Bimach Emerges

Growing up, Mitchell Bederman was heavily influenced by music. “I started piano

lessons when I was six,” he says. “I didn’t really enjoy it. I didn’t like the music I was playing. I think everyone is started in music by their parents and it’s up to them to either stick with it or drop out of it.”

Unlike Bederman, Ikreet Randhawa chose to listen instead of play. “I never had a musical background, I’ve always just really enjoyed music,” says the 26-year-old native of England. “I remember the first song I really grooved out to was Loco-Motion by Kylie Minogue. She was really, really big in the UK. I used to watch a show she was on and I was in love with her. Well, I thought I was in love with her, but then I realized I just wanted to be her.”

Bederman and Randhawa now form Bimach (pronounced Bi-Match), one of Vancouver’s newest bands. Their complex and thoughtful acoustic sound is standing out on the local music scene.

“I’d describe our genre as acoustic rock with a heavy downbeat influence,” says Bederman. “We’ll always be based mainly in the rock and roll genre, but I’d like to expand into electronica and house music.”

Bimach was born early this year after the pair met at a local party. From the first moment, they gravitated to each other in what can only be described as destiny.

“I was really bored, but then I saw Mitchell and he seemed really awkward and tired like me. I asked him if he wanted to go outside and smoke a joint, and he did,” says Randhawa. “I didn’t even smoke it.”

The band slowly took shape with Bederman writing the songs and Randhawa playing the guitar. The only problem was that Randhawa didn’t know how to play.

“I told him I wanted to learn, and he said he would teach me,” Randhawa says.

Bederman started writing songs while attending UBC, but in the beginning, he wasn’t happy with the results.

“At the end of my first year of university, two years ago, I went home and wrote a lot of bad songs,” recalls Bederman. “I didn’t really feel like I fit in with my high school friends anymore, so I secluded myself. I had been writing all year in a journal, and it evolved into music.”

Bimach hit the stage for the first time in May. Although the crowd wasn’t that big, the thrill of playing on stage was huge for Randhawa.

“I had very little confidence, I wasn’t used to it,” he says. “I thought I would suck, but it turned out okay. I don’t think Mitch was ever nervous, he’s a totally different person on stage, he’s fucked up. He’s usually reserved, but when he’s performing he doesn’t hold anything back.”

One of the defining characteristics of Bimach is the rejection of personal limitations and labels. Both members embrace gay culture but at the same time are wary of being too much influenced by any one source.

“I am very happy when I think that being gay has allowed me the ability to look at subcultures within the gay world and accept them for what they are,” says Bederman. “I think in that way, being part of queer life is very beneficial. I would just like to warn people not to get stuck in the gay stereotype and to look for their own personal meaning so that they can grow as individuals.

“The songs aren’t really about sex,” he continues. “They’re more about interpersonal relationships. There is a lot of sexual imagery, but I don’t try to limit myself.”

The future is limitless though, for a band that has everything from an indefinable name to an unclassifiable sound. Although they don’t yet have a CD, one thing is for sure; Bimach wants to be in this for the long haul.

“We are going to have a few gigs soon,” says Bederman. “We have been recording our live shows and find it a much more efficient way of releasing our music. The studio is a very appealing place to us but it is also a very expensive place.”

“I’d love to have this as my career,” Randhawa says. “I didn’t see it at first, but I want it now. I find Mitch very motivating and I have no doubt that it will be. We both want it too much.”

“This is something I have to do,” says Bederman.