November 2012 saw us play at the Agora Festival in Bordeaux, France – an amazing festival. The very next day we hooked up with a few local musicians for a day of recording, including with the wonderful cellist and singer-songwriter Agathe Issartier. Despite studying classical music for over 10 years in a conservatoire, she has such a rock attitude and usually plays the cello standing up! Recording and performing under the name Gatha, she’s supported artists including The Dresden Dolls, Micky Green and a whole host of French bands including Bumcello, Julien Doré, Nosfell, Pony Pony Run Run, Lilly Wood and The Prick and Jil is Lucky – she’s currently working on her debut album.
After lunch, we headed off to the nearby countryside to meet drummer Bruno Mothe and bass guitarist Hubert Sciota who are long time friends with several musical projects on the go, including blues act Blues I-Motion and Serge Gainsbourg cover band Gainsbourg Connections. We spent a rather mellow afternoon filming and recording them in their rehearsal space, out in the Bordeaux countryside, right next door to a vinyard! Oooh zohh French…
We then headed over to meet another drummer, Arnaud Lalanne, who’s also a bassist and has collaborated with a number of bands, including the well known French percussion act Les Tambours du Bronx – who, by coincidence, we’ve also shared a stage with. As well as a musician though, he’s also a filmmaker and founded the production company Idées Courtes and has produced music videos for hip-hop and metal artists, including Dagoba, Talibé and A.D.N.
Huge thanks to Yann Perrin and JB Beis for introductions and their help.