Bedouin Soundclash On Political Songs And Mashed Up Brains

02/01/08 2:00pm

by Aisha Khan (CHARTattack)

Bedouin Soundclash have solidified their place in Canadian music with the release of their third album Street Gospels. It was recorded in Toronto and New York and it features the talents of Beastie Boy collaborator Money Mark, Alexisonfire's Wade MacNeil and The Maytones' Vernon Buckley. The LP boasts a more polished sound than their previous efforts. ChartAttack got a chance to chat with anxious and excited bassist Eon Sinclair when he enjoyed a few weeks off at his Pickering, Ontario home.

ChartAttack: You guys have been at this for about eight years now, and finally released your third album. What's the feeling in the band right now?
Eon Sinclair: We really just wanted to get it out. We actually thought it was going to be released in 2005. We've been sitting on some of these songs since then. But we wanted to get it exactly the way we wanted it, and set it up for wide release. Basically, we're really excited to see that current and new fans are reacting well!

So, the new songs are doing well in the live sets?
On our first op to do so [play them live], we avoided it. Like I said, some of these songs have been written since 2005, but we wanted make sure that the album was new when it dropped. Over the last year we've been dropping in the singles ["Walls Fall Down," "Lullaby"], just three or four songs during the festival sets, and noticed a good reception. On MySpace, those and "Until We Burn" went over well because some people were already familiar, but people couldn't really react to some of the others. But now I'm noticing more singalongs.

The intervals between your tours and albums seem to be getting shorter. Did you notice more efficiency in the recording process this time?
Sonically, we're just in a much different place now. With more shows played, we know our instruments better and how to manipulate them with sounds that fit better. The first studio experience was daunting, but we've done a bunch of recording since 2002 in different studios, and gotten to know how to use the soundboard. It's all a little more polished. In terms of influences, Jay listened to a lot more gospel. We were getting into a lot of older soul and R&B, and a lot of that came through in terms of a real Motown feel on the record.

This album's produced by Darryl Jenifer (Bad Brains). How did that dynamic work?
Really more of a co-production. He offers a lot of suggestions but in the end leaves it up to us. We recorded in Woodstock (New York), and a producer in their home studio is much more valuable because every trick that's available to them is at hand.

Is that Bad Brains mash-up album on the horizon at all?
Yeah, we haven't really set a deadline for that. Bad Brains are on tour again! We recorded six or seven demos when we did dates down there [New York] in 2005 and 2006, and we received two other mixes back. So, we're working on it casually. Realistically, I don't expect anything until next year.

Politics have always been a centrepiece in your music, lyrically and in your performances [such as at the Toronto rally calling for intervention in Darfur]. Is that social conscience just inherent to reggae and punk?
A little bit. There's an undertone and an overtone. At the same time, I feel like politics is something to avoid because it can be discommending on your society, like what's happening in Darfur. Politics is your interpretation of what's going on. It's not like we sit and discuss writing songs about such and such issues. But yeah, the songs definitely have messages that come through.

I hear chopping in the back. What are you cooking there?
I'm chopping vegetables! I haven't decided what I'm going to do with them, though. It feels like an omelet kind of morning.