Origin:

Melbourne Australia / Berlin Germany

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EU BAND:

Chris Hughes (Crime &

The City Solution, Hugo Race, Mick Harvey): 

percussion/drums,

Maria Zastrow (Barry Adamson) Bass

Roger Aslop (Jon Evans Band): Guitar

Isabelle Phoenix: Vox/Guitar

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AU BAND:

Osker Bickford (Brian Henry Hooper): Guitar/Bass

Jeffrey Wegener (The Saints, Laughing Clowns, The Birthday Party): Percussion/Drums

Isabelle Phoenix: Vox/Guitar

 

Genre:

Nordic-Noir, Psycho-drama, Gothic Folk

 

Years Active:

2012 - Now

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Vinyl Release: 

Beast Records (France)

Spooky Records (Melbourne, AU)

 

Official Band Website:

www.thesubterraneansea.com

 www.bellephoenix.com

 

Management: thesubterraneansea@hotmail.com

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"The Glorious Dead is an Ali Baba's cave that contains a thousand and one treasures"  

Slow Show (Patrick Foulhoux - Former artistic director of Spliff Records, Pyromane Records, notorious activist, specialized in styles deemed “out of the norm” for numerous magazines (Rolling Stone).

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"Belle Phoenix plays and sings a kind of black, sharp rock, fueled by gothic country and damn blues the kind of thing that nourished Nick Cave" (Benzine Magazine- Eric Debarnot).

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Biography:

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     Belle Phoenix & The Subterranean Sea are a 4-piece band, with members residing in Berlin from Australia, Finland and Austria. The band morphs into acoustic dark folk: solo, duo, trio formats with added strings, percussion, bass, horns and or piano/synth.

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     Chris Hughes (Crime & The City Solution, Mick Harvey, Rowland S. Howard) on drums, Maria Zastrow  (Einstürzende Neubauten, Barry Adamsom, Einstürzende Neubauten) bass, Osker Bickford (Brian Henry Hooper) guitar, Isabelle Phoenix vocals / guitar.

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     Belle has worked with Mark Plati (Bowie,The Cure,Depeche Mode), in New York, Lindsay Gravina of Birdland Studio (Rowland S. Howard, The Birthday Party) in Melbourne on tracks from The Glorious Dead vinyl record.  

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     The current band met through mutual friends in Berlin, where they are permanent residents as EU citizens. 

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     Their first gathering was at Loophole in Neuköln where they discovered a magical connection. As a trio they performed a stripped back, experimental acoustic set adding violin at later performances and infusing a haunting, dark, gothic, folk into the songs that Tom Waits would be proud of.

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     Their sound is reminicent of Crime & The City Solution or Mick Harvey; yet it is obviously a style all of their own.

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     Their unique sound fuses sirenesque vocals, hypnotic rhythms, tormented strings, and sometimes experimental-noise guitar with abstract projections and lighting in the vein of the 1940s era. Dark and brooding with a touch of irony with blues elements as heard in their single The Devil's Son.

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     Isabelle has been likened to PJ Harvey and was described as a gothic, Billy Holiday. Blurring masculine and feminine energies, Maria Zastrow on bass brings Elvis back to life, while Belle is possessed by Vampira.

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   The live sound is a paradox of doom and joy, that make the audience want to dance and let go of their inhibitions. Smiles emerge on faces of audience members and a sense of camraderie imbibes the room.  

 

     Terrifying and beautiful, The Subterranean Sea have sold over 1000 'Glorious Dead' vinyl records and are currently recording a new album for release in January 2025 after the release of  "TaranDtula" (pun intended).

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     The first single from The Glorious Dead album, 'Blossom Of Love' has received high-rotation on Netradio in France and the album has also received positive reviews in well-known French, London magazines. 

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"The Glorious Dead Vinyl LP" 2021

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Released by Beast Records (FR) & Spooky Records (AU) and emerged as Belle's Frankenstein album.  A musical escapade, stitched together from diverse sonic limbs across the globe. This album, akin to the mad scientist's laboratory, saw its creation unfold in New York, with Mark Plati (Bowie, Lou Reed, Depeche Mode) and Lindsay Gravina (The Birthday Party, Rowland S. Howard, Magic Dirt). In Sydney at home in Alberts Music Studio, Phoenix self-produced, Dancing All The Time, SoulKillers and New York City recruiting Trent Marden (The Holy Soul), on guitar. 

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New EP ’TaranDtula’ is a D.I.Y. recording and release, February 2024

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Martin J. Fiedler of Klangbild Studio in Kreuzberg, was recruited to mix the DIY recordinig. Martin is  known for his work with fellow Australians, Crime & The City Solution. Two singles emerged in 2023: the upbeat and catchy "All By Myself" and the dystopian love affair, “Moon & Mars” (Special Version), mixed and mastered by Fabian Tormin (Lee Renaldo). Now, in the moonlit shadows of early February 2024, Belle Phoenix and The Subterranean Sea unveil the first half of their vampiric opus, 4-tracks marrying heaven and hell.

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