专访 Black Country, New Road | 忠于我们的生活而创作
2026-04-07
融合巴洛克流行的精致质感，让听感更添鲜活，Black Country, New Road 在去年发布的新专辑《Forever Howlong》中展现出了与以往有鲜明不同的表达。恰逢乐队再次来到中国、即将在上海专场与天津泡泡岛音乐节与中国歌迷见面之际，UPEE 有幸邀请 Black Country, New Road 进行一期专访，分享新专辑背后的创作，成员 Lewis Evans 对我们的问题进行了回复。
UPEE：在你们去年发布的《Forever Howlong》里，你们融入了更多 Baroque Pop 的元素同时在听感上变得更为活泼，跟以往的两张发行气质有所变化。同时这张专辑由 James Ford 担任制作人，我们好奇你们选择他来负责制作的原因，可否在此与乐迷们分享这么做的契机呢？这是一种出于“转型”的考量吗？
Lewis：选择与 James Ford 合作，其实并非出于转型的考量。主要原因在于，这是 Georgia、May 和 Tyler 首次在 Black Country, New Road 的专辑中献声，因此我们希望与一位拥有丰富经验、合作过各类歌手的制作人共事。我们认为，这样能最大程度地按照 Georgia、May 和 Tyler 原本构想的样子录制这些歌曲。
The decision to go with James wasn’t to do with the feeling of a reinvention as such. It was mostly because it was the first time that Georgia, May and Tyler would be singing on a BC,NR record, so we wanted to work with someone with a huge amount of experience working with lots of different types of vocalists. We felt like this would give us the best chance of recording the songs as they were imagined by Georgia, may and Tyler.
UPEE：现阶段的 BC,NR 有了更多女性与酷儿底色的气质和内容，这也是《Forever Howlong》让我们感受到的新鲜感之一——我们好奇 Tyler、Georgia、May 担任主唱和主导词曲之后，你们会如何形容 BC,NR 的变化以及如何形容女性气质与酷儿性在 BC,NR 音乐中的位置？
Lewis：不能说这些元素不存在，但在制作这张专辑时，我们没有讨论过要刻意围绕这些主题创作。由女性创作的歌曲，视角自然会偏向女性。专辑中的大部分音乐，都源于我们这个年纪的人日常经历的真实生活，这同样也是《Forever Howlong》的核心主题之一。
It would be wrong to say that it doesn’t have a role but it was certainly not a theme we discussed and wanted to play into when we made the record. When you have songs written by women the likelihood is that the song will come from the perspective of a woman. Much of the music is about every day real life experiences that people at our age traverse through, which is just as much a theme of the record.
UPEE：在 BC,NR 的几张发行中都没有出现过合作形式的客座音乐人，但与此同时我们注意到你们在现场有和诸如青葉市子等音乐人进行合作，是否会在之后有在专辑中收录合作曲目的可能？如有，可否分享一些你们觉得会想要进行合作的音乐人？
Lewis：我们还没有过多讨论过在专辑中与其他艺人合作的事宜，但很享受在现场与其他音乐人同台演出。和拥有不同音乐经历的人合作十分令人兴奋，他们的演绎往往能带来耳目一新的惊喜。如果未来要在专辑中合作，我们更希望担任伴奏乐队，我们之前也随口提过，很想和 My New Band Believe 的 Cameron Picton 合作。
Collaborating with artists on a record is something we’ve not discussed that much but we’ve loved playing with other artists in a live setting. It’s so exciting to play with someone who’s had different musical experiences to you because so much of what they do can feel refreshing and surprising. I think if we were to collaborate with someone on a record we would prefer to be a backing band, we’ve all mentioned in passing how much we’d like to do this with Cameron Picton from My New Band Believe.
UPEE：现在的 BC,NR 非常注重成员之间的互助和关照，在创作上也变为凸显“多核”的形态。作为一个非常强调“人”的乐队，你们会如何看待当下 AI 生成音乐的现象？在当下，你们对“创作音乐”这件事又有什么特别的感受吗？
Lewis：AI 的发展令人忧心。它固然能实现许多了不起的事、为人们提供帮助，但在创作领域却让人十分担忧。作为乐队，我们很幸运，乐迷们看重我们音乐中的人文温度，而且我们在乐界仍归属于小众的圈层，因此我对此不算太过焦虑；但对于流行音乐行业的从业者，我深感担忧。无数词曲作者、制作人、录音师和乐手耗费多年心血、付出巨大个人代价打磨技艺，打造商业性音乐。毫无疑问，唱片公司高管和广告配乐委托方，为了利润很可能会无视来自人类的努力与专业能力。
AI is a very scary prospect. There’s obviously lots of amazing things it can do that can really help people but in a creative setting it is very worrying. I think, as a band, we are in a fortunate position where our fanbase values the humanness of our music and we occupy a very niche section of the music world so in that sense i’m not too worried, but as for people working in the world of pop music I feel very worried. So many songwriters, producers, engineers and session musicians practice and hone their skills for many years and at a great personal expense to help to make commercial music. There’s no doubt that record label execs and advertising companies that commission ad music will be more than happy to disregard the the hard work and skill of humans for their profit margins.
UPEE：BC,NR 的乐迷社群很有互联网圈层的粘性，也正如早前你们和 Squid、Black Midi 作为 Windmill scene 影响了诸多乐迷对于 2020s Indie Rock 声音形态的理解和印象——我们好奇你们是否会同意这样的“将你们的音乐作为 2020s Indie Rock”的评价，以及从你们的感受里摇滚音乐是如何改变或适应了这个年代的？
Lewis：实在谬赞了！这个十年才刚过半，我觉得前路还很长。Windmill scene确实对一部分人产生了影响，但近几年，看到Horsegirl、Water From Your Eyes、This is Lorelei、Sharp Pins 等芝加哥乐队逐渐走红，我也很受鼓舞。这些乐队有全新的灵感，与我们在伦敦接触的类型截然不同，也似乎为行业带来了新的冲击。过去一年里，Cameron Winter和Geese 的爆火更是令人惊叹。看到这些才华横溢的音乐人与创作者收获应得的关注与赞誉，我由衷开心。Geese 的上一张专辑《3D Country》对我影响很深！
说到英国乐坛近一年的表现，Westside Cowboy、Jimmy Means Smut、Pushbike、Ugly、Troutflies、Bramwell 等都推出了优质作品，让我迫不及待想开始创作。还有一支来自墨尔本的独立乐队 Mouseatouille，我认为他们会在 2020 年代余下的时间里大放异彩。他们 2025 年的专辑《My DJ Set》相比前作实现了精准的突破，我十分期待他们后续的作品。
That’s a very flattering statement! We’re only half way through the decade and I feel like there’s a long way to go. I’m sure The Windmill scene was influential to some people but in the last few years, seeing the rise in popularity from Chicago bands like Horsegirl, Water From Your Eyes, This is Lorelei, Sharp Pins has been really inspiring to see. All bands with fresh musical inspirations that felt so far removed from what we were into in London. It felt like they shook the game up. In the last year the rise of Cameron Winter and Geese has been insane. I’m so pleased to see such talented musicians and songwriters getting the hype and praise I feel like they’ve always deserved. Their previous album 3D Country was huge for me! As for music in the UK in the last year, bands like Westside Cowboy, Jimmy Means Smut, Pushbike, Ugly, Troutflies and Bramwell have all been releasing high quality music that makes me itch to start writing! Another band that I think will have a lot to say for the rest of the 2020s will be the Melbourne based indie band ‘Mouseatouille’. Their 2025 album ‘My DJ Set’ was a really focused development from their previous record and I can’t wait to hear what they do next.
UPEE：此前你们曾来到中国进行演出，对于之前的巡演有什么感受？对于这次中国巡演又有什么期待？
Lewis：无比兴奋。我太期待重返中国了，这里的文化、饮品和美食都无与伦比！也超级期待演出，中国的乐迷独一无二，现场氛围格外欢乐！
THRILLED. I’m so excited to come back, the culture, the drink and the food was out of this world! I’m so excited for the shows, the fans in China are like nowhere else.. The shows were so fun!