Melbourne-based pop/rock trio, The Belafontes like to party. The independent three-piece, featuring Jess and Paul Belafonte and Joel Mole too, very recently released their brand new single Cruel (6 Feb) and to honour the occasion, two of the three members (Jess and Paul) from the band had a little chat with AMNplify about just who are The Belafontes and all about their music – check it out below!

The Belafontes

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Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in music?

J: Music has always been in my family, my dad shreds on the guitar and I grew up with music all around me. Once Paul and I got together, we realised we not only love each other but we also love making music together; so the band was a natural progression.

P: I’ve been involved with music and bands since I was 18. My dream was to study music at university, which I ended up doing. Once I finished that, I realised my new dream was to not be poor all the time, so music was a terrible choice.

Who is in the band and what role do they play?

Jess sings and plays the drum-kit. She used to be the singer, then the singer and guitarist, then the singer/guitarist/synth player. She’s been through the whole band except for bass. Jess handles most of the band business that involves communication with people.

Joel plays the bass. He’s the newest member of the band, but his background in media means he will most likely be our film clip director in the future.

Paul plays guitar and sings. He handles the music side of songwriting and also the band business that doesn’t involve communication. He’s also the voice of the band on Twitter and has to be moderated at least once a week.

How would you best describe The Belafontes sound?

P: Our sound at the moment, at least live, is quite raw but it’s slowly getting cooked (that’s the opposite of raw right?). There are elements of surf, punk and Motown in our sound, but it’s the live energy that people remember the most I think.

Who are your main musical influences?

P: I think we set out to be a surf band in the beginning so we had a real Beach Boys influence, but now we’ve come into a more rock style; I don’t really know where that came from. Maybe we’re getting angrier? Guitar wise I’m definitely not amazing, but my guitar hero is Jonny Greenwood.

J: My singing style was definitely influenced by female artists in the 90’s like Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morrisette. On the drums I’ve been inspired and influenced by the other women in the Melbourne scene.

What is the inspiration behind the new single, Cruel?

P: It’s loosely based around the idea of being addicted to everyday vices. The lyrics are based around a few key phrases and the rest is stream of consciousness from that theme.

What inspires your song writing?

P: I’m a big fan of songwriting that’s short, to the point and with a strong melody. Our songs don’t all follow a common theme. Usually the melody has to come first and then the song is built around that. A lot of our first songs were love songs.

J: Once Paul is finished with the musical material, the song kind of has to kind of get its own meaning. Usually there will be a few key words that the melody is written around and we will work with that.

What is the point of difference with The Belafontes?

J: We’re a bit too happy to be cool. We write and perform catchy pop songs that hopefully get stuck in your head without being too pretentious.

P: Jess is one of the only lead singer/drummers around (shout out to Magic Bones). She generates so much of the excitement and rhythm from the back of the band, which gives Joel and me extra impetus to put on a great performance. I think her voice is unique in that it has this really beautiful timbre but also she gets naughty and does lots of yelling.

What has been your most memorable career highlight to date?

J: Our homecoming show from our 2017 tour at The Old Bar for sure. We played to a packed audience of friends and well-wishers with a great lineup of bands. A group of our friends had come from a wedding in Gippsland and made it to Fitzroy at about 12am with pineapples for some reason, which were being passed around the crowd as we played.

The Belafontes

What is something you would like to achieve career-wise that you haven’t done yet?

P: I would love to make it to the next level of music in Melbourne. Right now we’re playing local shows with (flippin’ great) local bands. I’d love to support national touring bands and maybe even a cheeky festival or two in the future.

J: We are recording and releasing six songs this year (Cruel being number one of six). It would be great to press these to vinyl as an EP. A debut album would be fantastic at some point and we also want to release some Christmas music before the end of 2018.

If you could play any venue in the world, where would it be and why?

J: The Weezer cruise without a doubt.

P: Glastonbury! It’s a big one, but ever since I watched the footage of Radiohead in 1997 when they turn on the lights to see the audience; I’ve wanted to be on that stage with a sea of people. Five people upstairs at the Grace Darling can feel just as good sometimes though.

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