Belleruche
Belleruche are perfectly described as handmade hip hop blues soul, like Sarah Vaughan, Django Reinhardt and Cut Chemist stuck in a lift with Russian beer and a sampler.
Belleruche’s distinctive sound is a self-styled brand of handmade hip hop blues soul: think Sarah Vaughan, Django Reinhardt and Cut Chemist stuck in a lift with Russian beer and a sampler.
The trio is made up of Kathrin deBoer (vocals), Ricky Fabulous (guitar) and DJ Modest (decks); the band was formed after Ricky and Modest, who played bizarre turntable and guitar sets in London bars, bumped in to Kathryn in the market one day. She did some singing over a cup of tea with the pair and Belleruche was born.
Initially, Belleruche released a handful of extremely limited 7” records on their own Hippoflex label, including the ‘Four Songs EP’. These individually numbered 45’s (with hand-printed sleeves) quickly sold out in the UK’s independent record stores and attracted a cult following in the UK and Europe, having been hand-distributed by the band members.
In 2007 Belleruche signed to Tru Thoughts and their debut album ‘Turntable Soul Music’ was released in July of that year to fantastic reactions from fans and the media alike, garnering admiring reviews both at home and abroad and becoming the fastest-selling debut album in the label’s history. ‘Turntable Soul Music’ comprises songs inspired by rum induced nights, many of which have been written in train carriages, dubious minicabs and pub backrooms around the UK. The songs on the album have been forged and reworked in the band’s electrifying live shows, from Belleruche’s initial weekly residency in the Salmon and Compass in Angel, London, to gigs all over Europe. If Lamb and Portishead are your thing, then Belleruche’s debut will be right up your street; it’s pure soulful Jazz with scratch and textures aplenty. Influenced by the likes of DJ Vadim to Nina Simone to Hendrix, ‘Turntable Soul Music’ is like a weird trawl through a dusty basement full of the best records you’ve never heard of, whilst a voice you can’t quite pin down sings hooks you can’t forget.
In November 2007 Belleruche returned from a triumphant stint in Australia where they supported the legendary Fat Freddys Drop on tour and, never a band in danger of gathering any moss, spent the remainder of 2007 taking their alluring live set on a series of dates around Europe and beyond.
March 2008 saw the release of “Northern Girls” (the final single and one of the biggest hits from “Turntable Soul Music”) and another Fat Freddys support slot, this time playing to 5000 fans at Hammersmith Apollo in London. Belleruche played a range of 2008 festival dates at home and abroad, including Glastonbury and the Montreux Jazz Festival, where they struck up an impromptu jam with The Raconteurs and Vampire Weekend that was reportedly one of the highlights of the festival; and their star started to rise even higher with the release of their highly-anticipated sophomore album “The Express“in October 2008. The first single “Anything You Want (Not That)” was awarded the coveted Single Of The Week spot on iTunes and the album hit Number One in the iTunes electronic album chart. With major daytime radio support including plays by Nemone on BBC 6Music, Belleruche’s second, more bluesy album has delighted the old faithful while also bringing them to the wider World’s attention and garnering many new fans.
One such new convert to the Belleruche magic is BBC Radio 2’s Mark Lamarr, who brought them in for a live Maida Vale session for his God’s Jukebox show in May 2009. This year has also seen the tireless band tour various spots around the UK and Europe so far, with a string of dates also coming up in the USA.
Fans can look forward to a new Belleruche EP in the Autumn, previewing material from album number three and showcasing yet another evolution in the Belleruche sound.
For bookings please contact serena@primary.uk.com
Photo: Nick Roberts
nick.roberts@yahoo.co.uk