Interview with Peacebone
Interview with Peacebone
Interviewed by Beth Morait
A few weeks back, I discovered Swiss Psychedelic Rock band, Peacebone, and their EP “Blame The Bird”. I loved it, and after the EP review went live, I jumped at the chance of interviewing the band, to find out more about what inspired them.
Your new EP, “Blame The Bird” is about to drop and I think it’s a great release that I really enjoyed listening to. It deals with some difficult personal themes. Can you explain the themes and why you decided to explore them in music?
To begin with, we thank you for taking the time to listen to our EP. We’re thrilled that you enjoyed it!
We’ve all individually gone through a difficult period that shook us up. Our music really comes from our emotions and sensitivity. It’s something cathartic for us. It allows us to talk about our traumas and express our opinions. I think the heavy, yet nostalgic, side is just an expression of who we were during that difficult time.
We address societal themes and the oppression they can make us endure. We defend the idea that we need to search for ourselves and forge our own opinions. It’s hard to feel accepted or to live thinking you’re broken. On the other hand, we support the idea that we must dream, and that love can heal the most broken soul.
I believe that both through the music and the lyrics, we try as authentically as possible to channel our emotions to convey a message and make our listeners feel something powerful. If we can touch someone and make their life better through our experiences, we’re fulfilled. Music is a powerful remedy for loneliness and the pain this world can inflict on us.
Your sound has evolved from Classic Rock to a more fuzzy, Psychedelic sound. Was this a conscious decision to change direction, or just an evolution of what you were already doing?
It wasn’t really intentional at the beginning. Our musical tastes evolved over time, and we were in a phase where we were listening to more Stoner and Psychedelic rock. We composed a lot and noticed that quite a few new tracks were more psychedelic than what we usually do, so we decided to gather these songs into an EP. Our Classic Rock side is still there, but it is nuanced by our new influences, which bring a more airy, but sometimes also heavier, side to our artistic palette.
Switzerland is a place close to my heart, and in my opinion, one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It’s my happy place, where I feel truly at peace. Although I don’t know if that’s just idealism, as I’ve only ever holidayed there, rather than lived there. Have your beautiful surroundings influenced your musical sound, and given you inspiration? And how does your local scene support new music and emerging bands?
The Riviera, where we live in Switzerland, is clearly a beautiful place. We tend to forget how lucky we are to be able to swim in the lake in the summer and hike in the mountains in the winter. It’s definitely impossible not to be influenced and inspired by our surroundings.
Vevey is considered the last bastion of French-speaking Switzerland when it comes to Rock. There’s a lot of excitement around the local bands. We all know each other, and there’s a certain rivalry between us, sometimes positive and other times not. We’re lucky to have great clubs for our beginnings, which has helped us a lot.
You played the Montreux Jazz Festival after the release of your last album “Warm Paint.” I’ve always wanted to attend that Festival, as it’s the second largest Jazz Festival in the world, attracting famous international acts. How did it feel to play at such a prestigious event?
The Montreux Jazz Festival is an important event for all the young people in our region. It’s where we have our first parties in the summer and discover artists on the free stages. For us, it was a goal to perform at Montreux Jazz on the Super Bock Stage, which is the stage for emerging artists. In a way, we fulfilled a childhood dream. It’s especially incredible to have access to the backstage of this prestigious festival. It’s truly gigantic, and it’s buzzing with staff everywhere.
Your sound is a lovely blend of so many musical styles and elements. Which musicians or bands have inspired and influenced you to create this sound?
The list would be long if we had to be exhaustive. We all have different influences that can range from musical theater to Hardcore Punk. Mainly, we all love Rock, but in different forms. Our singer prefers Krautrock and Punk, but also loves the band Paramore. Our guitarist, on the other hand, is into Stoner and Classic Rock, mentioning All Them Witches and Rival Sons. We would say that our main and shared influences are Led Zeppelin, All Them Witches, Rival Sons, and Marmozets.
You’re in the process of recording a 4th release. Tell us about that – is it keeping to the Psychedelic sound? And will it be based around a central theme, or more a free- flowing collection of songs?
The new album is still heavily influenced by Psychedelic sounds. We would even say that some tracks go further in that direction. However, there are also more Alternative Rock tracks with a bluesy tint. It’s sort of a collection of songs that, by some twist of fate, creates a very cohesive whole. You can really hear the continuity from the more Psychedelic EP. We
would say that we’ve found our sound and style on this album by blending Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock and Classic Rock.
I’d love to be able to see you live one day. Have you got any festivals or performances lined up in the coming months either in Switzerland, or internationally?
We have the release party for our EP on January 31, 2025, and we’ll also be playing at the ‘Passion Vinyles’ festival on June 15. Other concerts are in the works, including ones for the end of the summer in Zurich and Winterthur.
How does the collaborative process work for you as a band? Is one of you the main songwriter? Or do you start with a riH and build up from there? And which comes first, the lyrics, or the tune?
Our guitarist Samuel Lucchini is the most active when it comes to composition. He brings the majority of the ri?s and parts to the rehearsals, and we work on them together to turn them into songs. There’s a phase where we prepare our ideas to present them at rehearsal and then arrange them together. Rebekah then adds her vocals to the demos the band creates.
You have 2 albums, an EP, and a new release in the mix, along with a host of live concerts already played. What’s next? What’s your biggest dream for the band right now?
We would really love to tour in Europe. We have a lot of scattered concerts throughout the year, but we’d like to start booking more dates and break out of our label as a local band to become an international one.
We want to live off our music and share it with more people around the world. We’ll release this EP, then an album, which we hope to promote with our first big tour.
You do all your own recording, at your own studio. Do you find that this helps you create a record that sounds exactly as you want? And would you like to experiment with working collaboratively on recording with other producers?
We started recording ourselves mainly due to budget reasons at first, but then we got hooked and even developed a passion for it, especially our drummer Simon and bassist Julien. It helps to get exactly what we want, but it also comes with its own set of challenges. We have a small space for recording, not necessarily the best equipment, and it takes a lot of work to do everything ourselves. Our studio is a bit like us. It evolves over time and becomes more and more efficient.
We’d really love to record abroad in a huge studio. We hope to have the means to do so one day.
You’ve been around for a few years now as a band and have gained lots of different experiences in the music world. What have been your biggest struggles as musicians to this point? And do you have any advice for brand new emerging bands to help them on their journey?
The hardest thing is managing to do everything yourself. It requires so much knowledge and skill to be an artist nowadays. You need to know much more than just making music if you want the chance to be heard. It’s so hard to stand out and create opportunities.
We would advise artists to try their hand at everything. All the skills they develop will help them and allow them to succeed in a DIY way. It’s the only way forward. You always have to find solutions and ways to push projects forward despite the lack of money.
Where’s the best place for people to find out more about you, and access your music?
We mostly share all our updates on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peaceboneband
To listen to our music, everything is available on Spotify and Bandcamp, where people can also support us by buying our merch and downloading our songs.
A huge thanks to Peacebone for taking part in this interview! If you’d like to find out more about the band, and their most recent EP, check out my review here, or head over to any of the links below!
Photo by Angini Pai
LINKS: