BREAKING FREE OF TRADITION

If you’ve been to any music festival in BC over the past two summers, you’ve probably seen The Belle Game. After a seriously impressive list of shows, opening slots, and fests, they finally have a full-length coming out this October.

Founding member and lead vocalist Adam Nanji says this about their upcoming release Ritual, Tradition, Habit: “Our first two EPs were attempts to define a sound for the band. With this album its what we’ve been meaning to do the whole time. Its a twelve-song collection that really represents us and the direction we plan on going.”

The title came out of a series of story-sharing conversations and discovering a common theme among them. “Trying to distance yourself from what influences you,” the singer explains. “It’s the idea that when we are born and growing up, our parents and friends embed different ideas and rituals. We grow up and hold onto them but we come to a point where we need to recognize those things in ourselves and decide if they really represent you or are worth holding onto anymore.”

The album was recorded in little sessions over the course of a year; then, at the end, the band looked back on their progress and formed it into one piece. It was produced by John Raham (drummer of the Be Good Tanyas) in his East Vancouver studio. “Every time we had a new batch of songs we’d go out there, record, and then we went and looked back over everything we did over the year and began to unify, master, and get the sound. We tried a lot of things in the studio and tried for what kind of made us The Belle Game.”

The Belle Game will release Ritual, Tradition, Habit on October 9 on Boompa Records. The band will perform at the Rio Theatre on November 16.

By Jessica Brodeur