“When it would be unthinkable, I’d rather quit.”
Everybody Knows is Bram Vanparys’, aka The Bony King Of Nowhere, first album in 6 years. In the interview, the Belgian musician speaks about the final page of an artistic chapter, reinvention, too many parts for one song, what he would change in the world, his favorite song on the new album, Radiohead and what success means to him.
Robert Pally: Everybody Knows is your first new album since Silent Days (2018). What took you so long?
BV: Well… I guess with Silent Days I arrived at a place that somehow felt like the final page of an artistic chapter. Up to that record my writing was heavily influenced by the big classic songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, Neil Young… mainly American songwriters I must say. With Silent Days, I felt like I adapted a lot of those influences and did my own personal, contemporary thing with it. For the first time, I felt really proud of an album and that feeling still lasts up until this day. So, when I started writing new songs, I knew I didn’t want to make another Silent Days. If I wanted to make something that could stand next to that record, I just knew I had to come up with something different and I kind of had to re-invent myself as a songwriter. It’s what all my heroes have in common: a drive to never repeat themselves, to never make two albums that are alike, to always keep exploring new territories… and that’s exactly what drives me too. I’d rather make no album than to make an album that is similar to something I already did. So, I guess that’s what took me so long, I just kept on exploring until I found a spark that gave way to a new way of writing, a new kind of songs, something I hadn’t done before.
Robert Pally: What inspired the album title “Everybody Knows”?
BV: The themes I sing about on the album are things most of us all can relate to in some way. The daily rat race, stress, burn-out, social media, materialism, the pressure we all experience as an employee, as a parent, as a person… the way we deal with the constant stream of information and news about global warming, war, etc… It’s become a very social engaged album and I reflect on themes most of us deal with on a daily basis, so in a way, everybody knows what I’m talking about. But I found it very important not to sound pedantic or pompous, you know? Lyrically, I wanted to bury the listener with images, ideas, observations… so that the listener could make up his own mind on all these matters, look inside himself and see how he feels about it all instead of how I feel about it all. I think that’s what any kind of art should be doing, to create a dialogue between the messenger and the receiver and to challenge the receiver the think and feel for himself.
Robert Pally: Your new album sounds more atmospheric and cinematic than your last one. How come?
BV: Thanks, I’m glad you feel that way. As I said before, I found it important to make a record that differs from what I’d done before and I’ve always liked the arranging part of making records. Writing songs can be really really hard, whereas arranging the songs feels like a reward for all the hard work. It’s something I really really like and feel like I’m getting better at with every record. But besides that, with every new record, I’m also becoming more open to input from the musicians I’m recording with. In fact, I choose them carefully because of their wonderful musicianship. Vitja Pauwels, who by the way just released an album with the great Mark Ribot, is an amazing guitar player whose sound had a great impact on the album. And Hendrik Lasure, probably one of the most respected underdogs in the Belgian music scene, has written wonderful string arrangements.
Robert Pally: Why did you choose “Are You Still Alive” as a first single? What inspired the song?
BV: “Are You Still Alive” is questioning the impact of social media on our lives. It took me a long time to get the lyrics right, as I found it so important not to point fingers. Like I said, I’m only drawing images and exploring ideas in the hope the listener will explore these ideas with me and make up his own mind. For me, the song draws a line between my previous work and the new record and I found it important to state that with the release of it as a first single.
Robert Pally: “Slow Down” sticks out of the 11 songs with its raw and aggressive guitar sounds. What inspired the song and why this contrast?
BV: Yeah, that song was a hard one to put together. I had so many ideas and parts and I wanted to put them all in one song. Eventually, more than half of the ideas where left out in order to come to something listenable. I remember I was heavily influenced by PJ Harvey, as she’s written so many songs that are, like “Slow Down,” riff-based.
Robert Pally: Also “Falling Into Pieces” sticks out. It’s the poppiest song on the album. What inspired it?
BV: Yeah, it’s probably the only hopeful song opposed to the dark social themes on the album, right? It’s a love song, but not just a love song between lovers. I mean, it can be a love song between lovers, but recently I was told by a fan that for her, the song was about the somewhat difficult relationship between herself and her daughter. I was really moved by that, because as a songwriter, you never know all the meanings of all the songs you write and it’s always so interesting to hear new meanings.
Robert Pally: In a couple of songs, you look critical at the state of the world. What would you change in the world right now?
BV: Wow, what a question… I mean… what would I change… Probably a billion things. But I would have to think a lifetime to think of only one thing to change. And it would take me another lifetime of research too. But what I see today can maybe be reduced to a lack of respect. Or to be even more general: a lack of love. Putin, Trump or Netanyahu just don’t know how to truly care and love anyone or anything else but themselves. Or a religion that disapproves being gay, is in my opinion a religion that only loves the ones that fit in the narrow frames of that particular religion and fails to truly love and respect all human beings. Global warming and the decay of our wonderful and complex eco system is a result of a lack of love and respect for this planet with all its wonderful living creatures. So, if only we could all love and care a little more…
Robert Pally: What is your favorite song on Everybody Knows and why?
BV: That probably changes from day to day… I like “Erase” a lot, because of its viby character, Vitja playing his weird South American charango, the sonic texture of the synths… and it’s a great song to perform for a live audience. I think with this song, I got more away from my more conventional songwriting-style that, as I told you before, was heavily influenced by Dylan, Cohen and so forth. With this record, PJ Harvey was a lot on my turntable, Radiohead too…
Robert Pally: What elements must a good song have for you?
BV: A great melody and lyrics that say something meaningful. And sometimes, none of these elements are there and still it’s a great song. What I’m trying to say is that there is no recipe. It’s a magical thing… Sometimes the way a song is recorded can be a huge part of why we like a song. Sometimes, the melody and words are shit, but that one guitar riff is just so transcending. To me personally, it all comes down to capture the listener’s attention, to pull you in one way or another, it doesn’t matter how, as long as it moves you it’s a great song.
Robert Pally: The influence of Radiohead (you named your band after one of their songs) is stronger on “Everybody Knows.” How conscious was that?
BV: Not conscious at all. But it’s hard to ignore their influence, right? I’ve always been a big fan of Radiohead, especially Kid A and Amnesiac. I was 14 when those records came out and they had a huge impact on me. But when I discovered Bob Dylan a few years later, I was so overwhelmed by his genius, his singing, his lyrical style, that Radiohead somehow got more in the background. So, it was only now with this new record and the need of getting away from that image of a “songwriter with an acoustic guitar” that I came back to Radiohead I guess. Not in a way that I started listening to them more frequently, but more on a subconscious level. I know their records by heart and even though I’ve been listening to them for more than 20 years now, their music only seems to have an influence on my songwriting with this last record.
Robert Pally: Radiohead made with Kid A a dramatic change in style. Is something for you also thinkable?
BV: When it would be unthinkable, I’d rather quit.
Robert Pally: Do you come out of a musical family?
BV: Not at all. I mean, not in a way that my parents played an instrument. But my father had a great record collection that I dived into when I was a teenager. He had all the classics- The Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd… but also obscure German prog rock records by Can and even Ash Ra Tempel.
Robert Pally: What was the first song you really loved and why?
BV: Probably “Light My Fire” from The Doors, it was on one of the mix tapes in my father’s car. That song seemed to last for hours to me, I loved it! The weird organ, those long instrumental parts and Jim Morrison and his crooning voice. It was so imaginative, I wanted to listen to it over and over again.
Robert Pally: What was the first band you played in?
BV: Well, I must say I never played in a band before… I started writing songs at the age of 17 and only did my first live performance when I was 20 and by that time, I already adapted the moniker The Bony King Of Nowhere.
Robert Pally: What was the first song you wrote and what was it about?
BV: Believe it or not, but the first I wrote is on my first album and it’s called “Alas My Love.” I think it was Nietzsche who said: “He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance. One cannot fly into flying.” Well, I totally ignored his advice! I never really took the time to first learn how to write a song, simply because I think one cannot actually learn how to write a song. You can only start doing it and learn it by doing it. And once you’re doing it and you’ve written dozens of songs, you’ll realize you’re never finished learning how to write a song. It’s just a never-ending process and you’ll never be an accomplished songwriter like one can be an accomplished shoemaker. For me, it is really necessary to write one song, in order to write the next song. More like a chain reaction I guess… Jeff Tweedy has a beautiful little book on that subject called How To Write One Song.
Robert Pally: What made you wanna become a musician?
BV: I’ve always had the urge to create- it’s the most beautiful thing there is. The urge to create is what defines us as the human race. As a kid, I drew and painted a lot, I mean, I did it every day, even within the 10 minutes before leaving for school, I was at my desk drawing. Later, at the age of 12, I got more into writing and wrote two novels. But as a teenager, I got so badly into music that it never left me again. I’ve never decided to “become” a songwriter, I guess I’ve always been a songwriter and only discovered it at the age of 17. To me, of all art forms, music is by far the most powerful and most universal of all. The gift of language might seem one of our greatest realizations. It brought us conversation, literature, poetry, story-telling… But sometimes even words fall short to capture a certain mood or emotion. That’s where music is so powerful, where words fail to describe a feeling, a melody can, more than a thousand words. So, if you take words and put them to a melody… you can describe a whole range of feelings that to each individual can mean something different. You tap into a subconscious level that to me no other art form can do. Poetry comes close though, but to me, it’s just not as powerful as a song.
Robert Pally: What does success mean for you?
BV: To be proud of what you do, but also to be able to criticize what you do in order to grow and become better in what you do.
Discography:
Alas My Love (2009)
Elenore (2011)
The Bony King Of Nowhere (2012)
Wild flowers (2015) (as Bony King)
Silent Days (2018)
Everybody Knows (2014)
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