Devon rock duo Le Chat Noir in conversation (part two)

Le Chat Noir rock the world from rural Devon. In part two of the PRSD conversation with the duo, we catch up on their song writing, their work with the Devon Music Collective and their third album Postcards From The Dark Highway

Q You do a lot of work with DMC (the Devon Music Collective). Why do you think it’s important and what do you get out of it?

A We always try to help the local music scene in any way we can, but what Mark and Aly have been doing in Torbay is especially worthy of attention.

It’s so important to encourage youngsters into playing music from an early age and you can see it has a really positive effect on them. I think a lot of the aggression you see on the streets these days could be avoided if kids were encouraged to let out their frustrations in more positive ways, and music is perfect for that.

Q What advice would you give new bands?

A The most important thing is to practice together as much as you can, but also to get out there and get gigging as soon and as often as possible – it’s the best way of improving fast. Remember that playing note perfect is not the most important part of live music – most people would rather see a band really rock out and be a bit sloppy than just stand there playing everything ‘right’.

Q What advice would you give about performing and writing?

A With writing, it’s really a case of doing whatever feels comfortable for you. Personally, I never wrote a song or sang in a band until I was 22 – I always told myself I couldn’t do it – I played bass in my previous bands. It wasn’t until Le Chat Noir that I hit on a method which works for me. Just keep experimenting until you find a way that works for you, and don’t feel that because someone else works in a certain way, that’s the right way to do it!

In terms of performance, I’d say that it’s important to give free rein to the parts of your character that are generally suppressed. It’s not really acting, but rather a release. In everyday life, screaming out loud or jumping about are frowned upon – being on stage is a rare opportunity to do what you want, and more importantly to take the audience on a journey with you!

When we get on stage, both of us feel like another part of us takes over – a darker, more primeval side of us. It sounds strange but sometimes I see photos of myself playing… I look in my eyes and I’m like a stranger to myself! Often after gigs people are really surprised when they meet us, because we’re both quite quiet, polite people – being able to go between the two states is a really important ability to learn for a performer. You have to learn to let yourself go, too many people seem so uptight and self conscious on stage. Remember, it should be fun for you and the audience!

Q How did you get involved in the burlesque shows?

A We really admire our friends Kinky and Quirky for bringing some risque culture to Torbay! The first time we met them was at a gig of ours – they enjoyed our performance and invited us along to a Valentine’s day burlesque show they’d organised. We immediately knew we’d love to do a gig for them alongside the burlesque artists, it’s a darkly playful form of performance and we thought our show fit in well with it. We’re really looking forward to doing it again sometime – who knows, maybe one day we’ll be able to afford to take a burlesque troupe on the road with us!

Q How did you feel picking up the Torbay Arts prize for best performing band?

A Without wishing to get involved in the politics of the event and the organisation, which we know has some detractors in the local music community, we were genuinely honoured to have been recognised and singled out for an award. There was some talk of us maybe judging an award next year, so we’ll see what happens with that!

Q You say your third album Postcards From The Dark Highway is ‘a noir road movie-type album, with a partly Bonnie and Clyde-influenced plot’, and your first album had serial killer Mary Lee popping up in it. Are there themes running through your songs and where do you get your ideas?

A Both of our albums so far have ended up almost like collections of linked short stories – there is also a link between the two, Deadwood beginning with a song about Silver City being burnt down by an arsonist! I don’t usually like the whole ‘concept album’ thing because it’s hard not to make it feel forced if you go into the writing process with fixed ideas of the end result, but I think an album should stand up as a unified whole rather than a collection of unconnected threads – too many albums these days seem like a collection of singles and filler material.

I like to put an album on and listen all the way through and see rhyme and reason in the track selection and order. Postcards From The Dark Highway is shaping up as a kind of prequel to Tales From Silver City. In fact, the character you mentioned – Mary Lee – is going to make a return and you’ll find out how she came to be so bad!

Le Chat Noir – Her Wicked Smile @ 4AD, Diksmuide, March 7th 2008 from Le Chat Noir on Vimeo.

Q You’ve got your own studio, do you work with other Devon bands and how do you see the scene at the moment?

A I have done a little bit of work with a couple of friends’ bands – Cara’s Crimson Chords and Andy Shaw – but mainly we just do our own stuff here. Our favourite local band, Supenik, actually live just down the road from us, but they also record themselves! It’s so great that technology is so affordable and widely available these days – it’s really empowering for bands at our level.

There are a lot of really great bands down here at the moment, we’re constantly surprised by the quality of some of the bands we’ve played with. We go further afield and expect the bands to suddenly be on another level in the big cities and abroad, but actually the bands down here are some of our favourites we’ve played with!

Q What’s the biggest problem you face with your music?

You’ve mentioned the whole White Stripes thing, and I think that being pigeonholed is one of the hardest things to deal with. We just do what we do and don’t expect everyone to like it, but it hurts sometimes when people say we’re trying to be something when we’re not. Aside from that, being a couple and also a band is both a blessing and a curse – overall it’s really great and we wouldn’t change it for the world, but if tensions flare on tour it can be hard to keep the personal and professional aspects of our relationship separate!

Q Does living in rural Devon hold you back?

A I wouldn’t say it holds us back – if anything, it’s a blessing. In practical terms, it allows us to play whenever we want without bothering any neighbours, and actually not being in a big city has forced us to look further afield for gigs – which has been a great experience. Not being part of an established scene has also allowed us the freedom to do our own thing and not try to fit in to what’s going on locally. People are always asking Eileen why on earth she’d be living here as a musician over her native LA, but she loves it here.

Q How difficult was your third album Postcards From The Dark Highway?

A We’re still working on it currently, and it has taken a lot longer than our other albums. I think our first two were much more instinctive, they just kind of ‘happened’ – we’ve done a lot of gigs now and have both matured as musicians, so for better or worse we’ve put a lot more thought into this record. It’s sounding great, but we’re much more conscious and critical of it than we were. Recording and producing yourself can sometimes be a hard discipline! You never know when to stop, and I’m a perfectionist so sometimes I have to force myself to step back and try to be objective.

Q What fictional character inspires you? What real life character inspires you?

A I don’t really have ‘heroes’ in the traditional sense – I don’t understand it when people idolise musicians, actors, whatever. They’re just ordinary people doing something they love, who happen to be in the public eye. We’re inspired by all the bands who have made it big without selling out – regardless of genre, we have a lot of respect for anyone within the music ‘industry’ who is successful on their own terms. In terms of fictional characters… I think we tend to root for the underdogs, the outcasts and the misfits! Eileen’s favourite film is Ghostworld, and she loves the character of Enid in that.

Q What’s your favourite film?

A I love too many films to name one really, but if pushed guess I’d say Amelie – not very rock’n'roll but it’s just such a joyous and touching celebration of the human spirit. It makes me smile just thinking about it!

Q Has anyone approached you to be characters in a graphic novel?

A Funnily enough, they did, but nothing ever came of it in the end! a few people have talked about something like that. It’d definitely be something that’d interest us – I’d really like to have some artwork that came with the album like a mini graphic novel.

Q And if on your travels you happened upon a magic lamp, which had a genie inside it, what three wishes would you ask for?

A Eileen has just told me she’d want an old sparkly ’70s jumpsuit and platform shoes, I think that might have something to do with Bowie being on the stereo right now!! I think my big dream would be just to be able to carry on playing music and make a living out of it for as long as possible. Thirdly… I’d wish for a million more wishes, haha! It’s so hard to do these without going for the old cliches, like world peace!

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