Belau, die binnen de Hongaarse muziekscene voor het eerst van zich liet horen met zijn clip “Island of Promise”, heeft sinds zijn debuut vele prijzen gewonnen. In de afgelopen twee jaar heeft de band meer dan 150 festival- en clubconcerten uitgevoerd in meer dan 22 landen. Zijn debuutalbum, 'The Odyssey', uitgebracht in 2016, won de Fonogram Award voor het beste album van het jaar in de categorie ‘Electronic Music’.
Belau, ondertussen uitgegroeid tot een van de meest veelbelovende electro-groepen, brengt je de zomer met zijn nieuwe clip. Het nummer "Essence" werd opgenomen in Londen en Boedapest met de zangeres Sophie Barker, bekend van Zero 7. Een samenwerking die de gemoedstoestand van het tweede album van Belau - gepland voor de volgende lente - illustreert. Een album waarin de instrumentale stukken de handen ineen slaan met buitenlandse samenwerkingen. Deze nieuwe songs zullen een Caribische droomreis naar het leven teweegbrengen, waar Belau het publiek zal uitnodigen voor een tournee die gedurende de zomer zal worden voortgezet. De groep treedt volgend jaar ook op in Frankrijk. We vonden het dan ook hoog tijd worden om dit duo eens enkele vragen te stellen. We hadden een fijn gesprek met Krisztián Buzás over heden, verleden maar vooral toekomst van dit bijzonder tot de verbeelding sprekende project:

Starting with the recent news: Belau has brought out a new music video 'Essence' featuring Sophie Barker (Zero 7)? How did you guys meet? Tell more about it.
Last year we had an extraordinary symphonic show in London and at that time we started to talk with Sophie about a possible contribution. She invited us over to her home and we had a decent time talking through the details of the upcoming song. It turned out pretty fast that we are able to create together. She sent us over a few ideas for the melodies and then we tried to add some plus and write the lyrics as well… she flew here to Budapest and the rest is history.

I have listen to some music of Belau, for me its chilling music you can dance on. Do you agree? How would you describe you own music?
We do not “try” to create chilly or even dance music. What we create is a key to a different state of mind where people can be or go wherever they want to. And yes sometimes people dance to it, sometimes they lay back and close their eyes. It depends on the individuals. Feel free to act naturally!

In terms of music, what do you listen to when not recording your own?
We are pretty open-minded according to music: if it is able to indicate us then it’s worth listening to. We love classics like Zero 7, Saltillo or Bonobo, also some modern tunes by Odesza, Ibeyi or Aurora, but listening to other genres is something that is able to keep Belau diverse and ongoing (wide spectrum of metal, r&b or even some “trashy” music). Ha-ha.

Belau started at the end of 2015. In the mean time you did a lot things, some of our readers would like to know more about the band. Who is 'Belau' and what did you guys do since 2015?
Our first show was in the January of 2016, we date the band from here, although Island of Promise, the first single was released a few months earlier. Anyway, since the start we have played around 160 shows in 23 countries. So we had a decent run in the past three years: amazing festivals like Primavera, Eurosonic, Reeperbahn, SXSW, Sziget, Untold, and so on; wonderful shows in Saint Petersburg, London, New York, Sweden or even the Balkans. And who are we? Four people having their time of their lives while playing some decent electronica tunes to everyone who is open-minded enough.

There are only two members at the band? I'm I right? And two live members? Anyway, we like to know more about the members of your band.
You are right, Belau consists of two members. Peter and me… plus there are two additional members, Böbe on vocals and Benji in the live act. We are the ones who create the music and organize the band and the others are so-called “session-playing” in the band. What should we say about them? First us: Peter is a manager and international booker for other Hungarian acts, and I am jurist (lawyer) and metal musician in my other band (Orient Fall). Böbe is someone who tries to create her own solo project nowadays and Benjamin is a graphic designer and a musician as well in a project called Paperdeer.

Your band is from Budapest? Is there any interesting scene in Hungary?
Budapest is one of the must-see places if you are in Europe: wonderful mood, secret sights to see and a place to have fun with your friends. If you have never been here, then now you know where you should book your next flight. Ha-ha.

Are there any new artists you recommend we check out from your country?
Hungary has some secret top artists who have never been in the sight of the mainstream European music unfortunately. That’s what we want to change. Let me tell a few quality artists like Ohnody, The Devil’s Trade, Gelka, Thy Catafalque.

I check them out. Cooperation with Sophie Barker is not the first cooperation, there were a few others? Tell something about it.
So if anyone doesn’t know: Belau’s first full-length (The Odyssey) was based on a special concept. We contributed only with really talented female artists in each of the songs. This concept turned out so good, we kept it and we will go on with it on the next LP as well. Go give it a try - e.g. ‘Breath’ featuring Sophie Lindinger of Leyya.

You guys been playing at Primavera Sound festival in Barcelona? How was this experience? Feel free to tell us more.

We got that exceptional invite, which was a great honor for us, especially because this was our first time in Spain. Primavera is way different than any other festivals I’ve been to and it was really interesting to experience such an approach. However we have to admit the line-up was pretty strong and really loved the fact that we could play with such acts like Erykah Badu, Jungle, Yves Tumor, Carcass, Myrkur, Tame Impala, Jawbreaker or Mura Masa.

Are there any Belgium festivals you going to visit? Where else can we see Belau this summer?
We will make our debut show in Belgium on the 30^th of June in Parc du Cinquantenaire and hopefully we will return in 2020 on some festivals. This summer we will have some decent festival performances in the Central European region (Electric Castle, Sziget, etc.), while we are working on our second LP, which will be released soon.

If you could be support of any band, who would it be? On Stage it is.
Of course there are dream tours, what would be lovely to be involved in… Odesza, Bonobo, Maribou State, Sigur Rós and the list would be long. Ha-ha.

Is there any new releases coming up soon? What are the other future plans?
As I mentioned in the background we are working on our second full-length, which gets the most attention from us nowadays. We don’t have an exact release date for it yet, but we are planning it for the spring. Essence will be on that album, along with Breath. This is the main focus, and touring will be the same, which should keep going on.

Now we are talking about the future. Is there a so called “end goal”?
If you ask me the best would be to have a world tour supporting a great band of the genre and after it someday I would be deeply satisfied and smiling if we could do smaller headliner rounds with 400 people in every cities.

Where can we find your music?
Everywhere. Ha-ha.

In times of streaming, is it still interesting to bring CD or vinyl on the market? In other words what is your opinion about streaming?
Streaming is great, the future of music listening. The next step, which we want to have ASAP is to be in contact with the streaming companies directly. We do not want any distributors, who - in most of the times - cut their extra percentage for nothing. Spotify is preparing now with Spotify for Artists, I really hope it will work.  From the debut album we have released only CDs, but we are planning to have a vinyl press (double gatefold, 180 gram colored versions) to please the collectors with such limited versions, which are not just tools, also like beautiful decoration.

That's my final question. Is there anything you want to say to our readers, speak free?
Our name is coming from a small country on the Pacific Ocean, Palau. Aboriginal people call it Belau. We want to go there so damn much. Ha-ha.

Thanks, we look forward to see u guys on stage, and to the new album