French Duo BCBG Are Invading Australia With Their Avant Parisian Pop

I first encountered BCBG playing in a crowded apartment party in central Paris. It was past midnight and it felt like a parallel universe, a déjà-vu almost, a sensation of sonic familiarity in a more cinematic location than what I was used to. The next gig I caught them was at an abandoned cinema, right off the Rue Riquet and Max Demoy line.

It was a party on the outer limits of the periphery.

Their music was beautiful and strange that mixed French pop, world music and 70s rock. It was a unique balance and I was forever intrigued.

Comprised of Parisian friends Mariette Auvray and Samuel Trifot, the pair have long dreamt of Australia (their latest 7" Noces d’argent was released by Australian Label Glenlivet-A-Gogh) and so it’s beautiful to see this dream come to fruition with a number of shows in Australia over the next few weeks.

Here are some questions I’ve always wanted to ask them.

Noisey : You met at a Brazilian artist residency. How did that happen and how were the two of you drawn together? How would you describe your creative relationship?
Mariette: Sam emailed asking my previous band Eyes Behind to take part a concept night where we could only play one string on our guitars. I thought that this guy was crazy but I was intrigued. Sam organized a show for us in a block party in Pigalle and his label Heia Sun released our first album. We started composing music together at Sao Joao residency in Brazil. It was a stimulating project, as it wasn’t the rock band dynamic I’m used to.

Your music is influenced from different sounds.
Mariette: I guess we really like 80s dance and French pop as we grew up with it. “Jaune de Naples” is a genuine love song comparing love to the color yellow from Napoli. I would say it is Etienne Daho-inspired, at least the general melancholic vibe. I really like the way French lyrics fit in 80s pop songs actually because they seem both absurd and nonchalant. “Désert Narquois” is about a feeling of anxiety related to deserted areas. I think the nasty sounds of German band DAF were more of an inspiration when we composed this one. I also really like the voices of Elizabeth Frazer from Cocteau Twins and Laëtitia Sadier.

You've toured many different places. Where would be the best and strangest memories from these tours?
Samuel: In Jerusalem the crowd was unexpectedly awesome. One of my best show was actually in Australia in Batemans Bay with Samuel and Daniel from School Girl Report. I would like to play in Africa and Nuuk (Greenland).

Mariette: The best anecdotes mostly happen at night while being wasted. In Baltimore when stumbling across the streets, enjoying the night, a woman offered us a pill and Sam took half of a it without knowing what it was, I was afraid but I took the second half, it was a very stupid thing to do. Acting like we were Alice behind the mirror, but in a dodgy area in Baltimore instead.

It's really special to have a French band touring Australia. What made you want to come here?
Samuel: We have friends there. We have an Australian label. Touring with Glöss can't be better. Hopefully the crowd will like it. I've heard a lot of good things about Newcastle and Tasmania.

Mariette: You! Meeting you and Nathan Roche from Glenlivet-A-Gogh records and others from Sydney made us fantasy on the Australian scene. It seems there’s a very active and diverse DIY scene in Sydney. I went to the Art Gallery of NSW yesterday and saw these wonderful posters exploding with flashy colours that look like nowadays posters but were made in the 80s by these Oz collectives (Redback graphix, Lucifoil, Earthworks). I thought there were very representative of the throbbing DIY spirit here.

How would you spend the day in Paris if you only had one day to spend there?
Mariette: Spending the day making love? Well I’d start with an espresso in a PMU bar, the dodgiest kind of bar in Paris, surrounded by old men betting on horses. Then I’d go picnic along the Seine, near l’Ile Saint Louis, and at last, I would go rest near the little waterfall in Buttes Chaumont Park. In the evening, I would join friends at the Place d’Aligre to get a pastis or a vin blanc. That’d make a great day in Paris.

Samuel: I would spend it in the Metro. For me this is where you see a lot of Paris.

'Noces d’argent' is available through Glenlivet-A-Gogh.

Catch BCBG touring the Australian East coast with GLOSS:
Aug 19 – Sydney at Freda’s with Holden Hands and Holy Balm DJs
Aug 20 – Canberra at Phoenix Bar with Bobby Kill and Eadie and the Doodles
Aug 21 – Melbourne at the Tote with Military Position, En V and Wet Kiss
Aug 22 – Hobart at the Brisbane Hotel with Native Cats and Hart Beach
Aug 24 – Melbourne at NSC with KT Spit