The Belle Game

The Belle Game, aka Belle Game, was an indie pop band originating from Vancouver, British Columbia and active from 2009 to 2020. Its members were Adam Nanji (guitar), Andrea Lo (lead vocals), and Katrina Jones (keyboards, vocals). Drummer Rob Chursinoff left in 2014; drummer and guitarist Alex Andrew left in 2018. For a short time, bassist Ian Cook and trumpeter Andrew Lee were also part of the band. The name is a play on the literal translation, from German, of Glockenspiel.[1]

Belle Game
The Belle Game opening for Bahamas and Family of the Year at the Imperial during Festival d'été de Québec in Quebec City, QC on July 11, 2013.
The Belle Game opening for Bahamas and Family of the Year at the Imperial during Festival d'été de Québec in Quebec City, QC on July 11, 2013.
Background information
OriginVancouver, British Columbia, Canada
GenresIndie, Pop, Rock
Years active2009–2020
LabelsBoompa Records, Arts & Crafts Productions, Bella Union
MembersAdam Nanji
Andrea Lo
Katrina Jones
Alex Andrew
Ian Cook
Andrew Lee
Rob Chursinoff
Websitethebellegame.com (defunct)

History

In the summer of 2009, Andrea Lo, Alex Andrew and Adam Nanji got together to play a single performance at Vancouver's Railway Club. Lo and Nanji had grown up together and played as a duo before; Nanji and Andrew were at McGill University together. As a trio, they saw their potential as a team, added Cook, Lee and former Tegan and Sara drummer Rob Chursinoff and started writing. Their EP The Inventing Letters, was released in late 2009.[2] The EP was well-received. It got regular airplay on CBC radio, the song "Tiny Fires" was chosen as Song of the Day by The Province newspaper,[3] and won the Fan Favorite award on CHLG-FM/Shore 104.3FM's Summer Search.[4] The video for "Shoulders & Turns" earned them a feature spot on MuchMusic’s The Wedge. In July 2011, they were part of Summer Live, the festival celebrating Vancouver's 125th birthday.[5]

In 2011, they released their second EP, Sleep to Grow, which was co-produced by David Carswell. and placed in the top-20 for the funding program, the Peak Performance Project. They opened for Gotye, Karkwa and Said the Whale, played the Squamish Valley Music Festival[6] and, in 2011 and 2012, played the Rifflandia Music Festival[7] and were selected to travel across Canada with Tracks on Tracks, a recording project of Green Couch Sessions, CBC Radio and Via Rail.[8]

Ritual Tradition Habit (2013-2014)

The band continued writing and produced a complete album's worth of material; on the advice of Carswell, it was scrapped.[9] They started again, "tried harder", released a 7" vinyl record of the single "Wait Up for You",[10] and, in April 2013, released their debut album Ritual Tradition Habit.[10] Ritual Tradition Habit earned many positive reviews, with Pitchfork giving it a rating of 7.2.[11][12][13][14] “Wait Up For You” was put into rotation on the Vancouver station the Peak 102.7 FM as well as other radio stations across the country. Pitchfork posted "River" as 'Best New Track',[15] and Rolling Stone chose "Blame Fiction" as the track of the day.[16]

The music video for “River” was put into rotation on MuchMusic. It was nominated for the 2014 Prism Prize, and, after making it into the top ten list, won the Audience Award.[17][18]Pitchfork Media also posted about the music video for “River”.[19]

The band attended the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity's Indie Music Residency in October 2013, where they were mentored by Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene.[20] They then embarked on their first headlining North American and European tours for 5 weeks and 4 weeks, respectively.[21] They played South by Southwest,[22] Ottawa's CityFolk Festival,[23] and opened for Half Moon Run, Hannah Georgas, Bahamas and Born Ruffians.[24] In November 2013, tour mates Bear Mountain and The Darcys opened for The Belle Game when they headlined at Vancouver's Vogue Theatre.[25][26]

In September 2013, The Belle Game's song "Tradition" appeared on the season premiere of Grey’s Anatomy.[27] "River" appeared on the UK TV series Misfits,[28] and "Blame Fiction" was used in the series Orphan Black.[29]

Fear/Nothing (2015-2018)

In 2015, the band dropped the 'The' from their name. In February 2015, they traveled to Montreal to record their second studio album with producers Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin (The Stills).[30] They were dropped by their label Boompa; eventually they signed with Arts & Crafts and Fear/Nothing was released on September 8, 2017.[31][32] In the interim, they played the WayHome Music & Arts Festival[33] and the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, [34] then went on a tour of North America and Europe.[35]

In January 2018, they released the additional single "Only One";[36] in June, the additional singles, "Follow".[37] At this point, they were back to being a trio--Nanji, Lo and Jones.

In the spring of 2018, Belle Game went on tour with Broken Social Scene.[38] In October 2018, the band supported ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr on the US leg of his tour in support of his third studio album, Call the Comet.[39][40]

In 2019, director Kevan Funk won the Prism Prize for Canadian Music Video of the Year for Belle Game's video Low.[41][42]

By 2020, the band's website and Facebook page had been taken down. There was no accompanying announcement of their break-up.

Discography

Albums

EPs

Singles

  • "Wait Up for You" (2013)
  • "Only One" (2018)
  • "Follow" (2018)

See also

References
  1. Wood, Scott. "The Belle Game..." earshot-online.com. Earshot. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  2. "The Belle Game: Inventing Letters, Jan 2012". frostclick.com. FrostClick. January 2012. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  3. "Song of the Day: Tiny Fires, May 2012". theprovince.com. The Province. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  4. Luther, Jennifer (27 August 2010). "Game On, Aug 27 2010, pp 13". issuu.com. ISSUU, North Shore News. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  5. Harrison, Tom. "Summer Live, May 2011". theprovince.com. The Province. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  6. Alexandra, Kristi (21 September 2011). "Busting out of the music wasteland, Sept 2011". straight.com. The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  7. "Rifflandia Festival, Aug 2011". jambase.com. JamBase. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  8. Mcavoy, Christine (18 April 2012). "Tracks On Tracks, Apr 2012". vancouverisawesome.com. Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. Hudson, Alex (24 April 2013). "The Belle Game goes for it, Apr 2013". straight.com. The Georgia Straight. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  10. "Album Release Date". 11 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  11. Cohen, Ian. "Ritual Tradition Habit, Aug 2013". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  12. "The Belle Game: Ritual Tradition Habit". 17 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  13. "The Belle Game - Ritual Tradition Habit". Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  14. "The Belle Game – Ritual Tradition Habit album review". 17 May 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  15. "The Belle Game "River"". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  16. "'Blame Fiction' by the Belle Game – Free MP3". Rolling Stone. 15 April 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  17. "Year Two". Archived from the original on 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  18. "Check out the Prism Prize's top 10 shortlist picks now!". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  19. "Video: The Belle Game: "River"". Pitchfork. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 2014-09-24.
  20. "Banff Residency". Banff Centre. Archived from the original on 2015-03-09. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  21. "The Belle Game Canada/US Tour". boompa.ca. Boompa. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  22. Wade, Melissa (14 April 2013). "The Belle Game Interview, Apr 2013". thesnipenews.com. The Snipe. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  23. "Ottawa Folk Festival 2013". kadmusarts.com. Kadmus Arts. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  24. Hudson, Alex. "The Belle Game Flesh Out Canadian Tour Schedule, Apr 2013". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  25. Thorkelson, Erika. "A whole new Belle Game, Nov 2013". vancouversun.com. The Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  26. "The Belle Game & Bear Mountain". asapmusicblog.ca. ASAP Music Blog. 19 November 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  27. "The Belle Game on Grey's Anatomy". boompa.ca. Boompa. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  28. "Misfits (UK) Soundtrack". tunefind.com. TuneFind. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  29. "Songs from Orphan Black". therevue.ca. The Revue. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  30. "Video with Kev and Dave". TBG Feed. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  31. Pilley, Max. "Belle Game Fear Nothing Review". loudandquiet.com. Loud and Quiet. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  32. Jeffries, Imogen (9 March 2018). "The Belle Game". montecristomagazine.com. Monte Cristo Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  33. Balistreri, Alyssa (August 2017). "The Belle Game performs at Wayhome Festival...July 2017". aestheticmagazinetoronto.com. Aesthetic Magazine. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  34. "2017 ARTISTS". thefestival.bc.ca. Vancouver Folk Music Festival. 7 April 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  35. Melanson, Jenna (16 August 2017). "Belle Game releases new single, Aug 2017". canadianbeats.ca. Canadian Beats. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  36. Melanson, Jenna (13 January 2018). "Belle Game releases new B-Side, "Only One", Jan 2018". canadianbeats.ca. Canadian Beats. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  37. Murphy, Sarah. "Belle Game "Follow"". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  38. "The Belle Game's Concert History". concertarchives.org. Concert Archives. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  39. Kurucz, John (4 September 2018). "Vancouver's Belle Game kicks off...Sept 2018". vancouverisawesome.com. Vancouver Is Awesome. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  40. "Tour Dates". SongKick. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  41. Lau, Melody. "The Belle Game's 'Low' wins...May 2019". cbc.ca. CBC. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  42. Murphy, Sarah. "Belle Game Win 2019 Prism Prize, May 2014". exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
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