Interview with Jasmine Marceau.
“Songs that come out under BEX is all quite angry, things that I’m angry about and want to change. I write sad stuff, but I don’t want to share it, I just want to keep that to myself.” BEX
It’s Friday at 2000Trees, and we’ve sat down with BEX after her performance on Thursday.
I saw your set yesterday, it was great! Is this your first time at Trees?
I came last year, we had guest camping but we weren’t playing. This is my first time playing, and I’m glad I came before so I know where everything is, I know where all the free tea and coffee is, and things like that.
Always the best details to know. How did you feel after your set yesterday?
It went really well, I really enjoyed it. The stage was so big, so I had so much space to run around. The last gig we played was so small, literally the width of this hay bale, we were supporting a one-man band, and he put his drums front of stage, we didn’t even have a drummer, so there was nowhere for us to stand. They had these blocks at the front of the stage, and we couldn’t move, and my whole performance is all about running around – so I couldn’t. I was so stumped, I was like ‘what do I do?’. So now I’ve got to play Trees, I went running, I went everywhere.
You recently released a single Don’t Date The Devil, what inspires your music writing?
So many things. I always write about personal experiences, and I write all the time about all different things. But the songs that come out under BEX is all quite angry, things that I’m angry about and want to change. I write sad stuff, but I don’t want to share it, I just want to keep that to myself. So it’s all just things that have made me angry in the past, or things that have affected me and I’m happy to talk about, because sometimes you have those things where you just don’t want to tell anyone. I have those songs but I’m going to keep those to myself.
I read that you’re a fashion designer?
You could call it that!
But you make most of your outfits!?
I make all of it. I haven’t ben shopping in forever. As a kid, the thing I always hated was turning up somewhere in the same outfit as someone else, because when your parents are dressing you, they all shop in the same shops, so you always end up in the same clothes as other people. My mum was always saying ‘You need to be different, you need to stand out’, and I thought ‘how do I do that when we’re shopping in the same shops?’. So I taught myself to sew, and gradually I managed to make clothes that was quite good quality, and then I made it into my entire wardrobe. It wasn’t all of a sudden ‘I’m going to sew a wardrobe now’.
What inspires you when you make your clothes?
Everything – it always comes to me as a dream. The outfit I wore on stage, I just dreamt it, and thought ‘yeah that would be so cool’, as soon as I woke up. I want on Snapchat to draw it out! I don’t talk to anyone, it’s just for drawings! I don’t know what else you can draw on on a phone, in the middle of the night you can’t see your notepad, you don’t want to turn the light on because it wakes you up and I don’t want to be woken up, so I just use Snapchat. I also look at a lot of Vivienne Westwood designs, because I love her.
You’ve got quite a clear visual aesthetic, do you link up your outfits with your music?
I always make an outfit for a new song. For the music videos, we play the song and I’d design an outfit, and then we’d base the video around that outfit – it’s quite visual. Sometimes I’ll make a bit of art, or a painting – I’m not very good! – it’s more of an explosion on cardboard. Then I’d write a song about that, and make an outfit to go with it. I just love everything creative. I love sticking things together!
You design your own merch too right?
I do, and I make it all.
How long does that take you?
You know what, it doesn’t really take that long! Me and my mum, because she helps me, we did a batch of 30 T-shirts and it took us about an hour. It costs half the price, it was fun, got some good content out of it, and every T-Shirt is slightly different! Imperfection is perfection.
A lovely perspective! So are there anymore singles on the horizon?
I have a single coming out in two weeks, and then another single, then an EP, and then a UK Halloween tour! It’s going to be like a Halloween experience, Halloween outfits, we’ve got some bodies, some ballgowns, some activities. We’ll have some crafts, it’s going to be a full BEX experience.
For the EP, we’re going to have a magazine that’s going to explain what the entire EP is about. I feel like sometimes I talk in riddles, so I sing in riddles, so I thought it might be quite good to explain it! It’s like when you go to the theatre and buy a programme, it’s going to be like that. You could rip it up and put it on your wall as pieces of art, so I might doodle on them aswell! Make them unique.
Keep your eyes peeled on BEX’s socials for upcoming single releases and gig announcements.