Having formed The Bellrays back in 1990, Kekuala along with Bob Venuum, have been the heart and soul of the band. While they’ve achieved the sort of success that enables them to tour the world, they’ve never broken through to the next level. As such, the duo have soldiered on, joined by an ever-changing cast of players. While such instability might be frustrating or depressing, Kekuala is philosophical.
“That’s just the way it goes nowadays, especially when you’re a band that wants to do it yourself. If you don’t want to do it yourself, your record company will send you out on the road for years and years, until you all quit.” In other words, lineup instability is just another variable, and no slight on The Bellrays as people. “Bob and I are not horrible people – we’re awesome!” Kekuala chuckles.
The Bellrays have always had an almost evangelical edge to the way they present their one-off rock ‘n’ soul hybrid. Speaking to Kekuala, her sense of conviction and belief is palpable. “I need to believe what I’m doing,” she explains, “Whoever gets it, or doesn’t – more power to them. I have to know that I did what I’m here to do – I have to feel like I’ve been truthful, in my music, or just day-to-day.”
Of course, in rock‘n’roll, being truthful doesn’t preclude a little bit of fantasy, and Kekuala has a penchant for erring on the dramatic side as a lyricist. As Kekuala explains, her lyrics are often neither truth nor fiction. “Often, my lyrics are pieces of real life, but there are plenty of times when it’s more like conjuring, when the music draws something out of you.”
Despite clocking up 22 years and over a dozen albums with The Bellrays, Kekuala is still best known for one thing: her star turn on Basement Jazz’s Good Luck, which was accompanied by a video that memorably saw her play a righteous prison guard. Kekuala has fond memories of the song, and its remarkable success.
“It was a lot of fun working on it. For me it was a different way of making music, but still funky, and still cool. It helped that it was such a good song, too. The fact that it was so successful, that so many people knew about it? That was awesome.”
The experience of performing to huge festival crowds must have been remarkable, not to mention the exposure and the royalties. But, as she explains, the success of Good Luck never really blew back to The Bellrays due to their different styles.
“The Bellrays get a different crowd, you know? You go to a rock show and you see a lot of leather. You go to a dance show and get white t-shirts and smiley faces. It’s a totally different environment, and you could see how narrow the rock world was, compared to the dance world.”
As far as the concept of ‘success’ goes, Kekuala, has some refreshingly simple parameters. “Well, I guess I’m the eye of the storm: from my perspective, I just keep doing what I do with The Bellrays, whether I’m playing with Basement Jaxx or not. We’re doing this interview, I’m coming to Australia, so I guess things are all good.”
Though it’s been a while between drinks, The Bellrays are hardly strangers to our shores, a fact that Kekuala attributes to a natural affinity between the band and their Australian fans. “We last came out to Australia in 2008. Before that, it was 2007, and then before that it was 2006. Australia’s one of the places that actually gets what we do. I mean, The Bellrays isn’t rocket science, but not everyone responds to our sound.”
The soon-to-be-released Black Lightning is the ostensible reason for their latest tour. Punk greats The Minutemen used to consider their albums as no more than flyers for their live show, and Kekuala takes a similar, albeit less extreme view. “Black Lightning is a great record, and we’re really proud of it. It’s about time it made it to Australia [Black Lightning was released in the US in 2010], but really, live is where it happens for us.”
Kekuala even has fond memories of the Corner, which will once again host the Melbourne leg of their tour. But what about the pillar in the middle of the room? “That pillar! I know! It’s so annoying, but it’s historical. It has to stay now.”
As well as treating her antipodean fans to some explosive rock‘n’roll, Kekuala is looking forward to reacquainting herself with some Australian culinary specialties. “I never had a beef salad sandwich before I came to Australia. Oh, and Anzac cookies – those things are amazing. It’s like if God made a cookie…”
One last thing. Is Bob’s surname really Venuum? “Yes! It’s so rock‘n’roll, isn’t it?”
BY EDWARD SHARP-PAUL
