‘Music which is uncomfortable and makes you take notice.’ Rock duo Le Chat Noir in conversation (part one)

By PRSD, on Saturday, January 31, 2009

Le Chat Noir are famed for their live energy and their lusciously dark, killer tunes. We caught up with Dartmoor’s rockin’est duo to find out more about their style, their sound and their story

Q How did you get together? What made you join forces? Had you been in bands before?

A Unsurprisingly, people are always asking us how a guy born in London and a girl from Los Angeles ended up playing music together in Devon. It is a long story that seems to keep changing – we like to maintain some mystery!

The basics are that Eileen and I met almost four years ago, while I was playing in another band – she was over here living in Doret, and my previous band were booked to play a show in Poole. I got chatting to her on the internet and she came along to see us, and we had an instant connection as friends.

When that band split up, I was a bit jaded with music, but Eileen and I had a few jams together for fun and my passion was reignited. We immediately hit it off musically too – Eileen had never been in a band before, but she has a natural aptitude for the drums and things progressed very quickly. We became a couple and moved in together and began working on our music every day – and the rest is history!

Q You’ve got a very distinctive look and style – how did you come up with it, and how do you define your look and sound?

A I’ve always believed that performance is a huge part of music. I love bands who put on a show. When I go to a gig I want to leave feeling like I’ve experienced something special, not just seen some ordinary looking people standing still and playing instruments on a stage. I love bands who have something interesting to say, who look different and don’t just follow current trends.

The first band I was obsessed with were the Manic Street Preachers, back when they were an iconoclastic mess of eyeliner and spray-painted t-shirts. Their otherworldliness excited me, made me feel that music was something that could elevate you above the dullness of everyday life, and their lyrics were unlike anything I’d ever heard, full of political and artistic references. The Holy Bible left a lasting impression on me, it was so different from everything else at the time, so dark.

It was never a conscious decision of ours to go with a ‘theme’.The imagery grew organically along with the music. Musically and lyrically, we fuse all sorts of influences to create something that we hope is unique – I’ve always been an avid reader and film watcher, and a lot of my lyrical influences come from that area rather than my musical upbringing. I love Westerns, film noir, anything about the dark and uncomfortable side of human nature.

Q You’ve said your influences include Glam Rock, Springsteen and Country and the Pixies – how do your influences feed into what you do?

A Eileen’s parents are younger than mine, so she grew up listening to glam while my dad’s favourites were more in the traditional songwriting vein – Dylan, Springsteen, Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison, as well as classical and jazz. I wouldn’t call any of those direct influences on us, but I think those kind of singers definitely helped me to appreciate the way in which a simple song can be the most powerful.

You mentioned Pixies, and I’d agree that they are far more of a direct influence on our writing – they’re my favourite band and from the first time I heard them, I was hooked. Their music has so much dissonance in it, the atonality of the lead guitar work, Frank Black’s howling with the counterpoint of Kim Deal’s bored, almost spoken backing vocals… and yet to me it’s also perfect pop music, full of incredible hooks and melodies. That’s what I’ve always strived to make – music which is uncomfortable and makes you take notice, but is also catchy and accessible.

Q Do you get annoyed being compared to the White Stripes?

A It used to really frustrate us when we first started, as we never consciously tried to emulate them in any way. I don’t own any White Stripes records! It’s actually far more of an issue here in England – we’ve played all over Europe and nobody ever tries to pigeonhole us over there.

There is a trend here, some people just seem to feel this need to reduce everything to what is familiar to them rather than opening their minds. They see a boy and a girl come on stage and before we’ve even played a note we’re being prejudged. These days, it just makes us determined to prove people wrong – we rock out even harder and give our performance even more, and make people eat their words. People are usually most surprised by Eileen – she is a great drummer, but is also one of the hardest hitters I’ve played with! It only takes a few moments to realise she is nothing like Meg White.

Q You’re renown for your live energy. How do you maintain that night after night, and how do you transfer that to your CDs?

A To be honest it can be quite tough on tour, but we always seem to get through somehow! We do always put 100 per cent in to every gig. So far, there has only been one show, in Belgium, where my voice totally went and I couldn’t sing for a few minutes. That was before the smoking ban – since that came in, it’s been easier on my voice. One of my new year’s resolutions for 2009 is to get fitter before we head off on our long tour of Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia that is planned for May… but at the moment I’m really under the weather so it’s been a bit frustrating! I’ve also been doing some vocal training recently to try and help my throat out!

• TOMORROW: The murderous Mary Lee makes a return and Le Chat Noir talk about their involvement in Torbay’s risque burlesque culture