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Seattle, WA: After the LeRoy Bell performance at the Fremont Abbey Arts Center, House Manager Joseph Denatale caught up with LeRoy about his insight on creative expression and role as an artist in the music industry. [Interview by Joseph Denatale. Published 7/7/16]

Photo by Brian Smith 2012

LeRoy Bell (LB): Really depends on how you look at it. Really I think that my art is something that I’ve always done and it’s not only an outlet it’s also a part of who I am. I write songs for a living — I’ve been a songwriter all my life. I try to incorporate how I feel about things, how I feel about the world around me, how stuff affects me. If I’m trying to write a song that I want somebody else to buy I have to think about it differently but most times I just think about what I wanna say and hopefully somebody else will agree with it and find it interesting. 

It’s a personal thing that other people who aren’t you get to experience.  I think they relate to that because they can see a part of themselves as well — Maybe not exactly, but they relate to it because …we are all human beings… We have a lot of similar feelings about love, about life, and we all have ups and downs and tragic moments and broken hearts and trying to get by… That’s what I write about because that’s all I know… I think that’s all any artist writes about because that’s all they know and that’s their point of view and their take on it.

Joseph Denatale (JD): How would you describe your Abbey experience?

LB: You know I love it here because the acoustics — it’s hard — the acoustics are great but it’s a tricky room because it is a church so if you have one wind instrument, it can be fantastic. There’s something really — and I don’t mean to get all churchy, since we’re in a church — but there’s something special about the room and every time we’ve been here — we’ve only been here twice — people really like to come and see us here.

“Everybody’s sitting, and you can talk to them like you’re sitting in your living room and they appreciate the acoustics and they appreciate the intimacy.”

We don’t get to play that often where we are just playing acoustic, not really over powering with the screaming and drums are super loud, guitars are wailing, and I like that too, but it’s nice to just sit down, and not be jumping around on stage. Everybody’s sitting, and you can talk to them like you’re sitting in your living room and they appreciate the acoustics and they appreciate the intimacy.

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