Interview with Batbait
(Photo copyright: Vanja Kadic)
I have been a big fan of Batbait since I have across their music - I have lost count of the number of times I have gone through their entire discography (their debut EP, Paradise, their first full length album, Dirty Clothes, and all the singles) and watched their music videos. When the single, Telly, is suggested on YouTube, I am more than happy to listen to the song again.
I enjoy Batbait’s ability to experiment with sounds - whether it’s feedback, reverb or pedals - the band are able to mix them with catchy riffs, for example, Goodboi with the guitar feedback over the rhythm section before coming back into the song. There is also the more hypnotic side of Batbait in songs such as Sinking In and Outside where the guitar motif is lingering in the song.
The vocals added by guitarists, Gianna Brühwiler and Sandra Keller, add another element to the music - the lyrics seem playful on the surface, or at least how they’re delivered, but allow the band to release their frustrations (Something’s Dripping From The Ceiling, Telly, Dirty Clothes).
Next to the music, Batbait already have a range of great music videos in which they are heavily involved in the creative process and use their creative backgrounds in the band’s image.
Later on this year, the band will be releasing their second full length album, Working In The Garden, and I’m looking very much forward to it. I was able to catch Batbait live at Stolze Open Air in July, alongside Mord Fuzztang and Mount Jacinto, and they showcased some of the new songs during their wonderful performance.
I would like to thank Gianna (and the band) for taking the time to reply to my questions, here’s enough of my rambling and now the interview.
(Photo copyright: Noemi Staub)
Introduction/the early days
Who’s in the band (on which instruments/are you in other bands/have other projects?)?
Simona Bischof (bass), Gianna Brühwiler (guitar, vocals), Sandra Keller (guitar, vocals), Alanah Rüttimann (drums). We don’t have any other band-projects. Sandra sometimes does DJ-Sets with cassettes. Alanah once had a band called “The Late Late Show” and Simona was active in a band project as a teenager. We all have a history of doing art, photography, ceramics or doing exhibitions so we all were active in different kinds of projects for the past years. But currently Batbait is our main project where we try to gather all of our experience and put it into the band.
Tell us about the history of the band
Simona, Sandra and Gianna met at ZHdK, we studied Art Education together. Even though we’ve talked (more or less seriously) about starting a band for a couple of years, it was only in our last year in 2018 when Sandra and I (Gianna) started jamming a bit during a residency in a former, empty museum.
The head of Art Education really wanted us to play for our graduation party in June 2019 so we said yes and started writing songs in a rehearsal space we spontaneously found and rented. Everything happened really fast, Simona was in China at that time and when she came back in February we told her: you’re in a band now, Simona, we have to get some songs ready for June. I think we played 9 songs or so, two guitars, bass and a drum computer. Oh and also a keyboard.
After that we decided to record a small EP and released Paradise. We played a couple of shows after that and then when Covid hit, we decided to look for a live drummer. We made a story on Instagram, Alanah texted us and then she stopped by in our rehearsal. We just wanted to chat a bit but then we started jamming and that’s the moment we wrote Goodboi. Then she joined the band.
What are your memories from the beginning/from the first rehearsals?
Sandra had a loop pedal which also had some beats. I (Gianna) borrowed my cousin’s guitar and amp. We tried to jam in our atelier at ZHdK and it was a bit of a challenge to find some space when we were just alone and wouldn’t disturb other people. We really had absolutely no clue about all the technical stuff like mixing desks and how to connect mics to it etc. so I remember we had to dive into that a bit. While jamming we didn’t have much orientation, we just started and recorded stuff we liked with our phones. We loved this DIY-approach so much, it was all so improvised and we just instantly knew that we really want to do this and it has potential. Our band has always been evolving around a certain naivety and I think it is important for us to keep that, even if we are progressing and gaining more knowledge and “professionality”. It’s something quite rare in the music world but we feel like it makes us and our music accessible on an emotional level.
Did it take long to know what musical style/direction you wanted to go in?
For us it was never about having a specific idea of how we want to sound, we just did what was within our skills and reach (also equipment-wise). We did have common music we liked and tried to work with these references a bit as a starting point, but it was quite random what developed from it. The main goal was just to try out and do something and create our own universe and I feel like that is a never-ending process. But in our opinion that is much more interesting than having the goal to sound like a certain band or become the perfect “garage rock band”. I think as a band we can always ask ourselves: How can our music be distinguished within the genre we’re getting referred to from the outside? And that would be the main urge when creating music.
How was the experience to record the Paradise EP? Was it your first time in the studio (not just as a band)?
It was the first time recording for us and it was so much fun. We did this at our rehearsal space with our friend Lukas who set up the whole thing and used this setting as a learning field himself. We recorded all four songs in one day and that was it.
A few months after the release, the pandemic took hold - do you think it had much of an impact on your music?
We had time to rehearse with Alanah as a live drummer and I think that changed a lot for us musically. And it was the time we decided to record an album! So it was a moment where we had time to settle, rehearse and explore our sound a bit because we didn’t play any shows.
What are your recollections of the Cold Storage Sessions?
That was the first time we recorded anything in this formation. So we were a bit nervous about how it would turn out. We planned it together with The Flying Tiger Claw, a former band that was also part of the Cold Storage label. They were in charge of the recording and mixing, we filmed their session and they filmed ours and I was in charge of editing the videos. The idea of the Cold Storage label is to connect musicians and that everyone contributed something to the label, such as writing, filming, programming the website etc. so these sessions were also a form of using our resources as a DIY-label, working together and learning from each other.
Were the Softness EPs planned after the idea of recording Dirty Clothes?
Initially we just wanted to record some songs and release music, the idea of an album developed during that process so this came a bit hand in hand. We recorded some demos for Irascible Music because we already were interested in working together and then this idea came up to do the EP-thing. But it was also more a sort of release-strategy. We knew at that time that we’d release an album but we weren’t finished yet so we just started releasing parts of it (because we’re so impatient about that haha).
What are your memories of recording Dirty Clothes? How did it feel to have the album in a physical format on vinyl?
It was a very intimate and uncomplicated setting and in total a process of around 8 months as we were recording it in pieces. Whenever we had time we would go to our rehearsal space and record some parts. It was also a bit chaotic and harder to gain a focus this way and suddenly the album was there so that was quite different this time. I think we learned so much while recording Dirty Clothes and it was important for us to be in a safe space while recording it. Having this learning curve pressed into a physical form was (and still is) very touching. Also creating the ceramics artwork together, modelling clothes, glazing them and finally shooting the cover was such a beautiful process. We were all so proud of it!
(Dirty Clothes; Softness, Pt. 1; Softness, Pt. 2 covers)
Writing and recording
How do you compose your songs? Do you have a particular method?
We usually get together and start jamming. Maybe we start with a beat or bass riff and the others join playing or singing and then we might change the beat again or some melody etc. until we feel good with it. This might take a few minutes or many hours. We make a quick recording and then we would listen to it individually for some days and think of how we could develop a song around that jam. Often we then compose a second part to it and then arrange everything and start connecting. We usually try to find out what could be the uniqueness of the song and then try to focus on that and how we can really make that uniqueness stand out.
Throughout the discography, there is quite a variation of effects and exploration of feedback in the songs - how do you integrate it into the song-writing process? Are you often on the lookout for new pedals and playing with the feedback to find the right sounds?
Yes, that can be a crucial part of developing new songs. We also try to look for sounds that are a bit weird or over the top, like very aggressive distortions in combination with lots of reverb, chorus or ring modulation for example. Sometimes a new setting can be the start of a new song and it can help to generate new ideas. We always love to surprise ourselves with new and unconventional sounds and this almost experimental access opens so many perspectives for new songs. I think as we never really had a fear of doing things “the wrong way” like how you’re supposed to be setting up your pedals etc. and that is very much of an advantage. Because then it is all about actually listening how your instrument sounds and what moods and textures it can create.
How are the lyrics composed (especially with two vocalists)?
Sandra and I usually write lyrics individually, whenever we feel like it. I usually think about lyrics when I’m walking and observe my thoughts and my surrounding. And once I find a sentence or an expression I really like, I take this as a starting point for a theme I could write about. But sometimes we just sing random words while jamming and try to find out what rhythm and style we want to sing to that song and then afterwards write a text that fits the idea. We usually just go with what the person writes and try not to interfere too much, so we do have different approaches and different styles. Sandra is strong in telling stories or describing funny and absurd situations and my approach is maybe a bit more abstract or melancholic. But I feel like we also learn from each other and that we started to influence each other’s styles a bit more with the upcoming album.
Was it always the idea to write the lyrics in English?
Yeah, that was the language we started with and sticked to ever since. We never really discussed it thoroughly. This might sound strange but for me personally it feels easier to write lyrics in English than in my mother tongue, because I don’t get lost in my expectations to find the perfect expressions and meanings. I like to listen to how the language and different words sound and go with that, which is maybe also a way of trying to find a certain simplicity in it.
It seems that a lot of frustrations are mixed in with the lyrics but come out in a “playful” sort of way. How would you describe them?
I was thinking about this a lot when writing the new album. I think for for us it is interesting to work with contrasts within a song and challenge the expectations of an audience – musically but also lyrically. Sometimes it feels weird creating a joyful and quirky song to serious lyrics, but it also creates tension and friction, because it is not the obvious way. How content and form meet each other is an important question in all artistic work. They can harmonize or they can collide. I think we prefer a certain cheekiness and playfulness or cuteness in our appearance as well. It fits our personalities or how we think and interact with each other. We’re taking our music very serious but we’re not too serious people and I think this can be very refreshing also to see and hear on stage.
Music videos/Mini LP/Dirty Clothes merch
With the music videos, there is a lot of involvement in the creative process - what are your feelings about the videos? What have been your most memorable moments from making the videos?
Making the video for Dirty Clothes was so much fun and so interesting to do. We just worked a bit on that idea which was inspired by a photographer, Barbara Probst, who sets up multiple cameras around a scene and then triggers all cameras at the same time. We asked a couple of friends and sent them the concept for the video and then we just met and the whole thing was so improvised, we spread into the rooms of the Lochergut-laundry-basement and everyone thought of a small action, happening and an angle of how to record it. And then we filmed it for around 10 seconds, all at the same time.
We had no idea how it would turn out, so there is a certain randomness in the video but it worked so well in the end. That was such a cool happening! But other videos were quite fun as well, the clay-dance for Talk for example. And also the one-take-reverse-shot for Goodboi, that was such a brain twister to plan, even if it appears to be a very simple video in the end.
Your creativity also goes beyond the music videos - tell us about the band’s website.
Aah, the website – our friend Luisa Bider created it for us, she chose this old Windows-aesthetic and made some super cute details like the magic cursor!
Also on the web-site, there is the world’s smallest LP - where did the idea come from? Are they still available?
I once saw a video on Instagram from a K-Pop artist who did these very small keychain-CD of their album. You can scan them via NFC-Tag and download the album and other things. As we weren’t releasing an EP or something bigger that year we wanted to do a little special gadget and handcrafted the mini-LPs with the two last singles and linked it onto our new website. We still have some available.
It seems that you’re able to use a lot of other types of creative output for the band - was this always intended? How important for you are the “non-musical aspects” to the art in general?
We’re very visual people and music creates images. We just really love extending our creativity in all aspects for this band. We have so many ideas in mind and so it just comes very easily to us to develop an aesthetic that forms Batbait to a whole piece of work. Making art has always been part of our lives, we teach art, film or have backgrounds in ceramics and as long as we have our own ideas, we do artworks, videos, photos etc. mostly by ourselves, because we have the skills to do so, and therefore we have a close relation to these images.
We also think creating our own “content” for the band is making it feel more personal, it’s a bit annoying sometimes to see this kind of “corporate-design”- style all over social media, following the same guidelines over and over. But this is a general social media problem, and the current music industry just undermines all creativity of the small, independent artist.
In one interview you mentioned that it would be ideal to have one day a week dedicated to the band - have you been able to pursue this aim? Have your thoughts changed about it?
Hm, I don’t recall the context of this quote anymore and am not sure what we meant by that... I think there are two aspects to this: Spending time together and doing work for the band. Now I try to block a day once a week at my workplace because I do a lot of administrational work for the band, such as funding, meetings, visual assets, filling out forms etc. Having a common day during the week is probably a bit difficult to claim as we work in different institutions & schools. I think the challenge of band-work is that it is a type of work you need to be very flexible, and it wouldn’t really work in a classic week-structure. When on tour we usually have a day together per week or even more, so in that sense this scenario is already the case. But then we have weeks without touring and in those times we’re fine with one evening of rehearsing. But it is very unusual that we don’t see each other for more than three weeks and usually after two weeks everyone already is like “we haven’t seen each other for such a long time!”.
How was it to win the Demotape Clinic in 2021?
It was a strange moment for us, as Alanah just joined the band and we were in the middle of the pandemic. So we were still figuring out a lot of things. The following months were quite exhauasting: Producing the album, hopping from to interviews, getting an agency and label, managing the bookings for 2022 together and starting to play gigs again in between. But this just happened to become our motto: head first through the wall. And in the end it was actually a great moment to get this visibility and to be able to share our journey and our process as a group.
What have been your highlights so far with Batbait?
The coolest concert we had was at Château Sonic, everything was such a vibe: the place, the people, the music, the crowd. And of course it’s always special to play with bands we knew from a time when we didn’t exist as a band yet or listened to as teenagers like Ty Segall. And playing a Support show for Warpaint, like whaat?! Or getting to hang out with Preoccupations and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. It’s just something that always feels a bit surreal, when you have this strong connection with an artists music and then you share the stage with them!
Working In The Garden artwork
The upcoming album
Tell us about your upcoming album. (The name, date of release) How would you describe it?
It is called Working In The Garden and will be released on the 31st October! We would say it is a very versatile album with many different new sounds. Also it has some quite radical moments – very angry, very minimalistic bus also really soft and warm moments. It’s raw, not too detailed but still very aware and precise in the decisions that we made. And we feel like it works so well as a whole, how the songs and moods come together.
Where and with whom did you record it?
It was recorded in Basel at Alterna Studios with Philippe Laffer. We recorded all 12 songs within eight days. Michael Gallusser (QFLM Studio) did the mixing and Jamie Hyland (Caskré) from Ireland mastered it.
What did you do differently this time round in comparison to the other recordings?
It’s the first time we deliberately wrote the songs to create a whole album. So we knew that it’s going to be an album and also treated the songs as part of a “bigger picture”, thinking about what role each song could have. I think this allowed us to explore more extremes between the quiet and the noisy and create a connection between the two. It was also the first time we took 10 days off to go to a studio. We recorded the songs live (except the vocals), which we found to be a really good way of recording for us. It gives a different energy than if we recorded every instrument separately. We didn’t know how it would be because timewise we weren’t completely ready when we got to the studio.
We knew for example that we wanted a short, very minimalistic song on the album but didn’t have one ready – so we wrote How Did My Apartment Get So Expensive spontaneously one morning at the studio. In the end, we had two days left, so it went really well.
On which label and in which formats will it be released?
We’ll release it on Irascible and you can purchase the album on vinyl. We’ll also have a small stock on cassette tapes.
You began playing live earlier in March this year - how did it feel to be back on stage? Have you tested out some of the new songs live?
It feels so good to play live again! I think we have gained new energy and of course we’re trying out new songs as well. We’ve been working on them so much for the record, listening to them over and over in the mix and discussing details to bring them into a certain form. Playing the songs live now gives them some freedom again and we love that they sound a bit different each time we play them. This is such an interesting process!
You have a lot of concerts lined up for the summer - are there any in particular that you’re looking forward to the most?
Festivals are always a surprise, because you never know who’s going to be there and in what mood the audience will be. But we’re really excited to play the midnight slot at Pod’ Ring this year in Bienne. And our 20-year-old-selves are quite excited to support Osees at Poolbar Festival!
Links:
Related articles: