Not long ago French indie pop band COLT SILVERS visited German capital Berlin to play an acoustic session with their good friends 1984 in the Ramones Museum. And why we already presented you the lovely chat we’ve had with their colleques back then, it is now time to see what COLT SILVERS – who just released their new album Red Panda – about this special city, their relationship to the French language and why beards are as important as horses to the creative process of their music.
1984 had a great producing team with the BLOOD RED SHOES for their album. Do you also have a connection with the english duo?
(laughing) No. I get the match for these guys, they are pretty cool! But it never went further with us. I met Steven at a festival in Belgium, and we drank alcohol, that was very nice! But 1984 have a bigger connection to them because they went on tour together, and they have been knowing each other for a long time – maybe 4 or 5 years now.
You are from Straßbourg, France, but you mainly sing in english – even if many bands from France prefer their native language. How come? What are your impressions from the music scene in France and in Strassbourg especially?
I think it depends on the way you see your band. We don’t really relate to the French scene, more to British bands, and maybe it’s also the fact that we are close to Germany that makes us feel more connected to an international scene. This is not a choice we have made intentionally, but looking at the French music scene we were a bit disappointed from almost every label. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression: They have very good stuff. But we didn’t really connect with it so we had to look across borders.
Was changing your language important for you – maybe because you get new perspectives and approaches in the process of music making?
It was an artistic choice we made from the very beginning that we wanted to sing in English, we never even asked ourselves to ever sing in French since then, so I don’t know. We think when you make a song in France with French lyrics, people do hear the words more than the actual song as a whole product. We didn’t want this to happen.
What do you like about being in Germany?
Electronic music, booze, and concerts! (laughing) People in Germany are really crazy! They know your songs, and even if not they dance all the time, they do react somehow. Also it is easier for us just to find a place to play, there are many more venues, and everytime you play they treat you so nicely – it’s perfect! In France or even the USA it is sometimes hard to find a place that fits so well and treats you as good!
COLT SILVERS: “Passion is music and horses, that’s it!”
Speaking of countries: You will tour Japan and China soon. How come you already have fans there? Any plans on what to do there besides playing shows?
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The first echo we got from China was a video for Rain Comptine. It is an acoustic song we released one year ago. The video was blogged and then reblogged, and we always had to translate the You Tube comments with a translator to understand what it means, but they were very positive! Also, we are mostly following 1984 right now because they have been there already and will track the places they have been to and see how it goes for us. You see we have a strong connection to 1984, and will tour together with them a lot, beginning in March, and spend the whole year together.
You call yourselves “Eternal unshaven kidults” in your press sheet which sounds very funny. And you state that you “love sports”. Were you making fun on the typical normal press sheets?
Actually we really love sports for real! For example cardio for the heart! Or cycling to this really hard techno music! (laughing) But you are right: In press pages you can say everything or nothing, and for us it’s really important not to be too serious sometimes. Just thought this would be how people that actually know us, like family and friends, would describe us: They would say well, they are almost 30 years old, act like kids and play computer games, and they have beards!
So is wearing a beard important for you?
(laughing) Wearing a beard is essential for us, it’s kind of an image we have, we want to connect our physical form to the music! We always do competitions who of us has the longest! Haha!
What does hope mean to you?
We think hope is essential for a band, at least for us – otherwise we would suck. It is included in everything that we do. We always try to do the best we can, and always produce the best out of ourselves and make it in time, always try not to waste the moment.
And how about passion?
Well, our passion is music! But actually we don’t know much about passion… horses have passion? Passion is music and horses, that’s it!
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