Inspired #281 - Bellatrix
Alt-pop artist Bellatrix has released her electric new single ‘Bad Love’ - where she continues to narrate her experiences within an abusive relationship. Anchoring her emotions from this experiences through her music, this exciting track is another example of how she is pioneering her own wave of pop music. She took a moment to talk to us about the inspirations behind her music.
Who are your top three musical inspirations and why?
I can not give you my definitive top three, but I can definitely give you three of my top! One of them is Björk. The multidimensionalism of the world she exists within as an artist, that feels simultaneously cosmic alien and earthly human, has always struck a chord with me. And how her music is dripping with eroticism yet manages to exist outside of performance for the male gaze. Another is Nina Simone. The fluidity of her musical expression, and how she moves through musical space with such virtuosity whilst being so authentic with each note. And her truth bringing and activism through music. My first real learning about the civil rights movement came from Nina, not from school. And my third is Charles Mingus. My first instrument is double bass, and Mingus was always one of my favourite players. But also one of my favourite composers. His freedom from so many of the rules that exist in music was inspiring to me as a young person trying to find my own creative voice.
Is there a certain film that inspires you and why?
The Matrix! I remember the Matrix coming out when I was a kid, and watching it over and over and over again. This quote really stuck with me “What you know, you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life—that there is something wrong. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.” As a polyamorous genderfluid bisexual adult, and now knowing how The Matrix is a story of transness, it makes a lot of sense that I was so obsessed with it!
What city do you find the most inspiring and why?
I don’t have a most inspiring city, because I couldn’t possibly choose just one! Berlin was the last city I visited before the pandemic that isn’t where I live or where I’m from and it’s a place I’d definitely love to spend more time. There are a lot of artsy folk making really interesting work in Berlin, and as a visiter it felt easy to access counter cultural spaces. Being a musician I have the privilege of usually getting invited to the underneath layers of the fabric of the cities I visit, but still some places feel a lot more penetrable than others. The general work-art-life balance seemed to be much more weighted towards art and life in Berlin, which I found really inspiring. I don’t know how much of that is my own projection though!
Who is the most inspiring person to you and why?
By now you can probably notice that I don’t like to attribute an absoluteness to things hah! Recently I am and have been particularly inspired by author, doula, black feminist, and just incredible human being Adrienne Maree Brown. Her book Pleasure Activism has been a life changing read for me (read it, everyone!). I discovered Pleasure Activism because one of the things at the centre of the book is Audre Lorde’s text “Uses of the Erotic, The erotic as Power”, which made a huge impact on me when I discovered it 6 or 7 years ago. The learning from these humans has been a really important part of me being able to move towards existing fully as who I am, and learning how to both take up space and to actually create more space than I take up.
What were your inspirations when writing your new track?
I’m usually moved to write in response to things that I feel, and at the time of writing Bad Love I was deeply entangled in an abusive relationship. It was at a very specific point in time, where I did actually know very clearly in my mind that I needed to find a way out. But I couldn’t see the door. Articulating it through song became a potent tool for me, because once I’d said it out loud in that way there was no way I could slip back into denial.
How would you like to inspire people?
We see such a narrow shard of reality in dominant narratives of what it is to be a person. Seeing various people in my life relentlessly love the parts of themselves that might otherwise be deemed unlovable has been so important for me, as I’ve learned how to show up for myself in that way (still learning!). I hope that in bringing myself as a whole human, publicly, and as much as I possibly can, I can contribute in some way towards other people feeling able to allow themselves in that way. As imperfect. As queer. As ugly. As beautiful. As messy. As broken. As whole. And so much more.