Beach House
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

Beach House

beachhouse.jpg

This sense of the enigmatic is a big part of Beach House’s appeal. For example, when it comes to albums like Bloom and its acclaimed predecessor Teen Dream, Legrand says that the only influence that shaped the songs was life itself. “We make sure that we keep the doors wide open to all experiences. We’re not very jaded people, and I think that we try to approach everything we do with the band as if it’s the first time. Making music and touring is a very exciting life. I think your mind expands – you become a fuller person because of all the varieties of things that happen to you.” Legrand is a believer in the notion that everything is connected, and that everything she and bandmate Alex Scally do influences the music in some way. “We make our art and we live it,” she says. “It’s not a part-time thing, it’s everything that we do. It’s all connected.”

Beach House often shy away from the spotlight, so I was surprised to hear one of their songs turn up on a recent episode of New Girl. When I ask Legrand why they said yes to the Zooey Deschanel sitcom, when they have famously said no to others in the past, she tells me that their philosophy, as far as licensing goes, is pretty simple. “We’re not that selective,” she says. “We don’t say yes to lots of things just because we feel like we have to [hold back]. If you’re an artist and you want to have a long career, I think it’s best to be wise in terms of how wide you spread your music. If you say yes to everything because you think that there’s no tomorrow, then maybe there is no tomorrow for you.” She pauses. “The only time we’re opposed to our music being used is if it’s for something that’s in bad taste, or bad for people. We don’t want to support anything that’s evil, and I guess New Girl is not evil.”

I ask Legrand how she sees the future of Beach House – does she see herself continuing to make music with the band for years to come? “I think music will always be part of my life and it will always be part of Alex’s,” she says. “Music has given us our lives, and so we’ll always be part of it. There are things we love outside of music, there are lots of things that have nothing to do with it, but I really believe in music, and I really think that it’s just something very special. Right now, it’s our most powerful way of expressing ourselves. I think it will always be part of our lives.”

BY ALASDAIR DUNCAN