EPs that were well-received and labeled nostalgia/dream pop, this new album is a synthy and upbeat progression rife with atmospheric pulls and contextual density. Check out the band’s description for the album below, as well as the whens and wheres for their California coast tour with Craft Spells, and purchase the LP on white vinyl from Orchid Tapes here.

The Bay Bridged: How did everyone in the band meet?

Michal: Adam and I met in 6th grade. He got me into The Beatles and that’s how we started talking about music and after that we became really close, and Ryan is from the same town that we’re from, Concord. We were looking for a drummer about three years ago, and my roommate at the time who’s really good friends with Ryan said I have a friend who plays drums, so it just naturally fell into place. And then we played for two years…

Ryan: It was a long time. About two years before they even offered to me if I wanted to be a part of the actual band, where as before I was just helping them out. I heard this buzz about them and when I listened to them it was exactly what I was trying to do so I wanted to make sure it happened.

TBB: Obviously your name is taken from My Bloody Valentine. Do you think you emulate their sound, or do you think there are other artists you resemble more?

M: It’s actually really weird. A lot of people tend to label us under shoe gaze, and I don’t agree. There’s a slight ambience and dreamy sound to it, but it’s not like My Bloody Valentine at all. Adam and I chose this name when we were really young, like 16. If I could do it over again I would have never done it this way. It’s hard because we make music in a similar style and then we’re named after one of the people from My Bloody Valentine which is a signature staple of that sound. It’s sort of really shitty.

TBB: It’s an easy label.

M: Yeah! And it’s like I can’t really take it back now, I was stupid and 16. I love Bilinda Butcher and I love My Bloody Valentine, but the reason that we did it is because that sound and what it represented emotionally resonated with Adam and I. We’ve always been sort of effeminate and soft-spoken and shy, and Bilinda Butcher with her vocals and whole vibe made sense. We wanted to pay homage. My Bloody Valentine is an influence, but not a direct sound emulation.

We’re really into The Radio Dept. which is a Swedish dream-pop band. Our new record was inspired by a lot of things like weird hip hop and beats and instrumental.

TBB: I read that you called yourself dream pop and nostalgia pop, and I was wondering if you tried to veer Heaven away from that.

M: Well, it wasn’t in mind. Dream pop was not a label that came up at all. It was actually the opposite – making it less reverb, less atmospheric, but it still chimes through. We’re not easily able to shy away from it. As far as I’m concerned, I want nothing to do with the people who make dream pop, most of the people who make chill wave or any of that kind of stuff because it’s all of the same recycled bull shit that came from twee and all of these 90’s post shoe gaze bands. It’s over-sentimentalized. There’s a time and place for it, and it’s not now. It’s fucking over. That’s why with the addition of Ryan, there are songs with breakbeats. It started with what should we do, and do the opposite of that. It’s not 100% defiant and rebellious against it, but that was one of the main points.

TBB: You’re signed to Orchid Tapes now. How did you guys get hooked up?

M: I’ve known Warren who owns and runs the label for a really, really long time. He’s been a friend and we’ve always wanted to work together, but timing was never right. As a band we started talking to labels casually, and we (Warren and I) were talking because his record is coming out right after ours and we were talking about the process and dealing with record labels and dealing with the music industry now, and how dissatisfied we are. He’s an artist, and he runs his label like an artist which is really cool because he wants to make sure the project and art is presented correctly.

TBB: What do you mean by correctly?

M: For example, with a bigger label we would present this record and they would say this, this, and this doesn’t work. You have to market it this way…

TBB: This is the single…

M: Yeah, this is the single and that’s just how things go. With a record that’s as ambitious as what we tried to do I had to make sure it was handled correctly, because there’s a lot of depth and things that have to be explained the right way so the concept comes across, and Warren got it. He understood it, and wanted it to be represented the right way. After talking for three months casually, he told us he wanted to put it out. It just happened really quickly and naturally.

TBB: Yeah. I think that’s how it should be. There should be a strong trust between the label, or really anyone you work with in the music industry.

M: Yeah, definitely. I don’t really know how it was 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s something that everyone has to be wary of because a lot of people are making music in their bedrooms and they don’t get exposed as much to how the industry works. I said no to everything in the first five years of my career, because I didn’t like working with people I can’t meet or talk to. It’s really difficult because there are tons of companies scouting Pitchfork and searching for what’s happening. Like, hey, I do PR! I do radio! Let’s work together. I don’t really know how it goes farther than that, because I always said no, but it’s something that a lot of people have to be aware of because the dynamic is strange and people pop in and out. I have become less and less a fan of working with people through the internet. It’s so easy to build trust with somebody and then you realize they’re across the country and they fucked you out of something. And it’s like great. I can’t yell at you face to face. There is literally nothing I can do.

TBB: I know it’s a concept album, and I wanted to hear how you came across this diary.

M: It’s actually not real, it’s fiction. It’s presented to make you wonder. Since the beginning Adam and I have wanted to make music for movies or video games and due to the fact that we’ve had a fairly small audience, we decided to do it ourselves. We built the story, and wrote a soundtrack to it. I’m really interested in 19th century Japanese culture and authors, and heavy into an anime called Summer Champloo which is based in the Edo period.

I wanted to look into the concept of heaven because here on the coast there are a lot of atheists and agnostics, and I don’t particularly pertain to any one particular religion. My mom is born again and my dad is an atheist so growing up I had this half-way point between being spiritual and not at all. I wanted to create a discussion on what we think heaven is. Heaven doesn’t signify Christianity’s interpretation of heaven.



TBB: The show at The Chapel is your record release party, and then you go on tour with Craft Spells. How did you meet?

M: Justin is actually one of my best friends. I met him a couple months ago, and we’ve known about each other for a long time. He was living in San Francisco for the past year, and that’s how we became really close. We get each other artistically and we’re on the same level and mindset. In New York this sort of scene and style of music is very present and lots of people do it, but we don’t have many like minded bands we can hang out with, so meeting him was really cool.

TBB: Has the band toured before?

M: No, this is our first tour. We don’t really play live very often. It’s not my preferred form of art, and I don’t like going to shows really. I don’t like listening to music loud, but I really enjoy the community aspect and talking to people who understand the scene and the music and get really excited about it.

TBB: And then Craft Spells album that just came out is phenomenal.

M: Yeah, it is really good. It’s definitely stronger than his first one. It’s very poppy and straight-forward and moody, more of an autumn record.

TBB: Do you have a favorite label mate off of Orchid Tapes?

M: I really like Warren and his band Foxes In Fiction. His new record is really good. There was this band called Memoryhouse. They were really good and then they fucked up and dropped the ball when they released their first record. They got signed to Sub Pop, and it was like oh shit, they’re going to do it, they’re going to open the door for all of us, and they released a record and it was such a let down. Warren was in Memoryhouse, he was one of the touring musicians. The reason I really like Warren’s record is because I think it is the record that was supposed to come out. Obviously four years too late, but it’s still retribution. I really like Alex G and I think he’s the next Elliott Smith honestly. His music is sort of naive in a really, really good way.

TBB: If you could write the music for any video game, which one would it be?

M: Jet Set Radio. It’s about graffiti and tagging and roller blading and based in Tokyo. - The Bay Bridged


"THE BILINDA BUTCHERS – ‘HEAVEN’"

The Bilinda Butchers give us their debut album ‘Heaven’ this week via Orchid Tapes (Vinyl) / Fastcut Records (CD) and digital is right here! The San Francisco-based trio (Michal Palmer, Adam Honingford and Ryan Wansley) reached for the lofty goal of creating a concept record based around a fictional love story set in 19th century Japan. ‘Heaven’ being the soundtrack. As predicted, the album doesn’t fit neatly into any genre. There’s ambient (‘Ume’), rock (‘Less Than’), synth pop (‘Golden House’), spoken word plus lots of experimentation. They haven’t pigeon holed themselves and it’s a credit to their creativity.

‘Heaven‘ features several guest artists that add depth to the record, starting off with vocalist Juri Nakashima. The Japanese flavour is the first taste you get on ‘Ume’, a song of devotion to kick off the tragic tale. It’s done in grandiose style, this song is a stunner. It’s followed by the catchy ‘Less Than’ which dispels any hope of predicting what the next song might sound like. ‘Old Style Anami’ pairs ambient synths with spoken word. The trio have mentioned previously how video games have influenced them, in these moments it’s most noticeable.

Sarah Psalti (former singer of Keep Shelly In Anthens) contributes to the second single ‘Golden House’. It’s an 80s styled synth popper that marks a turning point in the album’s theme, things are about to get dark! The rain of ‘New Style Askashi’ leads into the 2013 single ‘The Lover’s Suicide’, another one of ‘Heaven‘s highlights. But for me, ‘Tanka’ and ‘Edo Method’ are the strongest songs on the record. Both play with pitch bending synths against breakbeats with fantastic vocal melodies.

The latter half of the album focuses on the concept of heaven and the afterlife. ‘Heaven Holds A Place’ is ironically happy, almost comical. I’m guessing that’s what they were going for, there’s soulful falsetto vocals and a chorus of ‘Oooh’s after all! Presumably this is the moment when our remaining lover looks forward to reuniting after death, but I could be wrong. Needless to say, ‘Heaven’ is a unique record, it’s rare to get this wrapped up in an album. It’s a conversation starter that’s likely to drag you back for repeated listens. I can only speculate how many fans will fall in love with it, destined to be high on ‘best of’s lists for 2014. - soundsbetterwithreverb


"The Bilinda Butchers - Heaven"

Life loves nothing more than being a contrary tease, one that drops obstacles on the road to our aspirations and offers diversions with routes contradictory to the desired destination. So it is for those of a creative bent, who all too often find that their initial passion-fuelled wish to capture a little slice of their vision of heaven, can steadily become mired in an intricate and prolonged journey that begins to weigh heavy like a hellish torment.

One suspects this could be a feeling The Bilinda Butchers are able to relate to. Though the creation of their debut album didn't exactly see them cast into the depths of Tarturus, it certainly appears, from digesting a series of the bands' blog entries, that the recording process at very least began to resemble an indefinite spell in purgatory, where ideas and expectation tangled with the practicalities of, you know, actually getting the thing done! With no St Michael the Archangel swooping down to fight the good fight, the role of protecting this particular stretch of 'Heaven' fell on another Michal, who, along with band mates Adam and Ryan, had no choice but to battle on through the dark days determined and compelled to bring their lofty ambitions to fruition.

That the maturation of the record proved such a struggle is perhaps testament to two factors. Firstly the passion and precise desires the San Franciscan trio hold for their art, and secondly, that 'Heaven' is a concept album, one whose themes (forbidden love and entangled emotions) are universal but whose narrative and framework (a recounting of a young woman's entries in a fictitious 19th Century Japanese diary) are complex and creatively demanding. Let's be honest here though readers, concept records can at times be a lesson in pretentiousness can't they? All too often an artist labours on in ever decreasing circles of quality, while losing sight of what we the listener most care about, namely hearing some great tunes!

Delivering heart melting melodies has never been a problem for The Bilinda Butchers before though, and it's a pleasure to report that there's no sign they plan to stop now, because thankfully, putting the interesting back story to one side, what 'Heaven' ultimately holds at its core are a series of wonderfully crafted, effortlessly impressive, and most importantly, properly formed songs. In doing so it also showcases what is arguably the young group's most diverse collection of material to date.

Not that opener ‘Ume’ would necessarily lead you to believe this to be the case. While the band themselves may have recently been vocal in their desire to distance themselves from the dreampop and chillwave tags attached to their previous work, this introductory ode to romantic thought, is firmly fixed in the familiar woozy and sweeping synths that characterised 2011's 'Regret, Love, Guilt, Dreams' EP. Indeed, long term fans should worry not, because while the trio's repertoire may have expanded for the better, they certainly haven't discarded dreampop altogether - The Radio Dept. styled spoken word segments that litter the record bear witness to that. Nope, rather than ripping up the roots of whence they came, they've instead spread outwards and in doing so blossomed into something ever more beautiful.

Evidence of this growth is readily apparent as early as second track 'Less Than', a breezy pair of minutes which channel the spirit of paisley underground and college rock, to topple 'Teen Dream' as arguably the bands purest pop dalliance to date. The lovely lush, warm synths and garden chatter of 'Old Style Amami' woo next up, before one of the LP's real high points, 'Shadow Beat', appears on the horizon. A grinding rock chorus marks the band heaviest blast to date, but it's the warped atmospherics and oriental melodies of the verses and middle eight that provide this composition with its hypnotic beauty, while, intriguingly, the drum rhythms bring a touch of hip-hop to the table, akin to that prospered by 9th Wonder or 'Low End Theory' era A Tribe Called Quest.

Not prepared to let that standard tail off, Sarah Psalti is drafted in to provide vocals on subsequent number 'Golden House', her Carol Decker-esque delivery casting a breathy, impassioned air over the type of big sounding 1980s electronic pop that Sarah's previous collaborators Keep Shelly In Athens will surely approve of. With the excellent DJ Shadow reminiscent 'New Style Akashi' marking the midpoint of proceedings, the interlude of a rainstorm outro supplies the platform into which the fleet fingered, solid gold guitar riff of last year's single 'The Lovers' Suicide' is able to launch in marauding fashion; familiarity has not dulled its impact in the slightest and it's this tune that bestows upon the record its zenith, amongst what are unravelling to be numerous towering moments.

For break-beat backed 'Tanka', Josh Davis is again at the forefront of the mind, though the band's original source of inspiration, My Bloody Valentine, are also deserving of due acknowledgment. Significantly the latter's influence is further carried forth into the chunky electro rock of'‘Edo Method' which is likely to sit well with fans of The Big Pink, before, set to the sound of water lapping and children at play, 'The River Sumida' softly assembles a reflective and peaceful prelude to the LP's final knockings and the diary's denouement. Dazzling with the funky freshness of jangle-pop inspired Prince and the rhythmic fluency of The Stone Roses' 'How Do You Sleep', 'Heaven Holds A Place' is an impossibly upbeat acceptance of impending suicide. Layers of angelic harmony and soaring falsetto propelling the track, and the record as a whole, into the coveted realms of its celestial title; it is in short, a gem.

One final uttering of explanation from our heroine as to her new found emotional equilibrium and the chronicle comes to its close; a tale that evolves from discovering and chasing a dream, onwards through weary struggle and pain, finally resolved in the tranquillity of a glorious conclusion – you know, perhaps the recording process was simply a embodiment of the story. Thanks Bilinda Butchers, this right here is 'Heaven'. - The Sound of Confusion


"ALBUM REVIEW : THE BILINDA BUTCHERS :: HEAVEN"

When you name your band The Bilinda Butchers a precedent is being set. There’s no him-hawing around. This San Francisco trio describes their band’s genre as “sad pop”, and has this to say about their sound, ” the group writes songs that contrast idealistic nostalgia with romantic uncertainty and sorrow.” Well there you have it. I wouldn’t call their new album Heaven “sad”, per say. I would call it melancholy and dreamy, with hints of ambient haze and maudlin regret. But hey, that’s just me.

While naming your band The Bilinda Butchers is fun and all, I think a more accurate name would have been The Elizabeth Frasers. There’s definitely more of a Cocteau Twins sheen happening on Heaven, rather than the grinding, druggy, shoegaze sound of My Bloody Valentine. I guess The Bilinda Butchers has a better ring to it. “Ume” opens the album with an ethereal vibe as Juri Nakashima speaks quietly in a dreamy voice before the synths come in and sleepy vocals hang over the proceedings. The song has the wooziness of a Wish-era Cure song and vocals that would fit on a Pains of Being Pure At Heart track quite nicely. “Less Than” shifts gears dramatically, starting out like “That Thing You Do” with a Fountains of Wayne jaunty pop sway happening. From dream pop to indie garage pop rock in the blink of an eye. “Old Style Amami” shifts gears once again with birds chirping and a woman(presumably beautiful and unattainable) speaks sweet nothings as yet another stylistic shift occurs. A programmed beat pulses through the speakers as synths whoosh and float by your ears. It’s a mood piece that pushes gently into “Shadow Beat”. Keeping in the spirit of “Old Style Amami” at first with a bright, white light ambience before getting loud and rocking like a mid-90s Billy Corgan aspiring to be a late-80s Kevin Shields. Despite indie rock aspirations this track is too polished and slick to be categorized as anything but pop. This might’ve fit in nicely on The Cure’s Wild Mood Swings. “Golden House” sounds like Wild Nothing on a digital synth binge with some great female vocals, while “The Lover’s Suicide” sounds more down-to-earth with its guitar/bass/drums forwardness and “Boys Don’t Cry”-like drum beat. Throughout Heaven The Bilinda Butchers do a nice job of mixing dream pop, ambient whisps, and early 80s alternative rock in order to give a well-rounded listening experience. “Tanka”, “Edo Method”, and “The River Sumida” help to make this album more than just a tribute to a genre, and “Heaven Holds A Place” feels like a 80s dance party on a purple cloud in some other dimension all the while sounding exhilarating and lamenting all at once.

Though their name could work to pigeonhole the band as a whole, at times I can indeed hear the resemblance in the dreamy waves of purple noise that wafts from the speakers. To my ears there’s a lot more going on than just a tribute to a beautiful Irish chanteuse named Bilinda Butcher. But if you’re going to name your band after someone, it might as well be Bilinda Butcher. Or Elizabeth Fraser.

Hey, it’s an option.

7.2 out of 10 - Backseat Mafia


"The Bilinda Butchers - goodbyes"

In a rare interview, Bilinda Butcher (who should need no introduction) described how, back in the punk era, she was “living in the 20s and 30s.” And how she’s too shy to sing “when there are others in the room.” In a ragged-edged age’s dream of Deco, in the utopia and tragedy of nostalgia and the invocation of “shy,” the propensities of the band for whom she is an eponym are revealed.

The mood itself is familiar: will-she/won’t-he lovelornness, a pervasive sense of androgyny separate from questions of queerness (“a boy and a girl in love” is very much where we’re at here), wispy and wistful vocals reminiscent of Slowdive. But the particular way that synthetic and acoustic elements are combined is clearly original. Though the Butchers bear obvious influences from bands like The Radio Dept. — who are cited as an important influence — they develop the sound more perfectly, and add a gentle touch of hypnotic repetition that shrugs off — slightly, but noticeably — the confines of traditional song structure within which this kind of music is usually attempted.

goodbyes (which exists in five-track digital/vinyl and eight-track CD versions) is perhaps not quite as consistent as 2011’s regret, love, guilt, dreams EP, but the three-song trajectory from “hai bby” to “half open” is perfect bliss, prefaced by opener “teen dream’s” electronic shards scattered over guitar. Elsewhere, the moments underpinned by beats (as on “stevie nicks”) work best. That title indicates the same archetypal, Jungian-feminine iconicity as its moniker, but it is also evidence of the fact that this is classic bedroom pop with no smack of the dancefloor. Rather, in the clubland-bedsitland nexus, we could characterize goodbyes as the combination of the tremor of anticipation, with the melancholy of the early-morning aftermath.

Speaking of contrasts, “little leaf” features an opening line lifted from Pixies via Beach Boys via Charles Manson (now there’s a pedigree), and goodbyes also includes a cover of chiptunes maestro J Arthur Keenes’ “low tide.” The influence from gaming is by no means overt (there are no actual chip tunes or upbeat bleeps), but it’s somehow in there, in the loops and atmospheres, reminiscent of the trend toward retro in games as well as music — and also, conversely, to a more contemporary organic game aesthetic, as if one were to be playing consoles, but at sunset at the tail end of a tipsy Sunday picnic, or hanging out at an Animal Crossing.

Michal and Adam, who together make up the band, consistently describe their music as cinematic and specifically scenic — but also, lyrically, as “super personal.” So one of the feedback loops occurring here is that between panoramic atmosphere and intimate detail. And to go fractal on you, the “super personal” romantic dyad, the subject of content, is itself a feedback loop. The concept of feedback brings us back to My Bloody Valentine: Butcher describes her best MBV memory as squeezed with her band mates and all the gear in the back of a Ford Transit, falling asleep somewhere between human contact and (the memory of) machines. Such a drifting-off is an appropriate place to take our goodbyes. - Tiny Mix Tapes


Discography

Albums

  • Heaven (CD, Cassette, MP3, 12" Vinyl) - Orchid Tapes, 2014

Singles & EPs
  • Away EP - The Bilinda Butchers self-released (MP3), 2009
  • Tulips / This Love Is Fucking Right ‎(Single) - BEKO DSL (MP3), 2009
  • Regret, Love, Guilt, Dreams (EP) - Fastcut Records (CD, MP3),  2011
  • Half Open ‎(Single) - BEKO DSL (MP3), 2011
  • Goodbyes (EP) - Discau (CD, MP3, 12" Vinyl), 2012
  • The Lovers' Suicide! (Single) - Zoom Lens (MP3, 7" Vinyl), 2013
  • Heaven Holds A Place ‎(Single) - Fastcut Records (7" Vinyl), 2014

Photos

Bio

The Bilinda Butchers are a dream pop group from San Francisco who take their name from Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine. Comprised of Michal, Ryan, and Adam, the group writes songs that contrast idealistic nostalgia with romantic uncertainty and sorrow.

Band Members