Bellissima: The Olga Bell 6th Grade Interview (Avoid The Covers, Get The Girl)

Photo taken by: Lippe Olga Bell demonstrating the proper technique on how to slap someone 5.


bell: noun : a hollow metallic device that gives off a reverberating sound when struck.


Bell is Olga Bell, a full human being who gives off a reverberating sound when struck. And with her new EP, as well as her live performances she has become music's equivalent of a never ending air freshener. No need to ever change the scent, or to even replace it from expiration. She will make you, and your place smell better, guaranteed. The music has a piano pedal in the past as well as a laptop click into the future. Using electronics in much the same vein as on Thom Yorke's Eraser, Bell creates perfectly crafted dynamic songs reminiscent of Bjork.

Bell was born in Moscow and grew up in Alaska, where she started playing piano at the age of 7, and by 2005 she had graduated from the New England Conservatory. From performing concertos to composing four-hand piano suites before most people knew how to ride a bike, Bell has now focused her attention on crafting delicate, yet powerful songs with her bountiful voice. In 2006, demos were released which followed with some live shows and the buzz has been growing ever since.

While Bell is planning her world domination with a full-length LP, she gave us a few minutes to explain the virtues of Ren & Stimpy, Warp Records and having a unique recessive gene. Go buy her EP which is available now, HERE !!!!!


Bell - Echinacea

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FoeWeel: Who are you, and why are you famous ?

Bell: Famous? I'm not famous. I used to be a specialist, I used to be very focused on the piano, now I'm trying to learn about lots of other things--producing, recording, synthesizing, stomping. I'm more of a tinkerer than a specialist at this point. Maybe one day I'll be sought-after for my expertly tinkering.


FoeWeel: Do you have any good groupie stories ?

Bell: When I was ten I went to an arts camp in Michigan and one day the Beach Boys came through and gave a huge campus-wide concert, and JESSIE from Full House was standing in on bass, and I almost lost my pre-pubescent groupie cookies. If you mean groupies at my shows, there was one very memorable time when somebody showed up dressed as Elmo and demanded to be tickled. No, wait, that was a dream...


FoeWeel: Who are some of your favorite classical composers ? When you were playing recitals, did you hum/sing along to the piano like Glenn Gould ?

Bell: I think about that all the time! Especially because I have a few piano students who hum along with themselves when they play and I can never decide whether it's distracting or meditative. I never hummed along, but I frequently forgot to breathe during intense moments. You'd think breathing wouldn't be an issue when you're not using your lungs to make sound ... as I do more singing and vocal recording, I've become a little obsessed with the sound of breath intake---especially on songs I know well. The last third of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" has some really wonderful breathing sounds. . .

And there are so many composers I love---Shostakovich, Stravinsky, Bach, Tallis, Ravel, Ligeti. I can be a lot more specific about moments in music that I love, but it's difficult to just pick outpeople.


FoeWeel: If you could be a superhero, or famous celebrity, which, in this day and age is the same thing, who would it be, and why ?

Bell: I don't really think much about superheroes or celebrities. I liked Powdered Toast Man from Ren and Stimpy. His echoey call and sparkly toast-powder were intriguing, his butt-first flying made me extremely uncomfortable. That whole cartoon really nailed a very rarefied vibe... ever see the episode with the horse in the wife-beater looking for a rubber walrus-protector? soooo good.


FoeWeel: Hilary, Obama or Ross Perot ?

Bell: Perot has ears like a Fennec fox, that's all I know. Big, big foxy ears.


FoeWeel: From your various covers, you seem to have a wide variety of taste in music. Who are some of your pop music inspirations ?

Bell: The first pop record I really got into was "The Bends", when I was eleven. The first thing I ever saw on MTV was Weezer's "Sweater Song", so immediately bought that album too. In ninth grade I wanted very much to fit in with the cool upperclassmen who, at the time, at East Anchorage High, were all blasting "36 Chambers", "Bobby Digital" and various other Wu-ventures--- that introduced me to hip-hop, and I also remember being obsessed with the string sample from Busta Rhymes' "Gimme Some More" and all the little tweaky noises in Missy Elliot's first record. I forget when I began listening to Bjork, I've always felt very close to her compositions. In college I discovered Aphex Twin, Squarepusher and Boards of Canada, and listened almost exclusively to Warp artists for a few years .. .. they went very well with hammering away at a piano and my new big busy-city surroundings.


FoeWeel: Your music has that subtle texture present in ambient/electronic music while also having that dynamic range. Do you think having that range of emotion helps to connect with the listener ?

Bell: I hope so. Variation is better than flatness, right? Unless people are looking to be flattened, in which case I'm useless.


FoeWeel: What talent do you have, besides the obvious musical ones, that many people don't know, or would never believe that you possess ?

Bell: I think I got the deluxe version of that recessive gene that allows you to curl your tongue and make it go sideways and up and down. Mine also folds up into two little corners that meet in the middle, like origami.

FoeWeel: You do a great version of the Running Man dance (YouTube). I think you should do a whole instructional set including the Cabbage Patch, the lawnmower, and the sprinkler. Have you ever thought of doing a dance off during one of your sets ?

Bell: Yes! I'd love to do that. If only I didn't have to be always playing or singing something. Then I could focus on DANCE. Maybe I can incorporate a good dance break into something very serious. Hmm....


FoeWeel: What are the plans for a full-length album, as well as a tour ?

Bell: Big ideas. Big big big.


FoeWeel: What's the first non-gig related thing you do when you hit a new town ?

Bell: I've only really hit towns as a classical pianist, the first order of business was always to find a piano. I've yet to hit any towns with what I'm doing now ... If it's a coastal town I'd probably ask around about sushi.


FoeWeel: What are you reading ?

Bell: I'm reading Alex Ross' "The Rest is Noise", from which I have to take occasional non-music-related breaks, but it's really good and really dense with stories of music I ought to know.


FoeWeel:What are you listening to right now ?

Bell: Right this second? High Places' myspace page. Throughout the day "In Rainbows", Clark's "Throttle Promoter" EP, Clipse, old Four Tet, Crystal Castles, Sam Amidon, Fleet Foxes.


FoeWeel: Name 5, or more albums that you love.

Bell: (in no particular order!)
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
Aphex Twin - drukqs
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief
The Notwist - Neon Golden
A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders/The Low End Theory
Tom Vek - We Have Sound
Air - music from 'The Virgin Suicides'