J’interviewe les Rayographs
Jérôme m’a mis en contact avec Astrud des Rayographs, un jeune groupe indie anglais, dont les morceaux m’ont vite fait quelque chose. Pour le moment, le groupe n’a sorti qu’un single : un 45 tour vinyle, qui est aussi disponible sur Itunes avec un morceau en plus. Il contient le très beau Hidden Doors, marécageux, lo-fi, presque lugubre et très anglais. Du coup, en prélude à leur passage à Paris (ils jouent le 11 avril à la Flèche d’Or), voici une interview faite par mail (et en anglais):
When did you start the band and what was the input behind it ? Did you immediately found your sound ?
Jess and I wanted to have a garage band when we were 16- we had guitars that had stickers on and we probably knew a few chords; we were very into bands like Thee Headcoatees and 60s garage records. We didn’t quite get much further than inventing a name and a fantasy behind it- we never had any proper practises so it was a theoretical bedroom band.
The very first inception of our band was in the long hot summer of 2003- we had our first practise in Amy’s house. None of us could really play, but we did have a light-up keyboard that I can say was nothing less than inspirational! Amy had a drumkit in her house, and I had been playing guitar and writing some songs where I lived in Brighton at the time. I think Jess was encouraged to play bass because we needed a bass player! We played a scattered gigs over the years with various line up and name changes but it was probably only starting practising regularly and getting our sound together about two years ago. It took us a while to galvanise our sound, and we’re still developing it, but I think maybe it was always there- quite blues with guitar bends and a few odd drum beats; I was listening to some early demos the other day that would give testament to that.
How does the band work ? how do you write the songs ?
We all do! We are at a stage where we can pretty much write a song from scratch in the studio. We often mess about, jamming some ideas, dropping in some vocals. We might have a few minutes from a 15 minute stretch that we like and the song will develop from that. We use a minidisc to record the practise sessions so if we come up with something to work on and develop it’s there on tape. Listening back to the rehearsals though, there is a lot of time where we are talking in stupid voices and making animal noises through the delay effects in the studio. That may or may not make it onto the album.
What were the main inspirations behind the band ? I somehow think of the Velvet Underground…
I think our main inspiration was just to get together and create something. Whenever we have a break from the band we all start to go a bit mad, so it’s become part of us all, and if we go through a period where we’re not doing much we all start to feel like a part of us is missing! We all love recording and playing live, but for me there’s nothing better than being in the studio creating something new that’s so exciting that you spend the next few days desperate to get back into the studio and play it again.
We all have some similar reference points but are also very different in our tastes. We have shared influences like Pixies, PJ Harvey, Patti Smith and the Breeders. But then we all veer off into our own tastes – to name a few Amy has a penchant for math rock, Astrud likes 60s electronic music and psychedelia and I’m into dark 60s garage. I don’t think we generally cite Velvet Underground as an influence but perhaps they are subconsciously! I haven’t listened to them in a long time, but I heard ‘There She Goes’ blaring out of a window the other day and got a sudden urge to dig out my Velvet Underground CDs again.
Are you currently writing an album ? In which directions are you going ?
We should have our album recorded by the end of the summer. We’re trying to sort out all of our recording sessions at the moment. We record with a very cool guy called John Hannon on a farm in Southend. He has all manner of instruments for example a dusty grand piano and Tibetan singing bowls. Hopefully we’ll make use of some of the weird and wonderful musical accessories he has stored in the studio. I’m personally really intrigued about what we’ll come up with next- I find it exciting! Writing new songs that you we all like is the best thing in the world.
How has the whole internet / myspace / facebook affected the way the band lives and writes songs ?
It certainly doesn’t affect the actual music- we go into the studio and write and that’s how the songs emerge. Myspace are really useful in terms of letting people know information about gigs and releases. Myspace is usually the first place you can listen to a band’s music so obviously that’s a very important tool for us. It allows us to present our own aesthetic of the band to the world, as well as writing rambling blogs about stuff we’re doing, inspiring or interesting things we’ve seen, heard or been involved in.
What are you currently listening to ?
Julian Cope- “Jehovahkill”,
The Wave Pictures- “Leave The Scene Behind” (demo from “Hawaiian Open Mic Night”),
Ponytail- “Ice Cream Spiritual” ,
The Stooges- “Not Right”,
Can – Tago Mago,
Telepathe – Dance Mother,
Polar Bear – Polar Bear,
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love,
Women – Women.
If your songs were a colour, which one would it be ?
Dark blue but like petrol, kaleidoscopic- flecks of all colours throughout.
En concert à la Flèche d’Or le 11 avril.
www.myspace.com/therayographs
