Belaganas

Photography by Eric Daniels

Words by Adrianna Dreckmann

At two in the morning on a night in May, I was scrolling through Twitter and came across a retweet of a music video. That video was for the single “Watch”, by experimental hip hop group, Belaganas. After watching that 30-second clip, I knew I stumbled upon something great.

“This is like our first legit interview”, Joey tells me the morning after their first show with the full band, in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge. It capped off a week of “big f****** things” that are coming soon for the band.

Musically, Belaganas consists of Phoenix vocalists Joey J and Shanker, as well as drummer Nick Wille. Beyond the face of Belaganas, there is another trio of people, the cornerstones that every band needs but fans often forget. First, there is producer, Austin Jones. Along with photographer, Eric Daniels, and videographer, Derek Rinsema, together the three bring all the visuals to the band’s music and social media.

Since the age of five, Joey, Shanker, and Nick knew that music was their path. There are a million Vice articles out there describing how Generation Z is taking a different route after high school. Belaganas are an example of that. With the whole band officially out of high school this year, they have no other plans for higher education other than being Belaganas. “We’re in that weird transition that we’re all really broke fresh out of high school but we have our eyes on big things. We know what we want but we also know what it can do to us”, Joey describes.

“We’ve always been outliers in the Phoenix music scene—that’s not to say that the people in Phoenix don’t support us—but we’ve never really fit into the scene in any sort of way”, Shanker elaborates. In an age where music can’t be shoved into one genre, Belaganas bends the rules between alternative and hip hop. This is apparent when they cite their diverse inspirations, from 2000s hip-hop legends Kanye West and Eminem all the way to iconic singer-songwriters like David Bowie and Freddie Mercury. While you may want to compare Belaganas to other contemporaries (BROCKHAMPTON was my comparison) they don’t want to be pigeonholed. “It’s like when people say, ‘Oh, they’re just like BROCKHAMP- TON’. It’s not necessarily a diss, but we want to be more than that”, says Joey.

Currently, only eight songs are available to stream on Belaganas’ profiles, yet no two songs are exactly alike. Songs like “Silk” and “Run” offer a more mellow sound that dances with the subject of loneliness. On the opposite end, their latest singles “Watch” and “Moneyman” deliver high energy performances, lyrically flipping off the people standing in Belaganas’ way. On “Moneyman”, Joey takes the reins, producing the anti-capitalist single that epitomizes the definition of “banger”. What’s more, all eight songs, while different from each other, still fit together seamlessly in the overall sound Belaganas is cultivating.

Shanker, the self-described “baby” of the group, grew up close to American Indian reservations in Arizona his whole life. “Seeing all the indigenous artists in Arizona but never really hearing them on the radio, compared to the plethora of white artists that dominate the soundwaves really frustrates and inspires me”, Shanker expressed. Shanker, like the rest of the guys, wants to put out music that inspires. Belaganas wants to be the figure for fans who didn’t have someone like themselves to look up to.

In my half-hour phone call with Belaganas, it’s very apparent that they’re passionate about what they’re doing. They are all very precise with each step of the process and enjoy the feeling of creating & writing something new. I knew that night in May when I found the “Watch” music video that I stumbled upon something great. I can feel it. While the future for the band is kept under wraps, Wille ensures, “The message is going to get across to the point where people get it. No questions asked.” Belaganas are going to be making themselves heard, whether for a thousand people online or a hundred thousand people in a stadium. Hell, they even have me rethinking a bunch of stuff about the life path I want to be on compared to what I need to be on. You know what they say (in my case, they being Shanker), “Fortune favors the bold.” Indeed, Belaganas are bold.