Konstantin Kersting, bassist, The Belligerents
Being able to work and live music every day is a dream ...
If you’re an avid Triple J listener, you’re probably already well familiar with Brisbane-based band The Belligerents. For those who aren’t, you best jump on the bandwagon because the lads are on the cusp of great things. Their track ‘In My Way’ became one of the top 20 most played songs on Triple J, they’re fresh of a tour with Kingswood and are about to head into the studio to record their first full length album. We caught up with the bassist Konstantin Kersting part way through their Voices tour to chat. You can catch The Belligerents at the Quiksilver store later this month.
It’s been a massive few years for the band. Your track ‘In My Way’ became one of the top 20 most played songs on Triple J, you signed with Melbourne’s premier booking agency 123 and completed your own headline tour. What has stood out as some of the highlights?
One of the highlights was definitely touring with our mates from Kingswood. It was really awesome because we don’t normally get to play really big venues, the biggest we play is around 300 people but with the Kingswood guys it was like 1,500. The other band Lurch & Chief are great guys as well so it was just really fun. And obviously hearing your own song on the radio never gets old.
Can you share with us some of the more memorable moments from that tour?
We got to stay in Sydney for a week so that was awesome to just have a week off and explore the area and swim in really cold water. The whole tour was awesome because we’re all friends; it’s great to tour with bands that you actually like.
Was there any mischief?
Lots of mischief! I’m not sure how much of it is appropriate for this interview though.
The band’s latest track ‘Voices’ offers a kind of 60s-esque psychedelic vibe. How did this song come together?
We recorded about five songs a while back and that was one of them. It was a song that Lewis had written and we’d been jamming on a little bit but it really came to life in the studio. We just decided to go all out with lots of weird, strange sounds like Lewis laughing hysterically or just talking to himself. There are a lot of little things that you can hear if you’re really listening in.
You engineered the track at Airlock Studios where you currently work as the house engineer. How different is the process when you’re working on one of your own tracks as compared with someone else’s?
When you’re working with someone else it can sometimes be hard to make them understand the vision that you have for the song where as when I am working on one of our own tracks you can go all out. It’s actually really enjoyable. We’re all really good mates so I don’t have to worry about being really professional or anything like that, whatever happens happens and in the end, it generally turns out okay.
Is there any extra pressure when it’s one of your own?
Only pressure that comes from trying to impress the guys that I play in the band with. When I mix it I’m always hoping they like it and generally they do. Once they like it I know that other people will like it too.
Can you give us some hints as to what we might expect from The Belligerents’ third EP ahead of its release in October?
We are trying to go in a similar direction that we’ve been going in with ‘In My Way’ and ‘Voices’. There’s a couple of songs that we have just started playing live that are a little bit rockier, probably a little bit more towards where ‘In My Way’ was going. ‘Voices’ is kind of like a lone wolf in the groove that it is but we’re really excited about it and we hope that other people will be too.
Let’s rewind a bit, were you always musically inclined?
Yes, I was. I started playing violin when I was four, looking back now I wish I had of kept going with it but when I was 16 it wasn’t cool anymore so I started playing bass. I grew up in a very musical household. My dad plays piano and a bit of bass but we were always listening to music and singing at home.
Take us back to the moment you first heard one of your songs on the radio.
It was our song ‘These Hands’ which we released four years ago now. We all listened together and it was really exciting. At the time we were all very fresh-faced and had no idea about how anything worked. It was a really great moment.
What inspires you?
Anything and everything! Music that I listen to, people who are doing really cool things with the production of the song, stuff that happens in your life, both good and bad. Everything really!
Who are your musical idols?
Probably one of the biggest ones would be MGMT, I think they have a really interesting sound. The first album was cool but it was their second one that really did it for me. The thought behind the sounds and the production of the tracks is really amazing. There are also lots of producers that I admire, a guy called Dave Fridmann is really awesome, he’s worked with The Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev, MGMT and Tame Impala. The stuff that he does is just crazy. I always try to figure out how he gets those sounds.
If you could play music with anyone, living or otherwise, who would it be?
That’s a really hard one! I imagine it would have been really fun to be around The Beatles when they were recording all of those albums in a really short period of time. It would have been crazily creative!
You’ve already achieved so much as a band but also personally as well, what are some of your personal career highlights?
One of my major career highlights is being able to work full time as an engineer and producer because they aren’t too many jobs going around and it’s a pretty tough industry to get work in. Just being able to work and live music every day is a dream.
The band is collectively responsible for spawning some of Brisbane’s most talked about indie bands with members also in Orphans Orphans, Moses Gunn Collective, The Furrs, Morning Harvey and Family Jordan. How hard is it to find time to make music together?
Really hard! It sucks. Lewis our singer plays in six bands, that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard! I guess you just shift your priorities depending on who is doing stuff at that particular time. At the moment everyone is focusing on The Belligerents so it’s great.
Any advice for aspiring musicians?
Just do it. Don’t just talk about doing it. If you are good at what you do and you put in the time and the work then you’ll get somewhere. Be passionate.
What’s next for The Belligerents?
We’re bringing out our EP and at the end of the year we’re actually going to be recording an album, which is really exciting. We’re always excited about new music.