Belau

Péter: We’ve tried to incorporate a wide range of great talents for these remixes, because we thought that the original tracks on Colourwave had a lot of different faces which were yet to be seen and heard, so these people joined us to show those faces – even to us. We’re really satisfied with the producers as they’ve made great re-works in their own styles. To be honest, we didn’t know any of these artists personally, except through their earlier releases. We invited them to join us on this journey, and they fulfilled the task brilliantly, but music connected us together in the first place.

Péter: Before we started working on an album, I had a small trip to a few of the Caribbean islands which had a huge impact on me – that’s why the album also contains some sampled (ambient and percussion) sounds. Colourwave is a multi-layered concept release based on trying to represent a path to self-awareness by using the sounds of nature mixed up with some precise and modern beats. It also relies on the messages and instructions of all the nature that surrounds us - especially the sea. Most of the people who listened to the album said it’s perfect for dreaming about beautiful places in these weird days, I think these songs are way deeper than the previous album.

Krisztián: I might have said that earlier in one of the band’s interviews that lángos is a great Hungarian food that people should try (laughs). And yes, Hungarian cuisine is a good thing to explore if you travel through this area or you just want to try some creative flavours at home. Hungary is just a small country in the middle of Europe, but we have an outstanding history stretching back over 1000 years. There is a wide range of moody landscapes that have come out of that complex history, but the north of Lake Balaton is really the place you shouldn’t miss. There’s a small hidden village called Szigliget near the lake, which has had a great influence on me in the past few months.

Péter: I think it’s important to have a manager or a team who helps you to develop and reach more people with your music, but in the case of Belau it is different: we are DIY. We try to work on all aspects of music from the beginning, like coming up with a concept, writing and planning to the end like creating artworks, schedules for touring and getting the most of what we believe we can. I booked all the concerts, provided the band’s presence for PR and radio while I also tried to find out the best strategies for the band to grow. I also study these methods and try to develop myself every day to get better and better at these things. Fortunately, we’ve made some good progress and that inspires me to continue learning this part of Belau.

Krisztián: It’s great to answer such well-prepared questions. Yeah, we have been friends for a long time and the band even brought us together more and more in the past few years. We even got a comment that we look like each other a little bit (laughs). Péter is a very hard-working man, full of commitment and never able to rest when it comes to his dreams – that’s for sure. I am more of a creative and philosophic personality, so I am usually influenced by my personal life more even when I work as a jurist [lawyer] or a graphic designer through the rest of the weeks or with my other band. But that is something that complements very well with.
Péter. We have to be honest with each other and ourselves.

Péter: Sure, it’s an important part of our concept, we think our music works best with female energies, super-talented women who has their own stories and a great capability to tell them with their voices. We think most of our messages turn out the best way if it is told by someone who has that ancient energy that we want to be flowed within our music. And yes, it’s also a good message for the industry, so in the future we’ll go on with this. We are pretty sure that we will have some outstanding female collaborations, but not because of how many X chromosomes someone has; we want to work with them, because they are inspirational, they are talented, and they represent something that underlines the meaning of Belau.

Krisztián: Let me break it down. Jung, among others, is one of the greatest inspirations who ever lived – for me at least. He was able to find his way from the, let’s say ‘classic psychoanalytical approach’, towards real alchemy, which is the path to self-knowledge in my eyes. This is a very complex and a very simple thing at the same time, which I do not want to detail more, but I think your question is pointing towards my comments on the band’s lyrical concept.
Here is what I think: Belau is an option. An option for someone who has been stuck in their life, with a certain personal background or in a situation that keeps this person in a neurotic state that says they do not matter. We provide a frame throughout our music where you step inside and have the ability to flow freely without pressure, whether this anxiety is caused by the conventions of society or a false-knowledge – whatever it is. In this ‘safe place’, hopefully the listener will be able to be themselves and find the answers within. That is what we have tried to do throughout the years – to make life more liveable and breathable.

Krisztián: Let me answer from a different angle. You asked that what Hungarian specialties do we have. At that point of the interview, I didn’t know that we would go this deep, but now I know the answer is philosopher Béla Hamvas. He is a hidden gem of the country, an absolute mastermind who was oppressed by the systems of the past century. He tried to find the answer for the questions that you have brought up about the sacred collective consciousness of the mankind.
I’ll tell you a secret: this is the direction that we tried to go on with Luz and I am pretty sure that the third era of Belau will be focused on this subject way more. We are not a band who are just using random symbols or using this context to be more sellable. Spirituality is a word that I feel has been abused and reviled in recent years, just like a lot of other words, because people totally misinterpret and misunderstand it. The way we talk about it is nothing like the way some people react when someone says ‘mysticism’, for example. This is not ‘trendy’, but an actual lifestyle to us.
But to answer the question: yes, I do think there is such music that is the best to have access to an altered - I would say real - state of mind. For me, that is silence. But, before that, this world needs a bridge and that is Belau.

Péter: In the last few of years – except the last one – we’ve visited so many interesting places from Texas to Russia, Sweden to Albania... We have plans, but I think the dream location is Palau, which is where our name comes from. When we were kids, we discovered the islands of Palau, which is a small country on the Pacific Ocean, and somehow the name and the culture there remained an inspiration for us throughout the years. The inhabitants call Palau a different name – Belau.

Krisztián: We’re currently working on the third album which will be a bit different from the earlier ones. We’re developing the music production, the visuals, and the concept part right now. Geographically we will move towards South-Asia and lyrically right into the depths of the human soul (laughs).