The Beija Flor were a genre-defying band who blended pop sensibilities, emo, and indie rock. They were always a bit hard to pin down, which this article from ffwd hints at. [img width=662.484px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1775926793247x397197858088663230/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] [h2]The nature of Beija Flor [/h2] [h3]Earthy imagery makes for mysterious music [/h3] BRAD HALASZ You don't have to be on a misty mountaintop to write "Misty Mountain Hop." You don't have to be tripped out on acid, either. In fact, all it takes to stir up a little poetic imagery is a ride on your bike through Fish Creek Provincial Park at 5 a.m. That's all it took for Steve van Kampen when he wrote the lyrics to "The Lonely One," the second song on Calgary-based Beija Flor's two-years-in-the-making debut album, The Quiet One and the Lonely One. "My wife went out of town and I was really lonely and I was riding my bike through Fish Creek," says Steve. "It was really dark and all these weird poetry things came to me." As twentysomething suburban- ites, one would assume a bar conversation between the members of Beija Flor would consist of how drunk they're going to get or who can get a hot girl's phone number first, but as Steve, his brother Paul, Matt Bailiff and Jon Reddit (who round out Beija Flor) sit at a local watering hole, they find themselves in conversations about nature. That inevitably translates to their music. Drawing from the eeriness of horror movie scores and using such haunting instruments as keyboards and bells, Beija Flor have settled into the dark world of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin-esque mystique. "There's a darker feeling to a lot of the songs," says Bailiff. "I think somewhere along the line we wrote a song and it sounded a little spooky and we really got into that," says Steve. Beija Flor's members have been in other musical projects in Calgary and some of them still clock time in other bands. That diversity is what helps the band stay unified. "We all come from different musical backgrounds," says Paul. "I'm influenced by some people and (the band) is influenced by other people, but when we mix it all together this is what we all like." As a result, there is no set genre for Beija Flor. Even fans of the band's live show have a hard time trying to pin them down. "We get everything," says Bailiff "The prog-rock label has been thrown at us a lot." "But not in a Triumph or Foreigner sort of way," adds Steve, looking worried. The cult-like following the band has picked up in their two-year history is due to their energetic set. Beija Flor rely on the element of surprise, not only in their sonic mood changes from punchy to melodic, but in the way they per- form. "I think we're best live. We try to punch people in the head when they're not expecting it and totally surprise people," says Steve. "We have a kick-ass light show, too."
