The gang from BELLAROSA were kind enough to answer some questions I sent their way.

If you've never heard of them before, check out their myspace at: www.myspace.com/BellarosaBand.

Bellarosa is fronted by female singer,  Cameron Harris.  When I first heard her amazing voice I thought, "if Bailey's Irish Cream had a voice, this would be it".  She brings to the band a level of talent and mastery that is rarely seen in local music.  Which is one reason I don't think Bellarosa will be a local/regional band for long.

The group is rounded out by Ash on guitar, Masie Autorino on drums and Aaron Wright on bass.

Their sound is rich, flowing and kick ass!

Check them out on June 7th at Three Bears Cafe in Marietta, at 9pm.  They'll be sharing the stage with PULL and SATELLITE DISTRICT.   Three Bears Cafe is located at: 105 N. Park Square NE; Marietta, GA 30060, (678-290-0017.   It's gonna be a killer night with three amazing bands, so come check out BELLAROSA!

You'll see that their individual personalities shine in this interview - ENJOY!

sherry

 

Masie - Since April of 2007, I believe. The current lineup has been intact since...I'm not sure, actually! I believe Aaron W. joined as the bassist July of that year or somewhere around there.

 

Aaron - Well, I joined about six months ago, Masie joined a few months before that and I think the idea of a band was born about a year or so ago.

 

Cameron - I joined in March 2007 when the band was just a concept for the most part. The final four of us though have been together since August 2007.

 

Ash – The project started back in late 2005 with the development of a concept album but it wasn't until I started looking for other musicians that the songs were developed into complete tracks.  The current line-up (Cameron, Masie, Aaron, and I) didn't get together until early 2007.  That is when we really started to breathe life into what would become Bellarosa.  We've been going non-stop ever since!

 

2.        How did your band form?  (one person had the idea, several friends got together...?)

 

Masie - Ash and Julie (our original bassist) worked together on The Christian Pulse, Ash's website, and both wanted to get a band together. Ash's sister Cameron just happened to sing and liked the concepts and early demos her brother had written. Julie contacted me through Myspace, where I mentioned in passing that I played drums, I think (I'm not the best self-marketer in the world). After Julie left the band, Aaron W., as he will tell you himself, "...just answered an ad on Craig's List." Seems kind of laissez-faire, doesn't it? I like to think of it as "all falling into place naturally". That works.

 

Aaron - Basically, Ash had an idea for some songs which he put into a sort of concept album of several songs and he wanted to get a project going to try and get the music to coalesce and then get it out to the people.  He started looking for members and Cameron decided to sing (fortunately for us), Masie was recruited, and all I had to do was answer a Craigslist add.  After we all came on board and put our touches to the concept songs, as well as writing some new ones, we set about getting gigs and looking for a recording studio that could capture the vibe.

 

Cameron - Ash had a vision for a while about the band, and asked me on several occasions to join, but there weren't any other band members at the time so I didn't take it serious. I honestly didn't have the time to just 'mess around'. Then one day he came to me and had a bassist and was auditioning for a drummer, so I could see it was time for me to join and take it seriously because he was now, and that this dream could become a reality.

 

Ash – I always wanted to put a band together and I had played around with trying to make original songs for years but nothing really panned out.  I realized that I really needed other musicians in order to bring the ideas to life.  I didn't want to be a one-man band. Sometime in the early 2000's, Cameron and I went to see a 30 Seconds to Mars show at an Atlanta venue called The Masquerade.  I remember standing on the sidelines listening to the opening band and telling Cameron, "There is no reason why we can't do that!  We need to just do it!"  Many months passed but that night was a turning point, a catalyst to take action towards making a dream, a reality.  I put my drums aside officially in late 2004 and decided to pick up guitar so I could write my own material.  When I think back, that decision was the launching pad for what would ultimately become Bellarosa.

Masie – Italian. As I like to tell people (perhaps to alleviate myself of responsibility?), I'm great at second-guessing band names, but bad at coming up with them. I can find some kind of lewd thing that just about any proposed band name sounds like, which makes it weird that I spent a lot of college in a band called "Phoenix" (use your imagination). This makes people chuckle, but it stifles creativity and good ideas. Now that I'm old(er), I can take the clown nose off and stop shooting down ideas I wouldn't have otherwise had. "Bellarosa" is one of those. Ash and Cameron, I believe, came up with it, and it means "beautiful rose" in Italian. I like the imagery of the rose in general, plus the dual nature of it, with the beautiful, sweet-smelling flower and dangerous stems. It kind of makes me think of women in general. This works, since there is a girl fronting the band. Were there no women in the band, the name would probably have to change. NO, I'm not reverting to my old self and going "that sounds girly!"; I'm just being realistic. But it would seem a little fruity.

 

Aaron - I honestly don't know the answer to that one!  By the time I came on board that was already settled.  You'll have to ask Ash or Cameron.

 

Cameron - Thank you. Well Bellarosa means 'Beautiful Rose'.  Ash picked the name and we all agreed because it has an unusual ring to it. I love the name and would not change it for the world. It fits us perfectly because we are unique and so is our sound.

 

Ash – This is a funny story.  Well, we were at the point when we were trying to find the right name for the band.  We all agreed that the name had to be easy to remember (and spell), cool to say, and have some meaning behind it.  We were bouncing ideas around but, nothing was really feeling "right".  I tried using band name generators online and combining every word I could think of.  My mind was focused on finding a name that would be right.  Then, one evening while I was surfing around online I noticed an advertisement on the side of one of the pages for some dating site that caught my attention.  It was the typical sample profiles you see all over the Internet but, one profile really jumped out at me.  But, it wasn't the picture of the attractive girl that got my attention.  It was her profile name – Bella_Rosa_123.  The name sounded cool and then I looked up the meaning to learn it meant "Beautiful Rose."  I was hooked, combined the words into one and ran the idea by the rest of the band.  A few minutes later, we had our band name and Bellarosa was born!

Masie - - As much as everyone would love to convince themselves that their music is a brand-new, never before heard genre that is going to completely turn around the average person's entire concept of music, the fact is that any band is only and always the culmination of the members' influences. In other words, our music is an amalgam of the stuff we listened to that made us want to play music in the first place. Last I checked, there was very little bebop or acoustic jazz influence in our music, but everything else seems to have been thrown in there. While all four of us dig a ridiculously wide array of styles and sounds, we all seem to come together around heavier, but danceable music. By heavy and danceable I mean Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, Stabbing Westward, and harder No Doubt tunes like "Ex-Girlfriend" and "Hella Good". BUT, Cameron doesn't really sing like Gwen, and our rhythm section has a nasty habit of actually trying to play something interesting so, Pretenders, Rush, and all sorts of other stuff creeps in there. So I think it's unique, but if I had to pin down a "genre", how about "techno-prog-chick-metal"? Everyone else in the band will probably hate that, but that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. However, we DO reserve the right to perform a song that has nothing to do with that genre.

 

Aaron - Ha, that's a toughie.  I would say the best genre for it is Alternative but everyone knows that covers a lot of ground in and of itself.  We kind of span the board, we have some more punky songs, some more Nine Inch Nail-y songs (to coin a phrase), one that's leans toward a country feel (only leans, don't cringe), but most all the songs come back around to a sound that fits alternative.       

 

Cameron - We are in a category all our own...we may even start a new classification one day, you never know. For the time being I would say Rock/Alternative/Progressive wow does that narrow it down for you or what? Haha no really that's so broad of a category I don't think it helps.

 

Ash – It's hard to force us into one genre and we like it that way!  We bring together such a wide variety (and I mean a wide variety) of different influences to the project.  This diversity enables us to infuse our collaborations with ideas that we would never have come up with on our own in most cases.  I am constantly amazed at where a concept will begin and what it ultimately transforms into after each person adds their input.  When people listen to our songs, it is also cool to hear what each person picks out as our influences.  Sometimes they even surprise us with their responses!

 

 5.  Give us information about any new happenings for you all that you would like the public to know.

 

Masie - Lots of great new developments, actually! Three new tunes are being recorded so people can hear a little bit more of the range of our sound, which is something that a LOT of people have asked us for. In addition to that, we have four new original songs in the middle of the writing process, which is what I get really excited about. Creating something brand new, polishing it, and finally saying: "That's good!"...that's what we do it for. Plus, this will bring our total number of original songs to a point where we cannot only fully map out a first full-length album, but also look forward to the direction a second album will take. Without putting the cart before the horse, so to speak, it will be nice to be able to take that long a view of what we're doing. Personally, I'm quite looking forward to my first eye-catching design on my front bass drum head...be on the lookout for that!

 

Aaron - Well, we're in the studio now with a new crew helping us and it looks to be a very promising venture.  Chris ( the owner of the studio) has a lot of experience, and is in, bands that are similar to the feel we're looking for.  We're very much looking forward to the end product, should be cool.  And, no, I won't make any predictions about when we'll be done, but it won't be too long.

 

Cameron - We have been going in the studio the last few weeks to record more songs and perhaps get some merchandise together. Our fans have been asking for more songs and we've been eager to get back in the studio as well. I mean we could put up our songs we have recorded from practices and such but we aren't because we want to put our best representation of our music out there. And we want to share quality not just rush and put songs up that aren't recorded at the right levels with the right equipment.

 

Ash – We've been recording some of our tracks with a new studio out of Gainesville, GA.  We really sync up well with the sound engineer/producer who runs it.  Our top priorities right now are to wrap up our EP, start working on merchandise, find a booking agency, and schedule more shows not only in Atlanta but, also throughout the Southeast.

You can get in touch with all of us individually, through that page's friend list. We're currently working on stuff to buy, like T-shirts, stickers, and such. I've seen band logo underwear done for other bands, but I highly doubt that we'll be seeing that anytime soon with our name on it. Hey, but if people want it...

 

We're also working on a stand alone website so check the myspace page regularly as that will also be ready soon

 

Band myspace – www.myspace.com/bellarosaband

Ash myspace – www.myspace.com/bellarosa_ash

Cameron myspace – www.myspace.com/bellarosa_cameron

Aaron myspace – www.myspace.com/bellarosa_aaron

Masie myspace – www.myspace.com/bellarosa_masie

Masie - This might seem meager, but I would like to stay friends and continue to make better and better music that is true to who we are, performing it as often and in as many different places as possible. As long as I'm making enough money off of it to get myself and my family what we need, and am not asked to compromise my integrity or endorse anything I don't believe in, I'll be happy. It seems simple, but if you take a critical look at the music industry, you'll see it's not as easy as it sounds.

 

Aaron - All I have ever wanted from music I created or had a hand in creating is for it to mean something to someone.  Music is a way for a person to express themselves and to have a song move someone emotionally helps me feel like part of the world, it means there are people out there that feel the same things I feel and dream the same dreams.  Fans of any band are people who hear that music and are emotionally moved, that's why they love the music.  So, all I really want is for people to get it, feel it, and love it.

 

Cameron - To have an unbelievably strong bond and friendship with each other throughout our time with Bellarosa . I want us to succeed at whatever level that may be but have fun along the way of course too.

 

Ash – I hope we are able to keep creating awesome music together for many years to come and that this will become our career as we continue progressing.  I remember watching an INXS concert on television a couple of years ago where they filled the entire stadium.  The crowd was bouncing together and looked like one huge wave of motion.  The stadium was so enormous that fans half-way back could no longer see the performers on stage and had to resort to watching from gigantic screens where the show was being projected in real time.  I think it would be cool to perform in front of that many fans one day.

Masie - Drinkin'. NO! Just kidding. Keeping a regular schedule of rehearsing, setting goals for shows to play and songs to write, saving money every week for band expenses, lots of organizational things that I NEVER did in bands I was in previously. Those goals aren't always met, but the fact that we set them definitely keeps us moving forward. Achieving 70 percent of a goal gets a LOT more done than just hanging out with a "whatever" attitude. Ash is mostly responsible for this, being as organized and goal-oriented as he is. It is very motivating, though...even to a naturally lazy person like me! Personally, I think the issue of integrity is the reason why I've stuck with bands that let me be me. I've been tempted to put on a different hat as a "hired gun", but my stubbornness has allowed me to play what I want on my own terms. If a group doesn't like what I do naturally, we don't play together. That ensures that I am continually satisfied by my own output. As a great man once said, "Adulation means nothing without self-respect".

 

Aaron – Playing my butt off!  I'm never happy with what I am playing in the songs, I'm always trying to find a new lick or run that can really bring out a feeling, not any easy task on a bass.  It has been done though, so I just need to keep pushing my limits.

 

Cameron - Writing lyrics that have meaning and truth and that people can relate to.

 

Ash – We're staying focused on our plan of action and rolling that out strategically while continuing to produce a highly marketable product.  Effective marketing and a quality product are the keys to reaching our goals.

Masie – We keep talking about just putting a camera in the middle of practice and saving the results for posterity...and a future DVD release a la "Kissology", but alas, we have yet to. I don't know how interesting this is, but for a few weeks I was a little trepidatious about bringing up Ash's social life. Not because he said or did anything odd, but simply because he's a single guy in his 30's living in a very well-kept up house by himself...oh yeah, and the lightswitch plates on the practice room had cuddling kittens on it! Now, I love kittens, but I certainly would not pick them for my lightswitch plate. It wasn't until (I believe) Cameron brought them up that I finally felt comfortable asking about them. As it turns out (and as Ash consistently states with great fervor), "They came with the house!". Ah, OK. Now why they haven't been replaced....

 

Aaron – Wow, there are quite a few good ones but I'm not the best story teller out there, you might want to squeeze a few out of Ash or Masie, they can spin a tale.

 

Cameron - Well nothing that I care to share at the time, we really haven't had enough experiences that I can sort through and pick the best one yet. We keep a running journal so that we can remember and share one day all of our memories.

 

Ash – We seem to always have something funny happen to us.  I think the most recent story came about while Aaron, Cameron, and I were driving back from the studio.  It was late at night and we hadn't eaten since lunch so we were starving.  We decided to stop by a McDonald's to grab something real quick.  After ordering, we pulled up to the first window where the attendant proceeded to collect our money for the three separate orders.  Afterwards, he just stared out the window in our general direction and proceeded to flip his tongue ring back and forth.  We thought we were just passing time waiting for our food to come up so we started a generic conversation to kill the awkward silence.  After what seemed like ten minutes, he closed the drive through window, put his back to the window and started talking with him manager.  It wasn't until a few minutes later that he finally opened the window and asked if we could drive up to the next window.  At that moment, we realized we were supposed to drive forward minutes ago and had the pointless conversation for no reason at all.  As we slowly moved forward to the next window, we couldn't stop laughing and we couldn't help but wonder, "why didn't he say something sooner?"

Masie - Ah, the eternal question: Does anyone really care what the drummer has to say? Well, if someone is reading this, then I guess so! One thing I do know is that the rest of the band really does, and it gives me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. After being in countless projects where I was talked down to, asked to play like somebody else, or generally not given much consideration, these three individuals have been supportive and appreciative of every quirky thing I did and treated all of my input with respect. Drummers know that this is a relatively rare circumstance for a player to find themselves in. I truly hope that Ash, Aaron and Cameron all feel as free to do whatever they want as I do, because I really believe that doing so is the best way to create the best music we can. In short, it's a fun gig! So if I ever need to be replaced, drummers should totally check it out!
Hey, you never know.

Q- What's the difference between a drummer and a savings bond?
A- One will eventually mature and make money.

 

Aaron – Come see the shows, check the myspace we're always adding new ones.  And, if you come to the shows, come hang out after, we love to meet fans!

 

Cameron - Just to expect the unexpected with Bellarosa.

 

Ash – Come see us perform live!  Nothing beats a live performance.  Don't' forget to come say hello after a show.  We love to meet our fans in-person.  We appreciate all of the Bellarosa fans.  You enable us to do what we love.  We sincerely thank you for your support.  Spread the word, tell your friends and we'll see you at a future show!