We caught up with Montreal-based disco synth pop band LE COULEUR hot off the back of the release of their new album “P.o.p” via Lisbon Lux Records. Check out below!
Tell us about your band, how long have you guys been performing together? What did inspire you to start?
It’s been 6 years. We know each other since 9-10 years because we were all working at the same place. We bonded well on several bands or artists (Paul McCartney was by far our main common point) as well as vintage instruments and all that. Laurence and Patrick were already playing together and had a few songs on the making. They were looking for a drummer, so Steeven joined them a few months after.
Music industry is super competitive these days, was there a moment in your life that you wanted to give up on music / band? How did you manage to stay focused and achieve what you want?
It’s hard but when you’re working/ playing with good and talented people it makes your life much easier. We’re close to each other (Laurence and Steeven are together for 9 years) and really well surrounded management/ label wise. We’re definitely a small family.
Maybe one day we will try something else but for now, we’ll keep trying to build up what we started 6 years ago. We try to improve our sound, our live set each time we’re releasing something. It’s exciting to surpass oneself.
How would you describe your creative processes? Who writes the lyrics to the songs? Are the music and lyrics written in conjunction, or separately? Where the inspiration does come from?
Music comes always first. We either have a bass line with a drum groove or a pattern of chords and a melody. Arrangement comes afterwards. We add lyrics at the end. Most of the process happens in our studio but we have to say that this album has been influenced after a trip in Florida (Fort Lauderdale) (!!). We were imagining a kind of a ghost town where everything has happened in the golden age of pop music (60’s-70’s), with characters (the copilot, the unfaithful couple, the surfer, etc) and different locations (Starlite, Dance Factory, Pacific Ocean Park). They had their moments of glory but time goes by fast and they’re all getting old, forgotten…but they can’t handle that! Melodrama, dancy grooves and sexy vocals are waiting for you on this record.
What’s your favourite track from the latest album and what other bands/artists are you listening to right now?
There’s no consensus in the band on which song is our favourite but we like the album as a whole. It’s a conceptual album, each songs are related all together. We’re very proud of this LP. It’s been a fun and an easy process. Being in the studio, composing and producing are the most exciting things to do in music.
What gig did you enjoy the most so far? Why?
Playing 3 days in a row in Liverpool’s Sound City Festival in 2014 is something we won’t forget. It was the first time we were playing in Europe and in the city of The Beatles on top of it. People were very welcoming and very interested in our music. They were surprised about how we could do this kind of music: Disco-synth-pop music in French with a half Vietnamese singer.
Le Couleur’s new album “P.o.p” is out now via Lisbon Lux Records. Tune in below.
