El Fish

The reunion concert of the year

El Fish was one of the great local bands that emerged during the 1990s. Critically acclaimed, perennial favourites of Studio Brussel and a dynamic live show ensured huge audiences. One would have never expected the blues-rockers to suddenly... quit.

Yet that was what they did, back in 2001. Although the band never officially split – members “just stopped playing together” – their first gig in over a decade is celebrated as a reunion. We sat down with harmonica player and El Fish driving force Steven De Bruyn (far right in photo) in a – where else – blues bar in Ghent.

Why a gig after all these years?
Steven De Bruyn: “Well, a decade ago we played at our old manager’s wedding. The bride and groom celebrated their 10th anniversary this year, and we thought the best gift we could give them was to play for them again. When playing all the old songs again, we realised it still felt good – great, actually. So scheduling a show for our hardcore fans seemed like a great idea. You wouldn’t believe how many people were begging for a reunion on a weekly basis, by the way.”

Are there plans of recording an album again with El Fish?
“I don’t think so. We’re not planning that much ahead, we’ll just see where the AB-show takes us. I’m definitely not bringing my other band, The Rhythm Junks, to a halt.”

How did El Fish start out exactly?
“Most of us were residents of Leuven at the time. I stuck around after my days as a student were behind me. We started jammin’ and eventually found a bar that was willing to let us play. The first El Fish gigs were played in the blues bar De Blauwe Kater. We were compensated with free booze [laughs]. But we started growing from there, drawing bigger audiences every week.”

The music industry and all-round climate has changed a lot since the El Fish days. Does it affect you a lot? Do you, for instance, still care about airplay?
“Not really. You know, being a musician in Flanders has always been rough. The key ingredient of managing to pay your bills at the end of the month has always been playing live. If we’d release a new single, I’d never expect it to be instantly played on Studio Brussel or Radio 1. But, then again, we were never huge whores for media attention [smiles]. Still, the fact we’ve already sold 1,700 tickets for our reunion gig proves we must be doing something right!”

You’ve been involved with three projects with Flemish blues legend Roland Van Campenhout. Is it far-fetched to think he’ll make a guest appearance at your show?
“We made a record with Roland, too, and he filled in on the last tour for our guitar player, who quit, so it isn’t far-fetched at all. But the truth is he’s busy on the evening of our reunion gig. He’s involved in this Wim Vandekeybus project and is playing somewhere else that night. I have a great chemistry with Roland, though. He’s one of the few musicians I had the pleasure of playing with in my life who I really feel connected to. And he’s a good friend, obviously.”

Either way, there’s going to be something special in the air on 1 October... right?
“We’re gonna have both of our drummers play at the same time. We’re gonna have a varied set list, with songs from all albums and a lot of material from the last one. Don’t expect a lot of the earlier work though, we’re kinda done with that [laughs]. But yeah, it’s gonna be special.”