Howling Bells climbing thePyramid of Rock

Thu 20th Dec, 2007 in Features

It seems a grand tradition for Australia’s brightest sparks to take their talent offshore, to the lights of Europe and the United States. Australian rock outfit Howling Bells are no exception.

Borne out of the remnants of Waikiki, Juanita Stei**n, her brother Joel, Glenn Moule and Brendan Picchio formed Howling Bells in 2005 and shifted to the UK to work with Coldplay and Gomez producer Ken Nelson.

The foursome slummed it in London for ten months before releasing their eponymous debut album in 2006, and quickly reaped the rewards with support slots for successful bands including the Editors and Placebo.

“The Editors was great because it was the first tour Howling Bells ever did, and that was around Europe. Not only were we playing our first ever shows but we were learning a lot, every single night we’d sit by the stage, and watch these guys play to massive rooms full of crazy German kids, or French kids, and it was a really great learning experience for a young band,” says lead vocalist Juanita.

“And it’s the same with Placebo and the Killers, who we toured with recently. To watch the level of adulation from the audience was spectacular. I guess you can only hope you achieve something that great eventually.”

The Howling Bells spent a good part of 2007 on the road, taking their live show to a multitude of European festivals including the famed Reading festival in the UK. For Juanita however the Howling Bells’ appearance at a lesser known festival in Eastern Europe was a standout memory.

“For me I had this wonderful experience where we played at this really interesting town in Slovakia, and I got the feeling that they hadn’t seen a lot of bands before. It was very, very quiet, sleepy European town. They clearly wore the remnants of death metal and everyone just having really long hair and Morbid Angel t-shirts and stuff like that, so for a girl to get up with a guitar it seemed really, really shocking,” she says. “It just felt like a very special show for us…to be so out of our element was wonderful.”

Clearly the Howling Bells place a sharp emphasis on their live show. “At the moment I can’t imagine any band wouldn’t find the live aspect absolutely integral to the survival of their band, unless you’re a completely manufactured pop outfit,” says Juanita. “I can’t imagine that live wouldn’t be absolutely essential and that’s how we feel about it. It’s a very, very different age and time for the music industry and bands and I think that the only way for us as a band to connect with an audience is to play live.”

Happily for Australian audiences, the Howling Bells are bringing their live show home for an antipodean summer. Punters can catch the outfit at New Year’s Pyramid Rock Festival, held at Victoria’s Philip Island. “It looks like a really great festival,” says Juanita.

As well as the catering and requisite drinks, highlights for the Howling Bells of playing at a festival include the opportunity to check out other bands and the general atmosphere.

“I’m really interested in a couple of bands that I discovered only when looking at the website. One of them is called the Audreys, who sound really good. And I saw the Young and the Restless the other day by accident and I was really, really into it. I thought they were really cool, says Juanita. “There’s a really wonderful open friendliness about festivals…it’s very community driven.”

After bringing in the New Year at the Pyramid Festival, Howling Bells plan on recording their second album with Dan Grech, who has worked with producer Nigel Godrich on a number of Radiohead albums, most likely in Los Angeles.

“I think it’ll be nice to spend some time in the States and kind of make a different sounding record,” says Juanita. The band are similarly excited about the prospect of working with Dan. “He’s really wanting to start his own producing career and we’re willing to be his guinea pigs,” she says.

With a new album looking likely for 2008, keep an eye out for the Howling Bells, some of our favourite expats.