German synth-wave duo Bel Epoq have released another enthralling song with a classic upbeat sound reminiscent of the 80s, “Mind & Matter.” We had the pleasure of interviewing Bel Epoq, and here’s what they had to say:
Q: What’s the story behind “Mind & Matter“?
BEL EPOQ (ARI): I have this one friend who is always saying that the air smells like an adventure when the first few warm nights arrive. Everything feels easy and good at once and there’s no yesterday and now tomorrow – only the warmth of the air on your skin. I wanted to capture this atmosphere in the lyrics of “Mind & Matter”.
Q: Could you walk us through the creative and production process for this song?
BEL EPOQ (TIMO): The process for “Mind & Matter” was an interesting one for us, and a little bit unusual, too. The whole thing actually started as a cover version of Joy Division’s “Disorder”. But somehow we started to change the parts, and twisted the harmonies, Ari wrote new lyrics and melodies, of course, and so we finally got to a totally different and new song. The only thing that’s left almost untouched is the main drum groove.
Q: How are you hoping listeners will respond to this song?
BEL EPOQ (ARI): Well, we hope that the listeners will capture the feeling that we wanted to create. I would say it’s our most uplifting song concerning the musical as well as the lyrical part. Our previous two releases “I Will Dance with You” and “Never Enough” don’t feel as lighthearted as this release. And our upcoming releases will sound darker again. We felt that “Mind & Matter” fits the arriving springtime. The winter here in Germany felt kind of long, so we wanted to spread some light out there. 🙂
Q: How would you describe the type of music that you typically create?
BEL EPOQ (TIMO): It started with us trying to mix up Ari’s and my at times very different tastes and approaches to music. She has a strong background in high-resolution pop and more vocal-oriented music, whereas I tend towards heavier and more post-punky stuff. So we ended up with a mixture of uplifting 80s pop with big choruses and a lot of vocal harmonies and my darker, punchier, and oftentimes even slightly detuned and distorted tones.
Right now we try not to think too much about an exact 50:50 mix of our influences anymore, and let to music flow a little bit more to where it wants to go.
Q: What drives you to make music?
BEL EPOQ (ARI): We often ask ourselves this exact question, mainly in the not-so-rare moments when you start to question everything you do. What I can say is, it would be like if you’d have asked: What drives you to breathe? I would tell you that it’s a basic need and it simply belongs to us human beings.
Q: What projects are you currently working on?
BEL EPOQ (ARI): As mentioned before we have a bunch of releases coming this year. “Mind & Matter” is number 3 of 8. Concerning the fact that we officially only exist a few months by now we want to release release and release, so that people will get the opportunity to find (and hopefully like) us.
Interviewed by Zoey King
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