|
Natchez
interview
by
Dominique Turgot - August 2003
Can you remind us
the Natchez history and introduce the band members ?
The name Natchez was born in april '87. It was kind of
the logical following of the band "Silver Oldaxe
band" where my brother was the lead singer. Back
then, we were eight people in stage. In '89, there
were only 5 people left, and only four of us were
still there in '91. Now the band members are myself on
guitar, my brother Thierry ("Babach") on
lead vocals, André Dufour ("Dédé") on
bass for the last eleven years and Benjamin Proy
("Ben") has been behind the drums for the
last five years.
Which are
the favorite bands and influences for each of you ?
Manu : mmy favorite bands are Lynyrd Skynyrd,
38 Special, Allman brothers band, Black Crowes and
Molly Hatchet.
Dédé : Cream, Led Zeppelin, Jeff Beck group,
Faces, Black Crowes.
Babach : Lynyrd Skynyrd, Allman brothers band,
Black Crowes, Free.
Ben : Maceo Parker, Queen, Aerosmith, ZZ top
and Steve Vai
What is
your best memory as a band ?
Well, it's kind of difficult, there are so many of
them, such as opening for Molly Hatchet in Lille, the
show for our fifteenth birthday with Stocks, and the
recording of our two last albums...and many more.
And on a
personal level ?
Manu : Meeting the Hatchet band.
Dédé : A great talking with thr rhythm
section from Rory Gallagher in front of a few red wine
bottles....
Ben : the recording of the "Brut"
album.
Babach : our first tour in Brittany back in '93
As a band,
which is your craziest dream ?
To get a better promotion of our albums so we could
get a better national recognition.
And on a
personal level ?
Manu and Babach : Opening for Skynyrd !
Dédé : being on tou with an international
class act.
Ben : get more gigs and be on the road !!!!
Dédé and Manu
How do you
work in the studio ? do you record live or each one at
a time ?
In the
studio, we play and record live till we like the drums
parts. Then, everyone records his own parts and we
finish with the voice. Sometims, the bass and the
drums are recorded live. I think we'ld really like to
use live takes but the studio we're recording are not
built for this type of recording.
Did you
record some unreleased material ? If yes, when are we
gonna get an album with only unreleased material ?
Unfortunately, we never get extra songs. I'ld really
like to be abkle to record twenty songs and choose the
best ones but we never get enough times so.....
The song
"Rentrer à la maison" is your first ballad.
Why did you wait for such a long time ?
We've written cool songs such as "L'homme des
hautes plaines", "Je m'imagine", "Bienvenue"
and now we have "Rentrer à la maison" but I
think this is the one we realized the best.
"Paradis avec toi" reminds me a lot of
"Travellin' man" from 38 Special. Is it
something you wanted ?
When I wrote this song, I wanted it to sound a bit
like a "Bad Company" song, but you're right,
in the arrangements, I borrowed some stuff from "Travellin'
man". Let's say this is some 38 Company made by
Natchez !!!!
Which song
are you the proudest ?
Manu : It depends on the moment. Right now,
I'ld say "Paradis avec toi".
Dédé : "Bacchus te protège", we
worked a lot on it at home and I really like the way
the songs evolved.
Babach : "Rentrer à la maison" is a
song I really love, with deep and personal lyrics.
Ben : I'ld say "Toujours-là", I
liked working on it and it got some kind of class.
Ben
Do you
write brand new songs all the time or are threy
written right before you enter the studio ?
When we're about ti record a new album, we take a two
months break and we write new songs. It's a kind of
"vicious cycle".
Does
everyone work on the arrangements or is it a specific
person who takes care of them ?
Everyone of us has his ideas and if everyone likes,
there's no reason for us not to use it.
Wouldn't
you like to work with other people for new songs ?
Il'd really like it. We already thought about it. May
be for the next album, we'll have songs written by
other people .
Who would
you like to have as a guest on your next album ?
Close friends such as John Molet from "Calibre
12", Alan and Christophe from "Plug &
Play", Fred Chapelier, among others.
If you had
to record a cover albums, which songs would you play ?
Songs we like to play on stage such as "Gimme 3
steps", "Tush", "Up around the
bend", "I know a little", "It's
all over now", "Ramblin' man",
"All right now", "Rock'n'Roll",
"Hard to handle", "What ever you
want", "China grove"...
When you
play a cover song, you usually play the solo note for
note. Wouldn't you like to improvise ?
Generally, I
play the main line of the solo, not exactly note for
note. I don't like to transform. When we cover a song,
it's because we like this particular song and the
solo....In fact, if the crowd can't recognize the
song, I don't see a reason to cover this song.
Which band
or album did you get a balst on recently ?
Dédé: "King of Leon" by King of
Leon.
Ben : "Machinhead" by Deep purple I
recently saw for the first time on stage.
Babach : Savoy truffle (the japanese band).
Manu : The Black crowes is the only band I have
a blast when I listen to them.
Do you
consider yourself as a southern rock band or as a rock
band influenced by southern rock ?
A rock band
influenced by southern rock and mostly by the rock
music from the seventies.
For each
one of you, what are your five favorite albums ?
Dédé : the first Lynyrd Skynyrd, the first
Black crowes, the first Led zeppelin,
"Truth" by Jeff Beck group, "Live at
the Filmore east" by the Allmans Brothers.
Babach : "First & last" by Lynyrd
Skynyrd, "Tres ombres" by ZZ Top, "Amorica
by the "Black crowes, the first Molly hatchet and
"who's next" by the Who.
Ben : "Funk overload" by Maceo
Parker, "Rhythm & business" by Tower of
power, the third album by Extreme, the first album by
Keb'Mo and "A night at the Opera" by Queen.
Manu : "Spécial force" by 38 Spécial,
"Street survivors" by Lynyrd skynyrd, the
first Molly hatchet, "3 snakes and 1 charm"
by the Black crowes, "Brothers and sisters"
by the Allmans Brothers band.
Dédé and Manu
Visit
their web site http://www.natchez.fr.fm
Philippe
Archambeau (France)
http://membres.lycos.fr/rtjweb
|
