What was your first musical performance?

N: "I was playing a lot of violin, we would sing in church, and Elliot had numerous clarinet recitals and jazz band performances...it's hard to pinpoint the first time either of us got on stage. One memorable moment was in fifth grade when I signed up for the high school talent show, put on a leopard print cowboy hat, and belted out a Lucinda Williams song."

E: "But our first show together was the opening for Peter Bjorn and John at Shubas."

N: "That was kind of rough because we had been playing in different bands and had just recorded an album for a band that had no name — which turned into Wild Belle. So when we played in that show, we were trying to achieve what we did in the studio. Since then, we’ve really lived up to the record itself — exceeding it, actually. We keep on finding new sounds through our live performances."

E: "We played under the name of Rhunes for that show since we hadn't had an official name yet. We thought it had a nice Scandinavian flavor — perfect considering Peter Bjorn and John are from Sweden."

So where did the name Wild Belle come from?

N: "Elliot came up with it. Belle is my middle name."