Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

Javi (Vocalist and Guitarist), Marshall Arts (Guitarist), Coniferous Wallace (Beats)

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Bien Bien? 

I, Javi, was just a solo musician under the artist name Padorr. My style of music focused on looping and vocal, atmospheric layering, with more indie acoustic vibes, but still a lot of jazz chords and occasionally hip hop drums. Under Padorr, I was basically like a more stripped-down and underdeveloped Bien Bien. Marshall had never been in a band before, while Coniferous had been a local hip hop producer for rappers and such under the name Since'93.

How long has the band been around?

Bien Bien officially formed in the Fall of 2015, but the three of us first started jamming together even in the Fall of 2014, while Marshall and I wrote what ended up being our first Bien Bien songs in February of 2015 (this was also when Marshall thought of the band name).

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

It's always been Bien Bien and Marshall just thought of the name and texted me it immediately. We had both been studying in Spain and seeing as he was fluent in Spanish and that the phrase was easy to latch on to and had a good vibe to it, Marshall thought that Bien Bien would be a good all-encompassing name that wouldn't tie us down to a singular unchanging sound. It's flexible and it's accepting.

Who writes your songs? 

Well we all do. All of our released songs and the debut album that will be released in 2017 is credited simply to Bien Bien for writing credits. But more specifically, I arranged the songs and wrote most of the lyrics and had the overall vision for the band, our album and our brand, whereas Marshall wrote many of the guitar riffs and Coniferous wrote most of the drum parts and mixed the music.

What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

One of our most prominent themes throughout all our songs is love, romanticism, friendship and nostalgia. I guess you can say these themes represent my perspectives and my outlook on life right now. I guess I'm in a place of love and forward romanticism, but also thinking about the past with friendships and my growth over time. I feel like these are the themes I have most easily conjured with all our music because that represents the time in my life that I am at right now. I have just graduated college and I am in a sort of limbo - I'm trying to see what my next move is, where I go and when. So inevitably, yes, as I make this next move and enter the next phase of my life, I am sure that these topics and themes will change. Who knows? Maybe the themes will move into more abstract and psychedelic topics. I would like to stretch the boundaries of my lyricism from plain right romanticism and realism, and into abstraction.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

I can't say where our inspirations come from for the vocal side of things, maybe because I'm the vocalist and it's hard to express the exact inspiration I have. But I will say from a sonic perspective, our inspiration comes from the jazzy, chorus-y guitar sounds of The Smiths and Mac DeMarco, and our drum inspirations come from the boom-bap era of 90s East Coast Hip Hop, or even the more experimental left-field hip hop that originated in Detroit thanks to the late J Dilla.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

I think just watching old footage of classic rock bands like The Doors, Jimi Hendrix Experience and Led Zeppelin got me craving to start a rock band. I can't think of a concert in particular but seeing those bands blow the minds of their audiences during their live show videos inspired me greatly to be a part of a band. I guess you can say that some of that classic rock song arrangement, psychedelia and overall climactic musical style has some influence on our music and can even be heard in a few songs of ours.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Just vibe with each other and with the audience members in the venue before the show. I like to talk to people before the show because it allows me to connect with people individually even before I connect with them on stage. But besides that, I like to set-up my guitar so that it's very clean and slick so I can slide up and down the neck easily. Last means of preparation: wash my hands before I hop on stage - it keeps the strings in-tact and long-lasting.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

Even though it was smaller than most of our shows, playing at Leaqfest, Madison, Wisconsin's premiere basement music festival, was definitely one of the biggest highlights. I thought it was one of our best sets, and the energy in the room was spectacular. The crowd was vibing so hard with the whole event. It was truly a marvelous night. Plus, the house and basement were decorated with the most beautiful art installations and visual stimuli.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

That's a tough question, so therefore I'm gunna keep my answer relevant to our style of music. So I would say if we had the opportunity to tour with Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals, that would be a dream, man. Wow, can they play. They have the vibe we love.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Check out our debut EP, She Grooves Me, that released last Friday, December 2nd! https://bienbienmusic.bandcamp.com/album/she-grooves-me-ep. Keep on groovin' y'all, and thanks for feelin the bien bien!