Nouvelle Vague Interview

Even though I speak French I have never had the chance to interview a French band, this changed at this year’s evolution Festival. Nouvelle Vague were in the UK for a couple of days, and on the 21^st of May they were playing on the main stage in Newcastle. After their mint set I went off to interview them.

As we were in England it seemed like a natural thing to start the whole thing of on the topic of weather. Apparently the day before playing Newcastle they were very much impressed by the amazing weather conditions that Manchester had to offer for a festival over there. Having lived through the ‘floods’ (imagine this said with a French tonality to it) in Glastonbury and a storm in Brighton, and many other unbearable wet conditions, this was an amazing rain free weekend. Ok not all rain free, later, after the interview, it did start raining a whole lot more than all the skimpy dressed people could deal with.

But weather is not the only thing that we talked about, after all this was an interview about music. Nouvelle Vague listeners are probably intrigued by how the band decides which girls to take on tour, after all the CDs feature many different vocalists. For the Newcastle date there was only one girl, Mélanie, present. She makes sure that the other girls cannot make it to the … Well she sang on the first album, at the fist ever Nouvelle Vague concert, and can sing all the songs anyways, so the question is not even raised anymore if she should come along or not. Maybe I should have done a bit more research, because during the interview I found out, that the French singer Camille used to be part of Nouvelle Vague.

The success story of Nouvelle Vague is rather particular. I wanted to know how they managed to get themselves accepted internationally as a cover band, as a French band. French bands after all are not generally know that much outside the language borders (please ignore Air, Daft Punk, David Guetta and others), and well cover/tribute bands do not sell that well either do they? Quite truthfully they admitted that they themselves cannot really explain where this success comes from, but they are happy about it. They are accepted due to the creativity that goes into the songs. Their success in France is not the same as it is abroad. This is due to the fact that they have not played that many gigs in France, people have the music but do not think of them as a live band.

Their covers are different; they are special, covers of songs that people might not know that well. Of course one is bound to know “Love Will Tear Us Apart” or “Just Can’t Get Enough”, but not necessarily the other songs that are on the albums. Mélanie pointed out that you listen to a Nouvelle Vague Album like you listen to the album of any other artist, as there is something new to be discovered. For example in “Guns of Brixton”, light is shed on the lyrics as it is sung differently. The original by the Clash is very contextual. Or in the song “Love Will Tear Us Apart”, the suffering is not felt the same way. It is a calm, melancholic song, but there is not the painful history that comes with it. Nouvelle Vague’s music is a tribute to the original. It is a means of letting the younger generation access the music made by the people that are 2 or 3 generations away from original artists.

The Nouvelle Vague albums are a mixture of favorite songs, and songs that seem interesting to be covered by Nouvelle Vague. The new album (Out 29^th of June in the UK) features a cover of Magazine, who they adore, and they hope that this will get people to discover Magazine. The new album features some of the original artists in the cover versions of their songs.

We also talked about music in general. France did not have something like the Beatles, the French music scene evolved in a different manner (musical Darwinism I’d call this). Today bands such as Nouvelle Vague, Justice and Phoenix etc. are getting a lot of attention outside of France. We can never have enough music in our life! New Wave music was a niche market music style. It was not for everyone, it is the beginning of indie music (not the mainstream indie). It was an alternative to the existing society. Later on in the day I watched the Maccabees perform, they were of Nouvelle Vague’s liking, after all they have a New Wave sound to them. I’d better not tell you how they perceived the View…

Thanks a lot to Marc, Olivier, Mélanie and Gerald of Nouvelle Vague for this interview that was 27 minutes long, and was marked by overlapping conversations.

If you can see Nouvelle Vague live, then I advise you to do exactly that. If you will be in France on the 23^rd of June then check them out in Paris.

Interview by Solveig Werner

Ra Ra Riot Interview

While their UK tour, Ra Ra Riot played a gig in Newcastle on the 14th of Februrary, and I had the chance to catch up with the cello player Alexandra.
When Alexandra was three years old she started to learn how to play the cello. She never saw herself to become a part of a rock band, and now she is enjoying that very much. A rare thing abut her is that she plays the cello standing up, which I asked her about, in the beginning this was hard and she brought a cinder block along to support her leg. Sitting down she felt like she was not having as much fun as the others, and she would “look dumb either way”.Ra Ra Riot formed a bit more than 3 years ago, they met at University in New York, but are from all over the east coast (New York, New Jersey, Maine, and Massachusetts). I wanted to know where the strange name, Ra Ra Riot, came from. In their beginning they did not have a name for the band, and needed one for their first gig; one of their friends had a name without a band. The name was meant to be temporary, but it still is their name. They like traveling a lot as it is fun. Their success in the UK isn’t massive, but it is present. The great thing about people in the UK is that they come out to the gigs even if they have never heard of the band, just because they have such great love for music.I am a big fan of Tokyo Police Club, so I had to ask Allie about the Ra Ra Riot’s remix of “Juno”. She told me that they had a lot of fun working on the remix, something that they had never done before. They covered with the strings and then added in a couple of electronic sounds.
Currently Alexandra is into into Midlake, who have a bit of a Fleetfoxes vibe going on. Besides that she really likes Fleetwood Mac, Paul Simon, The Police, she listens to a lot of classical music. Lately she has grown rather fond of music from the 20s, and 30s. Even if a lot of people don’t like them she quite likes the new Kanye West, and Britney albums.If she would be at home and not on tour Allie would most likely be in the kitchen cooking with her family, listening to music or watching Law & Order, or maybe she’d be walking the dogs.

Interview by Solveig Werner


Ra Ra Riot Interview - NSR by Solveig

Innerpartysystem Interview

I interviewed the Philadelphia band Innerpartysystem before their sold out gig at Academy 2 in Newcastle on February 2nd.
I started the interview by asking how they met up. In their eyes it was an uninteresting story as they met in school. When Pat (the singer) started writing songs, they decided to form a band. Initially they got into music thanks to their family members (3 generations!). Innerpartysystem is such a long word, which caused me to bring up the question where it comes from. And of course it comes from “1984” by George Orwell, their only literary influence. When I listen to ISP I tend to wonder what exactly this music is. In their eyes or maybe ears they are not: Salsa, classical, and definitely not metal, but they are electronic rock, dance music, most of all they see their music as POP music.
When I brought up the difference with the local music scene, which features Dr. Dog and Man Man and many more, they just said that they simply don’t fit in anywhere. Today they are a different band then when they were on the first day. These days they don’t fuss about who they do shows with, as long as it is a huge, and good show, but they would really like to play with the Gorillas. Momentarily it would take them a lot to go out and see a band.
As I am a bit nosy I wanted to know what is the best thing about being in a band. For them the most fun things are that they get to play awesome shows, travel and meet crazy people. But most of all for them it is the being IMMATURE. They “fuck around a lot”, wearing ripped clothes, not showering for days (5 or so). Being in a band is “a ticket to be such a looser”. And they do not have to get up early.
But being in a band isn’t just easy and fun, it comes with challenges. For them they are playing the best shows they possibly can, before the tour it was making the best record possible. When on tour their equipment tends to break, not making their life easier. As a band they really live hand to mouth, some of them don’t even have bank accounts anymore. In their eyes it must cost about $5000 a month just to breathe. The record label does not care about them eating, it is only interested in the band selling albums. Another hard thing for them is self-discipline, getting up to write when at home for a week.
Lately they have been listening to: Adam Sky, Bjork, Bloc Party, Bon Jovi, Death Metal, Jazz, Jimmy Eat World, they don’t listen to Old County (ok Johnny Cash they are cool with), or Opera. When asked whom we should stay on the lookout for they mentioned following bands: Paper Route who they toured with, and are a more electronic version of Coldplay, or could be said to be a different form of Band of Horses. 3Oh!3 who are going on their first UK tour opening for Katy Perry, which will most likely boost their popularity. And finally Friendly Fires who don’t really need a shout-out, but ISP really like them.

Interview by Solveig Werner

Innerpartysystem Interview by Solveig

Black Daniel Interview

On November 1st 2008 Solveig of NSR had the chance to interview Black Daniel when they played at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle.

Black Daniel Interview - NSR by Solveig

General Fiasco Interview

On the 23rd of October Solveig interviewed General Fiasco for NSR

General Fiasco Interview - NSR by Solveig

Read Solveig's gig review here.

The Automatic Interview

On the 1st of October Solveig had the chance to interview the Automatic for NSR

The Automatic Interview - NSR by Solveig

Read Solveig's gig review here.

The Hoosiers Interview

The Hoosiers are not a normal band. Their rider consists of hummus, nuts and raisins, fruits, red peppers, pitta bread and water. The customary bottle of Jack Daniels stands to the right, but as far as I can tell, it’s untouched. Upon commenting on the randomness of the spread before us, we receive the reply that touring for weeks and eating rubbish makes them fat - so now they ask for the healthy stuff.

Introducing themselves are Irwin (vocals and guitar), Martin (bass, guitar and more instruments than you could fit on a page: ‘Grade 8!’) and Alphonso (drums). The band are chatty and in a great mood; maybe something to do with the break that have just had prior to playing this gig in Newcastle - they did the festival season in Belgium.

As we entered their dressing room, we noticed lots of furry amps on the stage. What’s with those, anyway? They decided that lots of bands had big amps on stage, and decided to dress theirs up. The furry ones are Yetis, and now they have a robot They’re getting a bit bored of the Yetis now, though, and want to change the general theme.

The next thing we do is enquire into the origin of the name ‘Hoosiers’ (and who doesn’t, apparently). At first Alphonso is indignant, claiming that we should have done our research (the reason is on their MySpace). After a brief pause, they decided to explain anyway! Some of the band spent time in Indiana, which is known as ‘The Hoosier State’. The band then go on to say at least they weren’t in ‘The Wanker State’, but choose not to elaborate, and we don’t ask (some things are better unsaid).

In keeping with the Freshers’ Week theme, we asked them to talk a bit about uni and their own Fresher’s experiences. Well, Martin didn’t go, Irwin did Performing Arts and Alphonso did Creative Writing. According to Irwin, if you remember your Freshers’ Week, you probably weren’t there. This may be because he missed his, as some of the band were still in America, and he only arrived as lectures were starting ‘after a change of heart. We decided to go back England and not spend another 3 years in the States’. So maybe his statement was more to do with absence than drunkenness (but he had a point)!

We then ask the band to tell us something they have never said in an interview before. This usually produces amusing/interesting results, but the exchange below was one of my favourites.......

NSR: Tell us something you have never said in an interview before.
Irwin: CUNT! I’ve never said ‘cunt’ in an interview before!
NSR: Doesn’t he normally swear?
Band: Not normally
(pause)
Band: Oh.... the Hoosiers aren’t touring. We never say that.
Irwin: I’m sorry for swearing... in front of girls as well!
Band: The Hoosiers are shit!

Even if the only thing you have heard about the Hoosiers is this interview, it’s fairly easy to tell that they have a good sense of humour; their blog is fun to read, and Irwin appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks a while back. So what we wanted to know was: how does this humour relate to, and influence, the songs? Irwin explained that whilst they take their music seriously, and their lyrics try to include themes that are important to them, they don’t particularly take themselves seriously. They know they are ‘pop music’, but in doing this, you can also make real music. Some of their songs have ‘misogynistic lyrics’, and they laughed as they said that a few would never get played on the radio (as opposed to Goodbye Mr. A, or Worried about Ray, I guess!).

In addition to this, they state films & books as their influences, as opposed to ‘one band’, or just a couple of things. For life, Irwin says that Alexander Bell is his hero, as he invented the telephone. ‘A telly and a phone all in one! Where would be without it!’. They would love to support The Flaming Lips!

Their tour manager comes in, apologising that they have to go to a different interview now. I ask if there is anything else they would like to say? We have to all go to the gig they are playing in November. They know where we live, and will find us... Also: ‘Stay in school!’

The Hoosiers: Gentlemen, intelligent, talented and amusing. Not entirely un-insane. What more can you want from a band?

Katie Ashworth
Solveig J. Werner
Kate Edwards

Interview with People of Santiago

On the 16th of January 2008 Newcastle Student Radio had the pleasure of interviewing the local band People of Santiago. The atmosphere of the interview was pleasant, held in the café part of the Cluny. The interview was not static it seemed like we had a good question round in between friends.

How long have you been together as a band?
Andy: We have been making music together for two and a half years but only about one in the current lineup.
Sparky: We tied out some people, sacked them…

So you give them a trial time like in football?
Sparky: They don’t fit in you got to put them in the outside team, so yes like football.

On the topic of football, do you do any sports?
Andy: I play some football.
Sparky: I try to run. I am good at the Sauna.

Is that a sport?
Sparky: It gives you a good sweat

What’s your favorite food?
Phil: Pizza
Sparky: Family size of Galaxy
Phil: Doesn’t that make you sick?
Sparky: I like it when it melts
Andy: I like all food

Matt joining us a bit late
Matt: I’m Matt from people of Santiago, I had to do my hair!

Is that why you are late for my interview?
Matt: I had champagne


What’s your favorite band?
Phil: Simply red
Sparky: Just like songs

What’s your favorite song then?
Sparky: At the moment? Velvet underground
Matt: I really don’t know
Sparky: I think he likes the Sugarbabes and Sugarcubes

Do you like Joy Division?
Andy: Yes I like Joy Division.
Matt: slipknot
Sparky: I like the Cure, a bit of Depeche Mode, a little bit of Kraftwerk.
Andy: We like a spectrum of music.
Matt: We all like different things.
Sparky: I like TV.

What are your favorite TV series?
Matt: I like friends
Sparky: Scrubs
Matt: Shooting stars, it’s back on

Sparky: Do you watch films?
Yes Kevin Smith films
Matt: Oh he is great! There is a new one coming out isn’t there?
Sparky: I prefer films to music but well I play the guitar

Would you rather act than be in a band? (To Sparky)
Sparky: Yes if I could do it

(...)
Sparky: I like the John Copland film, Halloween the thing
80s horror movies
Andy: that’s where we steal our tunes

You steal your tunes from films?
Sparky: They are forgotten movies

So, your music is it influenced by films?
Andy: All music is to be fair I think
Matt: Except for McFly
Sparky: We just strip down film soundtracks

If you were pork what would you like to be worked into?
Andy: I’d be bacon
Andy: We are all vegetarians and we all like the environment

Where would you go if you could have a concert anywhere in the world?
Sparky: America and Japan … Each band member in a different state
Matt: No point in going to France, or to Germany, Germans like Hasselhoff too much.
Sparky: I think we would do well in Germany
Matt: We had a number one in Czech republic
Sparky: I’d play Australia, Steve Irving Memorial concert or something

After the interview we went into the venue and tried hard to sell some merchandise, by the end of the night we managed to sell a couple of singles, they also managed to get me drunk. The fact that I was drunk makes it rather hard to recall the entire gig. I have no real memory of the opening bands. What I do remember is that People of Santiago put on a really good set, paying the deeds to their electro rock forefathers Dave Gahan, Robert Smith and Ian Curtis amongst others. They are definitely a band worth seeing play live.

Solveig Werner