Interview with Hello Beautiful

Ahead of Hello Beautiful’s launch of Leftover Dreams EP, we chat to Matthieu about the journey of sounds, playing electronic music in a band setup and the recording behind the latest material.

Matthieu, Beach Party was a completely different atmosphere to this. What made you transition into this production of music?

I started Hello Beautiful in 2008, back then when I was still the merch guy for Kidofdoom. Only at a later stage I started releasing music and remix’s under Hello Beautiful, my interest for electronic music came way before Beach Party so it wasn’t really a proper transition at that point in my life. I met the Beach Party guys about four years ago, they needed a bassist, I wanted to jam bass in a band that was pretty left field to what I’m use to and it was ending days for Kidofdoom, so I found myself in Cape Town playing in a surf rock band, what an experience that was.

So the full band is officially playing together live: your paths have crossed before, when you all played for Kidofdoom. Tell us about the chemistry there and how it works in Hello Beautiful.

Well, three out of five doomers in a band can only be a boogie, you know. I’ve always actually wanted Hello Beautiful to be an actual band that plays live, but I wasn’t exactly making music to suit a band and wasn’t even exactly sure how to get that whole process on the go. I did some shows as Hello Beautiful on my ace, but to be honest with you, I wasn’t really feeling it being alone up on a stage or DJ booth, look, there were some fun times, but I knew I needed to make Hello Beautiful a band, so after Beach Party I came back up North, had a jam with my brother, it was a vibe, a gooood vibe, we got Ben up, he joined the gang, and here we are now. We all kind of naturally gelled well together in the band room, coming from playing in Kidofdoom together and having a general interest in the same music, it all felt right. The live show is different to the studio EPs. We play the same songs as well as new unreleased songs, it’s pretty much the essence of a rock band playing electronic music.

Leftover Dreams feels like it’s moving in light years compared to the pace in your earlier work. How has your approach to your sound changed since your last release?

It’s still straight up synth music, 80’s & early 90’s inspired. Of course, there are collaborations, but mostly instrumental songs. I’ve discovered a lot of new music (old and new) in the last year or so, that I really like and get inspiration from and have learned to play keyboard and other instruments better in the past year. I’m a producer, I write music for artists, so from the writing side of things I feel I have improved in that department. I’ve decided to do less collaborations for this EP in particular and keep it more instrumental. All in all, I didn’t want to leave any stones unturned on the EP, hence why it took me so long to get ‘Leftover Dreams’ done.

You collaborated with Danielle Hitchcock in Beach Party where you guys had a psych surf punk thing happening. Then when the band left, you guys both streamed into electronic production. Coincidence or not?

Hmm.. not necessarily a coincidence at all, I guess we both like electronic music. I’m not bound to one genre when it comes to music, I like heaps of different music. I grew up listening to punk, still listening to punk, anything off Epitaph Records really, I thank my brother for showing me all these rad bands as I grew up.

Supernova Love EP is reminiscent of the tunes Gateway Drugs were playing in their prime. I can see you’ve also remixed some of their tracks on your Soundcloud page. Tell us about the relationship with their sounds and if/how they inspired yours?

Aah, Gateway Drugs, I have a special place in my heart for those two. We all lived together during the Beach Party and Gateway Drugs days in Cape Town, Camp Street, it was and still is a commune that just consists of people in the music industry/artists, in my days there it was: me, Dave (Gateway Drugs), Andy (Gateway Drugs), Thor (Thor Rixon), Alice (Alice Phoebe Lou) from time to time and Aaron Peters (Black Major Record Label). Alice’s father owned the house. Those were the days that we are going to be talking about far down the line one day. Everyone was kind of inspiring each other without even realising it. The house was falling apart, still is, and was also formally known as ‘African Dope Records’ before it became a commune, so all in all, there’s something really special floating around in the air at that house.

The Wêreld Records performance captures a great equilibrium of visuals and sounds. Is this the standard for all your live performances? Do you strategise what kind of atmosphere you want to create beforehand or does it come organically once on stage?

It’s still early days for the band, so we’re still figuring out all the technical aspects as we go, so for now, we taking it show by show. Wereld Records has definitely upped the game by inspiring artist to have visuals at their shows.

So, we noticed you’re drawn to remixes. How does that process work in the industry? Do you contact the artist or vice versa? What remix can we expect next?

It’s visa versa, I love doing remixes as it opens doors for both the artists. No remixes confirmed as of yet, I would love to tell you who I’ve been trying to do a remix for, and the chances are looking pretty good, but I unfortunately can’t say a word.

What can we expect from your upcoming launch?

A, epic Wereld Records show, big screen visuals, electronic music, full band and solo artists. We have been hard at work in terms of getting our new set together, we’ve also added a few new things to our live rig. Gonna be a banger!

Tell us about the recording process for Leftover Dreams: how long did it take to produce, who was involved and how do you feel about the result?

The EP was written over the last year or so, synth driven, with reasonably straightforward beats and spacey soundscape melodies. You can hear the inspiration from the 80’s and early 90’s with the variety of synths that were used and blended in with more ‘modern’ keyboards I generally like, and it has a good balance of happy and dark songs.

I took the time to leave no stones unturned, well, in my capacity. Always too much fun making music that sounds great to your ears and hoping some other people will like and appreciate it as much as you do. There are two collaborations on the EP, ‘If You Love Me Back ft. Alastair Thomas’ from Shortstraw & ‘Structures ft. Jean-Louise Parker’ from Academie, extremely stoked about that.

Alastair: “So the theme of ‘If You Love Me Back’ I guess would be love. I got out the shower one morning and my little pup was just diligently waiting there for me. The love a dog has for their human is astounding and it’s that amount of love that I want to feel for someone else (another human, at least. I love my dog that much already!) which is why, in the chorus, I refer to the person as my pup. The verses are more about how you can’t stop thinking about someone you’re in love with, just like in a horror movie, you want to look away but you can’t. You’re like a bad dream – you keep me up at night. It’s all love, man”

Jean Louise Parker: “Structures explores the shift in consciousness that is happening around the world. The ‘western man’ is becoming more aware of his surroundings and his impact on others. The lyrics explore the idea of moving forward even though it makes some feel uncomfortable”

They were both a real gem to work with, great artists working hard in the industry and all round lekker mense.

Mixed and mastered by my mentor/good friend Peach van Pletzen at Planet Awesome.