The Howling Bells

With the recent release of their self-titled album The Howling Bells have proven to be one of the most emotive bands around at the moment. However, according to vocalist Juanita Stein, "In England [the band's new home] and just generally overseas there are, like, at least four other bands who are doing what we're doing at the moment. It's absolutely nothing new at all. I guess one of them would be The Morning After Girls and I suppose even The Grates to some extent."

When it comes to The Howling Bells, the key word here is 'extreme'. As Stein explains, the band have poured out their heart and soul into the current record.

"All the songs are driven by this pretty extreme feeling, whether that be heartache or longing for something or anxiety or frustration...Whatever! I don't know how we expected it all to sound in the end, but we just wanted to record something that documented a very honest moment in time. And not necessarily always a positive one."

By this, no doubt, Stein is referring to the hardship the band experienced upon their initial move overseas.

"It was a huge change for us, more than anything it was just an enormous emotional landslide. In a way, it was actually quite traumatizing because we didn't really have a support network so we found ourselves stuck with absolutely no-one to watch our backs."

Stein explains the horrible feeling of being stuck in a foreign country with no money, no job, no friends and nowhere to live - "It was an emotional roller-coaster, that's probably the best way to explain the experience."

However, once the recording process got underway, things began to look a little more promising for The Howling Bells.

"Once we got in the studio, things started to get better for us. And in the end you realise what you're there for, to make this music that you love and want to share with other people. For us, it's all about giving it a hundred percent, personally. On the other hand, musically, it's just all over the shop!" she laughs. "I mean, it goes from country to pop to electronic to whatever I'm listening to at the time."

Stein pauses and thinks for a moment in an attempt to prove her point, "I'll give you an example," she offers, "I remember at the time that we were recording this album, I was listening to lots of early punk records and at the same time there was Joel [Stein/guitar] listening to electronic music, so the influences were kind of everywhere."

When it comes to the subject of the British music scene, Stein is quick to point out the differences between Australia and England, especially when it comes to the fans.

"The kids are totally, totally obsessed and out of control, it's really unbelievable! NME over here is like the bible for the kids! I know nobody buys it in Australia but eve if we did have an equivalent, I don't think it would ever be as popular as it is over here. It's sold out the day it comes out, you've got all these 17-year-old kids running around wanting to know what the next big thing is - music is their life."

Perhaps this is due to the fact that, as Stein claims, in England there is a hundred bands for every band we have in Australia.

"It's not about who's better, it's just that the simple fact is there is a lot more music over there. After being in England for a couple of years you realise that Australia actually has some pretty amazing bands and not necessarily the ones you hear on the radio all the time," Stein laughs.

Starky and The Mercy Arms are just a couple of the favourites on The Howling Bell's list of great Aussie bands, as Stein says, "From what we hear, these bands have definitely been creating a racket at home and a little bit overseas too. In my opinion, I think they're going to probably do really well."

Nina Bertok

dB proudly presents The Howling Bells at Jive on Sat 9 Sept. 'The Howling Bells' is out now through Liberation.