The Belle Game

Belle Game
The Belle Game, July 2011
Background information
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Indie, Pop, Rock
Years active	2009–present
Website	thebellegame.com
Members	Adam Nanji Andrea Lo Alex Andrew Katrina Jones

Belle Game is an ethereal crush pop band originating from Vancouver, British Columbia. Formed in July 2009, the band currently consists of members Adam Nanji, Andrea Lo, Alex Andrew, and Katrina Jones.

Adam Nanji and Alex Andrew, who met when they were 5 years old, formed the band with high school friend Andrea Lo in the summer of 2009, and the band recorded its first EP at Vogville Studios with producer John Franco the same summer.

In September 2009, while attending McGill University, Nanji met Katrina Jones, a then-solo singer/songwriter, while she was waiting tables in a restaurant near McGill. When Andrea Lo arrived in Montreal that fall to perform some local shows, the three of them played the shows under the name of The Belle Game, keeping to the original melody/harmony-focused sound of the band, and Jones was soon adopted into the band. In November, the band released their first EP.

The Belle Game digitally released their first collection of songs, the Inventing Letters EP, on November 10, 2009. The EP received positive reviews, and got them on CBC National Radio with the song "Tiny Fires," which was put into light rotation shortly after its release. In April 2010, the lead track "Shoulders & Turns" was put into heavy rotation with a local radio station, and shortly after, the band entered the local "Sounds of Summer Song Search" radio contest with an acoustic version of the EP's fourth track, "Tiny Fires". Throughout the summer, the band played at different venues for the competition. The Belle Game ultimately won the most votes from fans, thus receiving the "Fan Favourite Award".

In August 2010, the band headed into JC/DC studios in downtown Vancouver to record tracks for their new album with producers David Carswell and John Collins, (Tegan and Sara, The New Pornographers). By the end of the year, the band stated that they had completely recorded 9 songs and were working on as many as 6 more tracks as of January 2011. However, still struggling with finding their sound, the band ended up scrapping most of the tracks and releasing a second EP with the remaining material, entitled "Sleep to Grow", on October 1, 2011. The EP received positive reviews, helping the band earn a spot in the Georgia Straight's list of the "Best Bands of Vancouver" for 2011.