|
Une interview des membres du Little Nemo actuel
parue sur le site grec Lost
Echoes.net fin 2009
Little Nemo – Interview @ Lost
Echoes.net
Interviews on Dec 21st, 2009
Greetings to everyone and welcome to ‘Little Nemo’s
backstage’! For those who might not be aware of, Little Nemo was a French
group internationally renowned for its melodic new wave sound. Moving
along similar ‘sound-lines’ like those of Sad Lovers & Giants and the
Chameleons, the group during its almost 10 year period of existence (1983-1992)
produced a series of astonishing works; works, that still remain an absolute
exemplar of new wave music’s most sentimental aspects. Recently (2008)
and to the happiness of many, the group re-united and celebrated its re-union
by performing both nationally (Paris) and abroad (Vicenza, Italy). Lost
Echoes, readily welcoming Little Nemo’s return after so many years decided
to get in touch with the band and ask for an interview exploring the group’s
story, present status and future plans. Hope you will enjoy it! Ioannis
T.
IT >> Greetings! It is a real pleasure having you with us for this
interview! You may as well start by telling us a little bit about Little
Nemo’s ‘formative’ years. When did you meet and how did you decide to
form the band? Moreover, why did you call yourselves Little Nemo? Is there
any relation with the hero starring in McKay’s comic strips?
Kalispera ! Vincent and Olivier met in highschool in 1981 in the southern
suburbs of Paris. Vincent had a musical training and they shared many
influences. Maybe the decision to form the band was a reaction, a seek
to escape their too logical and scientific studies. The first years were
mainly devoted to “home made music”, and after a few months of covers,
this work evolved towards original songs, written with a common inspiration.
Then came the first published works in 1985. The name and early spirit
have been inspired by MacCay universe. That was clearly one the arty source
of the beginning for Olivier and Vincent, and the dreams of this little
boy was certainly an echo to their own goals at this time. The funny thing
is that the name of the band was found before the band even existed !
The pictorial or poetic themes have been the conceptual origin of different
eras.
>> Which do you consider are among your strongest influences and
what are the basic elements that define your sound? Apart from the musical
synthesis there also exists the literary part. Which are the main sources
of inspiration concerning your lyrics?
It is very difficult to list all our influences,
since each of us has a different background … of course the Beatles, the
Doors, from the 70’s the Who, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, then the Cure,
the Stranglers, Joy Division, Echo and the Bunnymen are within our main
early influences. Then came a few contemporaries that we liked during
the 80’s : New Order, Sisters of Mercy, the Smiths, Pixies. It is a complex
mixture since Vince and Ron also have ties with classical composers :
Chopin, Debussy, Erik Satie … Nowadays, some of us like bands such as
She Wants Revenge, the Killers, MGMT … Our sound, even now, has always
been a balance of our various musical backgrounds, with a specific interest
in melody. Our lyrics express feelings, sensations, memories, and are
sometimes inspired by French or English speaking writers, such as Baudelaire,
RL Stevenson, or TV dramas from our childhood (like “the Prisoner” or
“the Persuaders”). But here again, it’s hard to list everyone !
>> I imagine that your Touching Pop live show along with Babel 17
and Mary Goes Round back in the eighties must have been among the most
exciting ones. This, since you also performed altogether under the name
of Teepee! However, which would you recall as your best live performance?
When / where did it take place and why do you think of it as the best
one? Furthermore, can you recall the strangest thing that has ever occurred
during one of your gigs?
We also played a lot of concerts with Asylum Party. Lots of memories came
from after shows with Babel and others ! Our best live memories are our
performances in Angers and Lille during the Turquoise Fields tour : the
crowd was really noisy and enthusiastic, and we played at our best. Also,
our appearance at the French festival “Eurockéennes de Belfort” was a
very impressive moment with a huge crowd of approximately 10 000 persons
(who were fleeing the rain !) just in front of us. Of course we have some
souvenir of very funny things, such as a concert in Le Creusot, a place
in the center of France. At that time Little Nemo was quite a big machine
(6 on stage + crew). Our guitarists Georges and Bill had planned to come
together but they were stopped on the highway by a car engine breakdown.
The organizers managed to send the city mayor’s chauffeur bring them to
the concert location, and they arrived in a luxury limousine from the
city head office and police escort just about an hour after the due start
of the concert. About music, the most intense emotion has been the return
on stage of Vincent, although he had decided one year before to stop all
public performances. This was in Bataclan in Paris in 1990 Vincent climbed
on stage to sing “A une passante”, based on a poem by Baudelaire. Very
moving.
>> Really, if you had the chance of performing live with any other
group in the world independent to whether it is still active or not who
would that be and why? Suffice to say, you can name more than one!
(Yves) Resistance. I love that music and this is strangely the music I
listen when I feel nostalgic. Their albums are still available at Infrastition
but they don’t play anymore as far as I know.
(Ronan) The Cure, just to spend some time with Robert Smith !
(Vince) The stranglers, to share their wild energy.
(Bill) Bat the Lashes, because I loved their last concert in Paris (at
the famous Olympia) !
>> Most of the ‘80s new wave fans were and still are familiarized
with the new wave / dark wave terms. However, there has recently been
a trend and the cold wave term -though an old one- has resurfaced. What
do you believe is cold wave? Is it just music journalists’ by-product?
Perhaps, a term denoting the French new wave movement of the ‘80s or does
it stand for a totally different sound than that which prominent UK groups
such as Sad Lovers & giants, The Chameleons, And Also The Trees, The Comsat
Angels and others exemplified?
We don’t really know … there is a perpetual need and will to tag and classify
music, and this is just another tag. We’ll leave it to specialists. But
we have never thought that our music was close to some of the bands usually
designed as “cold wave”. Maybe the themes of our lyrics were close to
certain basics of the cold wave culture, but that’s all there is. Yet,
we have listened to and loved all those bands, they are part of our culture
and we have bonds with some of them in France … So it’s nice to “come
back to the ages”, but we’re in a different mindset now.
>> Taking into consideration numerous important French acts (at
least those that finally managed to release a musical work apart from
limited circulation cassettes) such as Clair Obscur, Opera Multi Steel,
L’Enfance Éternelle, Die Bunker, Gestalt and Opéra de Nuit, to name a
few, do you believe that Little Nemo share something in common in terms
of sound & aesthetics?
Maybe that in a way; each of us, with its own sensitiveness, tried to
express related ideas, such as building a music out of pictures. We like
most of them as some more recent bands such as Dorcel or Hide and Seek.
But we also feel close to other musical branches.
>> Thus, as a final word, would you say that Little Nemo is a cold
wave act or does it bear more resemblances with the British new wave sound?
We have strong roots with British new wave sound, but with probably a
French “cabaret” touch. British new wave is certainly closest to our music
and we really feel “pop”. We also like cold wave Minimalism, but once
again the band members have different musical backgrounds, from “progressive”
rock to new wave with a set of French singers like Serge Gainsbourg …
the span is wide ! ??
>> You released most of your works through the Lively Art label.
Lively Art was among the few record labels that managed to have a large
number of releases. Is there something in specific that made the Lively
Art different from other older French historical labels like V.I.S.A.,
Divine or Contortion for example?
We cannot tell about the others you mention. Lively Art had a coherence
and there was a strong will from the management to release the Little
Nemo LPs. This, added with the new term “Touching Pop”, gave it an identity
and maybe attracted some curiosity from journalists. Although the bands
on Lively Art were different – musically speaking – we all knew each other,
and even had personal bounds between us (e.g. Asylum Party, Mary Goes
Round and Babel 17).
>> Concentrating on the present now, there seems to be quite a mobilization
with regard to reunions. Clair Obscur have recently decided to give a
series of gigs and they also released some new material. Guerre Froide,
Complot Bronswick and Babel 17 have been mobilized too while Opéra de
Nuit were close enough in re-forming so as to perform live. In your case,
what was the basic drive that made you decide for a re-union?
The envy to do it ! In fact we never completely stopped playing music,
even if it was in different ways and combinations, and we all kept seeing
each other, even Olivier who lives abroad. Vincent recorded 2 unreleased
solo albums and appeared in compilations, Olivier is known as Doctor Olive
, Yves played in a covers group closer to his rock roots. There was a
first “reunification” in a same band of Vince, Ron Yves under the name
Aqualites, but the musical style was different. Still, there was a growing
envy to play together, and especially on stage … and it came real during
a private party in December 2007. After that, we realized we missed playing
live and writing, so we discussed of a reunion and there it was !
>> How did you feel playing live after almost two decades? Describe
us a little bit about the experience during the ‘La Locomotive’ concert
in Paris and how did the audience respond?
It was a great experience, a moment of pure emotion and we enjoyed it
very much. It was nice to speak with fans after the show, some of them
came especially from Spain and Italy ! (and we thank all of them for their
fidelity !). We felt very happy to have this opportunity to enjoy live
performance, as it matched what we were looking for …: The audience responded
positively, from our point of view, although some of them may have been
surprised by our more “rock” sound … it’s just the way we plan to play,
with energy and emotions.
>> Apart from your forthcoming shows in Italy what are your plans
for the future? Are you in the process of recording some new material?
Little Nemo has been a long story with some change of people, Vincent
has gone for a while, and now Olivier is not in that re-forming. And even
though our first motive for this reunion was live shows, we’re now willing
to go further and work on new songs. We recorded drafts during summer
holidays and we’d like to finalize this new album next year. We will focus
on new songs but we’ll also join the Movement One Volume 3 compilation
with a cover from Dorcel, and probably a surprise from the roots with
Infrastition.
>>Have you ever been in Greece? Are you familiar with any Greek
new wave acts and would you be interested in performing live in our country?
We’ve all been to Greece as tourists and always spent great time there.
Crete, Delphes, Santorin are must-sees and there are so many things to
see and do on mainland and on the islands. We really enjoy people who
are very welcoming to strangers, and the weather too. Also some of us
are very fond of Greek mythology. We’d be very pleased to play in Greece
! why not within a “mediterranean tour” ?…
>> Would you like to send a message to your Greek fans?
We reserve you a surprise !
>> Finally, I want to thank you for this interview and of course.
…the last words are yours!
Thank you to you Lost Echoes team for that interview. Adio !
Interview by Ioannis Theodorakis Copyright © Lost Echoes.net
|
