By David Seaman | Echo
You may not have heard of Andrew Belle, but you probably have heard his music. His sensitive musings and addictive melodies have served as soundtracks to television shows such as "Grey's Anatomy," "Castle," "Pretty Little Liars" and more. Belle's music is is some of the most thoughtful and intelligent indie pop to come out in a while., and as an artist he is constantly evolving. His breakthrough album "The Ladder" earned him comparisons to Mat Kearney, while his newest "Black Bear" shows influence from artists such as Bon Iver and Coldplay.
Born in Wheaton and recently married, Belle has found success in both the Chicagoland area and around Nashville. He is also, as it turns out, a 2006 graduate of Taylor University. The Echo chatted with the musician in a recent phone interview. Humble and polite, the busy Belle spoke about his time here, Christianity in his songs, work on his upcoming album and whether a Taylor concert is in the near future. This is an edited transcript.
Echo: What dorm were you in at Taylor?
Andrew: I lived on the Bergwall second floor. I was there for the second half of my freshman year all the way to my senior year, then I moved off-campus. But I spent most of my time there.
Echo: How did you come to Taylor? What interested you?
Andrew: It was my senior year, (and) all my friends were applying to colleges, and I didn't really know where to apply to. I saw some friends were going to Taylor, and I applied there sort of on a whim. It was one of a few schools I was accepted to.
I spent the first semester of my freshman year at the Fort Wayne campus. It ended up being a really great experience.
Echo: Did you have any favorite classes or teachers?
Andrew: I had a lot of interesting run-ins with (now Assistant Professor of Business) Jody Hirschy. I was kind of tough to handle . . . so I got in a lot of trouble, but ultimately I think she kind of warmed up to me towards the end. Jody Hirschy's marketing classes are definitely a highlight of my memory.
Echo: Did your marketing degree help when you went into the music business?
Andrew: I just started playing music and didn't really think twice about the business side of things, at least for the first year or so. I was waiting tables and playing at bars and restaurants, just making ends meet. Just wanted to see if it was something I wanted to spend my twenties doing. It was in the first couple years when I stumbled upon a really good business-minded manager. At that point I handed a lot of those duties over to him so I could focus on some of the more creative, artistic elements of the job. That's how I like to keep it . . . I'm not really a true artist brain, I'm not a left-brained person by nature. I'm more so a right-brained sort of person, so I do get involved in some of the day-to-day monotonous business tasks to keep things running. I try to hand over those duties to other people so I can focus on getting music. It's overwhelming trying to do all of it.
Echo: I can imagine it would, especially if you want to focus on songwriting.
Andrew: Songwriting is pretty exhausting and demanding. To take on more after that would take a superhuman job mentality.
Echo: More so than the singing?
Andrew: Singing is something I've had to learn how to do. Playing an instrument is something I have to learn to get by well enough so I can focus on the writing part. On this last record ("Black Bear") I don't think I played a single instrument on it, actually. I made all the demos and I shaped the songs the way I wanted them to sound. But when I got to the studio I actually chose people who were more talented and experienced than I am...I let them draw out the hard parts. I wrote the songs and I sang them. I sit there and oversee everything, making sure it shapes up the way I want it to be, but I usually let all the music be played by people that are more talented than myself.
Echo: When you started playing your senior year did you play around the Upland area or other parts of Indiana?
Andrew: I was involved with music stuff on campus a little bit. I did the My Generation night. Battle of the Bands was in its first or second year when I was there. Every now and then I would play little open mic things at the student union. I played an open mic at Payne's once, I remember. I was the music person on the staff of IFC; my senior year I was bringing in bands and artists for events on campus. I didn't really start playing in front of people until after college when I moved home back to Chicago and started playing in restaurants and bars back in the suburbs and the city.
Echo: Your latest album "Black Bear" came out last year. Are you on tour right now?
Andrew: I'm actually home right now (in Wheaton). I go on tour in about two weeks; I've been breaking up my touring into two week chunks lately. Probably the best year; I'll be doing ten, twelve days gone and then be home for a few weeks or a month and then repeat the process. I'm about to go on another two weeks, on the west coast this time. That will take up most of September.
Echo: Do you tour with anyone else?
Andrew: This tour I'm doing in a couple of weeks I'm just going to perform solo. My wife is going to come with me and I have a couple friends, two friends from Nashville that have a little group called Sugar and the Hi Lows that will be traveling with us and opening on the tour. It should be fun.
Echo: I know as a Christian you try to incorporate Christianity into your songs (sample lyrics from "Sister": "Over and over he says/I surround you/I surround you/I never leave my beloved/I've found you"). When you incorporate Christian themes into your lyrics do you think it's hard to make them more subtle, to make them less cliche?
Andrew: Yeah, it really is. That's something I'm really trying to spend more time laboring over and trying to do that better. It is, and I don't know why that is. I don't know, I mean most worship music is worshipful, which means it's joyful and it's upbeat and it's happy. I would say it's harder to write an upbeat, happy, positive type of song. Sometimes its easier to write sad, lamenting songs because there's just a little bit more...I don't know, there's just something about those kinds of songs that resonates with people. I'm not really a downset or depressed person but for some reason those types of themes and those types of lyrics come easier than happier, more joyful lyrics.
When I sit down and I try to write (worship) music it seems forced I will actually lean towards writing about subject matter a little bit more applicable to the darker sides of things. Sin, (human) nature and wrestling with the realities of evil..those are the kind of elements I find more interesting to write about. Not because they're more important but because they're easier for me to write about. They're more interesting from an artistic perspective for me. That's how I gravitate. I just think people can relate to that more, especially in terms of a worldwide audience and a secular audience. Non-Christians that can relate to more real, heavier subject matter. That's how life is; it's heavy sometimes, and hard, you know?
Echo: Your recently released music video for "Sister" (a single on "Black Bear") incorporates hairy werewolf people. Who came up with that?
Andrew: I just asked a guy, the director, to put together a story that was just sort of fun and not so serious, just sort of left-of-center and quirky. That's what he came up with, and we sort of went with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONo-MlmSEsA
Echo: On your blog, you said "Sister" was incorporating sort of a prodigal son element.
Andrew: In terms of a theme, yeah. When we were talking on the plot and the idea of the music video, that was something I threw out there. I didn't want to use that in a cliche way, but it seemed like a natural way we could lend some ideas from that parable. In terms of the rebellious youth, it's about making mistakes and regretting them and being welcomed back. It's sort of a timeless story, and I think most anyone can relate to it, depending on which side of it you are on.
Echo: Would Indianapolis or around Indy be a possible tour date in the future?
Andrew: Man, when did I play there last? I guess it was last October...that was almost a year ago. I'm going to do this west coast tour in September. I'm going to do an international European date in November. That's kind of going to be it for me for the year in terms of touring. I don't see me playing Indy in 2014. I'm sure that I'll find my way back there in 2015, though.
I know a lot of Taylor people come out and see the shows and that's always fun. It would be fun to come back to Taylor sometime and play a show, actually.
Echo: You're thinking about tinkering with a new album in a year or so. Do you have any ideas what it might be about?
Andrew: I don't yet. And that's usually how I write. Rather than sitting down with a theme or with a story or an idea for a song...I sit and I tinker around and I play. I'll play the keyboard or I'll mess around with various instruments on the computer software until something sort of clicks. Usually the song is derived musically at first and the subject matter comes after that. Once I have the foundation for an idea for a song I'll start humming through the lyrics. A lot of it is gibberish until...a phrase kind of comes out. I like how that sounds and I focus on that.
The foundations for songs don't really have any meaning until they take shape. I meditate about it for awhile until I wrap my head around what I want the song to be. In terms of a theme for an entire album, that doesn't come until I'm two songs in; I kind of see where things are headed. It's too early to tell exactly what the theme or the subject matter (the album) is going to take on just yet.
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You can purchase Andrew Belle's albums on iTunes and on Amazon.com
