The Power of Music, Exploring Feelings, and International Love - The Grand Bain Interview

image

The sunshine blazed across a clear sky when I arrived at the Mama Shelter, one of Paris’s trendiest locales. In the mid-afternoon heat everything moves slower, even the servers who polish knives and the few patrons who sip Perrier through black straws. I’m here to meet Erica and Jules, who make up Grand Bain. As we start talking their message hits home for me. Erica, an American, and Jules, a Frenchman, creating art together. And not just music, it’s a story of intercontinental love. 

Erica was always passionate about culture and music, focusing on history and French when she studied at UCLA. Her passion for France brought her here to Paris, where she worked as a cook in a top restaurant. 

Jules was brought up in a musical family, his father being a musician, and he had been involved in many projects throughout his lifetime. It was during the time that he was working on a new wave project that they sought a singer. 

Erica was also looking to get involved with a musical project. She had been writing songs but was hoping to find something more. Calling her roots more “soul” than their current music, her background is more musical theater, soul, and R&B. Despite the potential mismatch, she auditioned for Jules’s old group, and they immediately got along. 

image

That old new wave group did not share the same fate however. Soon after the group dissolved, and Jules and Erica struck out together under the new name, Grand Bain, in early 2014. 

Jules’s father has a studio, and Jules works as a sound engineer, two great advantages for an emerging group to get music out to the grand public. Both Erica and Jules consider themselves perfectionists, so it understandably took a while before they had something they were confident enough to share. There was one thing they were sure enough about though, each other. They recently got married here in Paris. 

The result of their partnership are three tracks currently available on Soundcloud (my personal favorite being the catchy and powerful “No Country”). They have put the finishing touches on their first EP, to be released sometime in the fall, preceded by their first single and music video which will come out in September. 

Jules describes their musical creation as “starting with lyrics, melody/chords, whereas before it was rhythms.” What’s important is to identify cool potential, recognize the beginning of inspiration when it strikes. If it’s not there, you wait. They often go to Burgundy to work on their music together, to take a break from city life. 

Not limiting themselves to constantly creating new sounds, they also take bits of older music and re-purpose those songs. Erica said that their upcoming single is actually the first song they co-wrote together. It sat on the sidelines for a while before they came back to it. 

Their music could be classified as sad, but Erica’s sunny philosophy changes what that might mean to some people. “I don’t believe that people are sad. Sad things happen to people. The important thing is to not hide it or let it fester. Release it.” 

image

If they could open for any group touring right now, they don’t hesitate when they both said Arcade Fire. They also mentioned Interpol as an inspiration. One listen to “Leonie’s Dream” will confirm that. If there is one driving theme for Grand Bain as musicians, it’s to be powerful. Explore feelings, don’t run from them. 

Now that they have a nearly-finished EP and have started working on songs for a full-length album, they are looking to make the move across the world to Los Angeles. Since they sing in English, it makes sense to reach a wider audience who can appreciate the music more quickly. They will be looking for a manager and a way to get set up there. 

In the meantime, you can still catch Grand Bain here in Paris, they play tomorrow night at Le Motel and the big release party is October 9th at the Bus Palladium. 

Track of the Weekend #120: THYLACINE - “Closing” feat. Dyllan

image

Heavy wet snowflakes are falling here in Paris, and winter feels real. There is an indoor feeling, something cozy and warm, calling for a musical cocoon to envelop us. A perfect track for that cocoon is this week’s Track of the Weekend. “Closing” by THYLACINE feat. Dyllan is steady like the ocean waves, elevated on the wings of a soft, angelic voice until it drives through the build and attaches itself firmly into your memory.

The emerging French artist THYLACINE (which was the largest marsupial carvinore, also known as a Tazmanian Tiger, but is sadly now extinct) released his EP “Exil” this week, something to definitely get your hands on

Thanks (comme d'hab!) to Le Coup du Lapin for slipping it into our streams this week!

Quick Interview: Sekuoia’s Other-Worldy Sounds

Sekuoia is an emerging, electronic artist from Copenhagen, being shared like crazy across Whyd, so we went and asked him a few quick questions! 

Hey Sekuoia! How’s it going? When did you start making music and did you ever have a defining moment when you thought: hey, “I can do this!”

All good here in Copenhagen! Yeah, I guess it was when I played Roskilde Festival in 2013. That was a turning point.

Your music often sounds like it comes from another world. How do you start working on a new track? Are you trying to achieve a certain sound or do you experiment and keep what you like?

I guess I have various approaches to making a track. I think it important not to get stuck in routines, as I find this somehow limits ones sound. I guess I just want to achieve a sound that is somehow reflective of who I am, and a sound that is organic in one way or another.

How has your music evolved over the course of your career, and who are your biggest influences?

I think my music has become more band-like and more dynamic, I try not to think to much about it, and instead just develop naturally. Biggest influences would be Flying Lotus, James Blake, Four Tet etc.

What can we look forward to from you in 2015 and beyond?

A new EP, and perhaps also some side projects.

Thanks Sekuoia! 

Interview with Lightfoot: Hip Hop from Boston

1. Can you tell us about yourself? How does your personality show up in your music?

My name is Lightfoot, and I’m a sample-free hip hop producer out of Boston MA.  I grew up on all sorts of different music, but sometime around high school, I really fell in love with hip hop.  I’m not just talking about rap music either; I really fell in love with the whole culture. The DJs, the b-boys, the graffiti, it all took a pretty strong hold on me, and my growing appreciation for the culture made me want to be a part of it.  

I wasn’t great at drawing so Grafitti didn’t work, I didn’t have good enough equipment to DJ, and dancing was never going to happen for me, so beat making was the obvious choice.  When I first started making music, I was really influenced by artists like MF DOOM and Mad lib, so my beats were very “boom bap” and sample heavy.  I loved that traditional hip hop feel, so it was important for me to replicate that in my music.  As i continued to make beats however, I began stepping away from sampling, and really tried to force myself to make original productions.  This was due to the ever evolving legality issues with rap music as well as my own desire to feel more satisfied after making a beat.  As I shifted my methods I also departed from only listening to underground hip hop and started expanding into other genres such as electro and indie rock. I then began to mesh all of these influences together whenever i sat down to make a beat.  

I always try to make my music emotional (probably because I’m an emotional dude) and I always try and make it interesting, but ultimately I just make music and try and let things happen organically, and hope that I come up with something good as a result.

2. When did you start producing music and when did it click that you had to pursue it seriously?

I think I made my first “beat” (i use that term VERY loosely) when i was in 8th or 9th grade.  I ended up with a copy of fruity loops somehow and decided to do some exploring.  The results were pretty bad, but they were my first so they are cool in that respect.  I did this on and off for about 6 or 7 years until i finally met my mentor and good friend The Arcitype.  I started interning at his recording studio, and was able to see how a professional producer operates.  It blew my mind and gave me so much inspiration that I ended up quitting my job and focused all of my efforts on music.  It lightened the wallet tremendously, but it allowed me to really hone my craft and in doing so find what I truly love to do.  I haven’t looked back since, and have been enjoying every second of it.

3. What’s the Boston music scene like? 

The music coming out of Boston is pretty awesome.  There is a wide range of material that fits almost any palate, and a lot of it is pretty unique.  Unfortunately A LOT of it is unknown, even to people who reside in Boston.  That is the real downfall of this place.  We don’t really have an active listening community here.  People have their cliques, and their specific artists who they support, and rarely depart from that.  This makes for poorly attended shows, and hard for newer artists to break out.  

Boston is also particularly hostile to rap shows.  It seems like every day another venue closes its doors to hip hop.  This is due to a number of reasons (which may or may not be valid), but it makes it very hard to navigate and expand in the hip hop scene here.  You kind of just need to cross your fingers and hope you meet the right person who will introduce you to their scene, which may or may not be a good one.  All in all, the music itself is great.  Some of my favorite artists come from Boston, so I will always be a fan of the music this city produces.  My main beef, and quite frankly only beef, are the promoters and venues in the city.  They don’t allow for this place to breathe and evolve the way it should.  I love Boston though, and I will always be a part of this city musically.

4. What should we look forward to from you in the near future?

I’m actually currently wrapping up an EP I have been working on with my rapper homie Andrew Milicia.  Collectively we go by “Remains”, and our EP is titled “Ei8ht Se7en”.  I’m pretty excited for the drop and eager to share our work.  The project will be available as a free download on Bandcamp.  Andrew is a super talented rapper/lyricist/songwritter, and i love the beats on the record so it’s definitely something I’m proud of. I also have a bunch of other projects in the works, but everything is still in the early stages so I can’t speak on them just yet. I’m certainly staying busy though, so there will be plenty of music in the future.  In the meantime you can check out my instrumental album i put out last fall called “The Rudimentals” which is available on iTunes/Spotify/Pandora.  Cheers!

Thanks Lightfoot! Make sure you take a listen to his work on Soundcloud, like his Facebook page, follow him on Twitter, and of course subscribe to him on Whyd