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Barbez Wicked Spins Radio Interview
“A bar in Missoula Montana where we had just played for maybe a dozen people and a man brought in some meat he had just killed trying to exchange it for a drink. So many absurd and memorable moments.”
By Phlis
Hailing from New York in the fine USA Brabez are an avant-rock band with a difference. Their music really does set the scene for a story that can only be described as inspirational. Their latest album Bella Ciao is inspired by the plight of the Roman Jews and the Italian Resistance in the Second World War. Wicked Spins Radio got chance to catch up with Barbez and here’s how it went.
WSR – Thank you so much for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview this interview, can you tell our readers a little bit about yourselves?
Barbez – We’re happy you were interested, thanks for having us. We’re a New York based avant-rock band that was founded maybe 15 years ago. Currently our line-up is theremin, clarinet, violin, vibraphone, marimba, guitar, bass and drums. We’ve released five records so far including this new one, Bella Ciao, which just came out on John Zorn’s label.
WSR – Bella Ciao is homage to the Roman Jews and the Italian Resistance in the Second World War, why did you decide to choose this subject for the music of this album?
Barbez – I was introduced to this music by a composer named Yotam Haber at an artist colony and fell in love with the mysterious qualities these melodies have. The Roman Jews are the oldest Jewish community and neither Ashkenazi (E. Europe origin) nor Sephardi (Spain/North Africa origin). They came to Rome in the 2nd century before Christ and have been there ever since. I think I’ve always be interested in anomalies and their music too has an unusual quality; very different from most Jewish music that I was familiar with. When I went to Rome to learn more about the music I was captivated by a building on a small street called Via Rasella that was the site of a partisan attack on Nazi soldiers during WW II. I have always been interested in history and always had a deep sympathy for the underdog and so the Resistance theme was woven into the music. The title
WSR – Does the music of Bella Ciao follow a story as the album unfolds?
Barbez – A bit, given the Resistance theme, but there’s no real narrative to the record, or at least no conscious one. There are two poems by Pasolini and an Italian poet named Alfonso Gatto woven and they capture, in a beautiful, heart-breaking way, some of the feeling of that time.
WSR – Was there any particular person that you highlight within the music on Bella Ciao?
Barbez – Not really. We wanted to pay homage to the Resistance and the Roman Jews so in that sense I suppose those people, but no one specifically.
WSR – What lessons do you feel need to be learned from the plight of the Roman Jews?
Barbez – Not sure I can answer that one. I guess the lesson might be the one that Jews and many others learned during that very dark time: Resistance is essential. But it is also hard for me to speak knowingly as I never had to live through something like that. I find it inspiring that many fought back and that is the spirit the album hopes to honour. As Gatto, the poet whom we use in the record said:
WSR – Your show on Wednesday 18th September 2013 will open with a few pieces written by the composer Yotam Haber, what is it about his work that you feel will compliment this show?
Barbez – It’s great to be doing these pieces by Yotam and fitting because he introduced us to this amazing music. It’s very different than our music but at the same time there is a similar thread and a similar fascination with the uniqueness of both Roman Jewish music and the culture and history that it sprang from.
WSR – All of your albums so far have been engineered and mixed by Martin Bisi, what is it about Martin Bisi that makes him perfect for the job of mixing and engineering your music and has he become like a silent member of the band in a way since he has had so much of an involvement in your work?
Barbez –Martin is just an absolutely brilliant engineer/mixer/producer/confidante and friend. What makes him perfect is he understands that dogma and orthodoxy can get in the way of music and that each set of sonic circumstances requires its own rules. He also has an amazing sense of balance, a philosophy of mixing that can be applied to life; too much of a good thing can make it not a good thing. Martin is definitely the “5th Beatle” in this band. 5th and 6th probably. Maybe 7th too.
WSR – You have performed at some truly amazing and magical places throughout your career, but what was the experience like performing at The Museum Of Jewish Art And History in Paris?
Barbez – That was a very beautiful concert. We were performing our homage to Paul Celan, the great Romanian-Jewish poet who survived the Holocaust. Anyway, there were some special people there including Celan’s French translator. Just the entire crowd was very aware of Celan and his work and that made it extremely meaningful for me; part of the inspiration of that record was to bring Celan’s work to light, but in this context he was widely read and understood. Also, champagne after the gig was a very nice touch, especially coming from Brooklyn.
WSR – You have had a long running collaboration with John Jesurun, how has this collaboration manifested itself over the years?
Barbez – John has been a huge inspiration to me. We’ve done the music for several of his experimental theatre pieces in Berlin and in New York, basically this one project of his that’s a long-running avant-garde soap opera called Chang in a Void Moon. We’ll play some of our own music and also recast songs like the Four Tops’ Bernadette or the White Stripes’ 7 Nation Army to suit his purposes in the script. He in turn has then made several videos for us and also done live video at some shows we’ve performed filled with his unusual and hypnotic imagery. He’s an incredible artist, to me, the best American playwright of the past 30 years.
WSR – You have collaborated with many musicians over the Barbez, just how many and who?
Barbez – Too many to count, 20-25? God, 30? Here’s a few: David Kannenstine (bass) Michele Amar (singer), Josh Matthews (drums) Matteo DeCosmo (drums and voice) Carl Maguire (accordion) Sim Cain (drums) Dan Coates (electronics, bass) Shahzad Ismaily (drums and bass) and a lot of others all of whom I deeply respect.
WSR – What has been the most memorable and also the funniest parts in the life of Barbez?
Barbez – Touring in very marginal vehicles for almost a decade. Definitely I remember breaking down on the Kansas highway with a flat tire and a school bus that was purchased in the Kansas town a couple of hours earlier after our last vehicle died. The Austrian boyfriend of our theremin player thought there was a spare mounted underneath the car only it turned out to be the gas tank! Couldn’t get it back in place. Then the cops showed up and wondered what the hell we were doing. Many memories. A bar in Missoula Montana where we had just played for maybe a dozen people and a man brought in some meat he had just killed trying to exchange it for a drink. So many absurd and memorable moments.
WSR – Is there anything you wish that you wish you could have done different in your musical career?
Barbez – Not really. My career in music, such as it is, has always been basically process of just making mistakes, which is actually the most interesting thing you can do.
WSR – What or who has been your biggest influence in life?
Barbez – Probably my father, who died this January. He was what they would call a mensch. An incredibly decent, ethical and beautiful human being. I miss him terribly.
WSR – Thank you for giving Wicked Spins Radio this interview, is there anything you would like to add?
Barbez – Just to thank you for this interview and for taking the time to listen to this new music. It means a lot to us.
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