I came across
the cool French band The New Princess while sailing
on the web searching for something interesting and these
guys are worthy of all our Exploders attention. Besides
they can count on a legend like Nuno Bettencourt (ex-Extreme)
as producer. Great! So I decided to exchange some chatters
with their singer Philipp Duval. Here what he's told
us...
Hi Philipp, we're very pleased
to have you here on The Rock Explosion to ask something
about your New Princess. How and when did you all meet
and decide to form the band?
It's been a long time since we rock'n'rolled. My brother
and I are the former elements of The New Princess. We
were patient and never quit. The rhythm section has
always been our weakest part until we found Gaelle (drums)
a year ago and Donovan (bass) who was the last one to
join us, six months ago. We knew that Donovan was the
perfect guy to take the band to a higher level. He is
a real genius.
Why did you choose New Princess
as monicker? Who's the new princess?
First of all, it sounded good to our ears. And it was
a token of respect to the best music from all time.
Princesses are part of our history. We still look at
the past with respect or disrespect, whatever. The "New"
means that we want to bring something different, something
fresh.
Listening your self titled EP
I thought that your sound is an amazing mix between
The Beatles, David Bowie, Queen, Prince, Led Zeppelin
and Nirvana all elaborated in the sign of Saigon Kick
attitude. Do you know the latter ones? In general, which
bands of the past did influence you deeply, since the
beginning of your career?
I remember Saigon Kick as a great band from early 90's.
But sincerely, I was not into it that much. If you relate
us to them it's probably because we have the same influences.
Younger, we were really into The Beatles, Queen, AC/DC,
Bowie, Elvis, Led Zeppelin. Then, Prince, Soundgarden,
Kyuss, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson.
We are big fans of music and we still love to discover
new bands or great albums: Queens Of The Stone Age,
Killing Jokes last releases are great.
How did you meet Nuno Bettencourt
and how did he take the decision to help you in the
production of your self titled CD?
It's a good story for the ones who don't believe in
destiny. My brother, as a guitar player, fell in love
with Nuno's verve. He met him in Paris as he was touring
Europe for the Pornograffiti tour. Then, each year Nuno
was coming to Paris, we would find a way to get a backstage
pass. The time he came to promote Schizophonic (which
is a great album by the way) we were about to leave
for Boston. He gave us his phone number and from that
time on we became friends. One year later, my brother
and I were recorded eight demos and we sent him a copy.
He called us back asking if we were happy with the sound.
He proposed to mix some of the stuff. We went to Boston
and L.A. to mix with him. A great experience.
How do you manage usually with
the songwriting and the composition phases and how can
you mix so different styles?
We work two ways. My brother come up with a guitar riff
and we build the song on it. Or, I build up an atmosphere
with machines and we work on the various elements to
add. We never have a precise idea of how the song is
gonna sound like at the end. We are more focused on
spontaneousness. We don't think "style", we
just let our inspiration go wherever. I usually write
the vocal parts at the end.
Now that we have found our mates, we are going back
to a full band songwriting. We jam a lot and come up
with a lot of ideas.
Your Self Titled Ep is dated
2002 so I wanna ask you which are your plans for the
next future, do you want to give to us some anticipations?
Our plans are obviously to perform live as much as we
can. We have gigs in New York and Boston in November
and December. Then, what's next we don't know as we're
not signed yet. Our will is to get a deal that will
allow us to perform in front of a larger crowd each
show, and release albums, of course.
Philipp, I know you like visiting
Italy sometimes, do you know some Italian rock band
and in general what's your opinion about Italian people
and culture?
Unfortunately, I don't know much about Italian rock
bands. I wish we could tour there and I'm sure we would
get to know the rock scene better. Our mom is Italian.
Imagine that! Grazie Mama. Our heart is 100% Italian
and we're really close to our family there. But, of
course, we never lived there so we don't have any experience
of the everyday life. All I know is each time I'm there,
I have a great time.
I have been positively impressed
by your EP's backcover artwork, figuring a naive women
image with appearing and disappearing body. How come
did you have this idea and who designed everything?
If I'm not wrong, it makes me remember some Garbage
video with similar effects.
Our ex manager introduced us to a designer. We came
up with the name, the songs and some ideas but nothing
precise. He worked on a few projects and we chose the
woman. His name is Jean-Michel Tixier and he actually
worked on the cover of one of AIR's maxi EP. He is really
talented. If it reminds you Garbage video, I can't answer
for Jean-Michel but I believe it's a coincidence.
What do you think about internet,
exchanging of mp3 songs and the webzines? Are you pro
or against all this?
Internet turns out to be like the world. A lot of crap
and hopefully some positive things. Knowing that people
exchange mp3s doesn't stress me! If it can help some
of the listeners to discover bands, go to their shows
and support them, it's cool. But people should realise
what a "career" involves in terms of time
and money for a band. Webzines are part of the positive
things. Bands need people like you, Bruno, because you're
passionate about music, bands
and the net gives
you the chance to exist and touch a larger crowd.
In your opinion, which are the
best and the worst concerts in your career? Can you
tell us something about them?
Every show is the best and worse for me. Actually, one
was really bad and I wish I could erase that gig from
my memory but I can't. Two days before that one, we
had been performing in a great club, it was packed and
we did very good. Then, it was time to play in that
dirty small club, full of drunkard. We messed up all
the songs, doubling all the tempos. It was a few years
ago and hopefully a good lesson. The best show was this
summer in Corvo (Azores), the first rock festival in
that island. The stage, just by the water was beautiful
and the crowd was amazing.
I really like the various atmospheres
contained in a song as "Wrapped Myself": catchy
chorus, angry vocals attack, etc. Tell me something
about the lyrics and the sound of this song.
This song is about people that try to destabilize me.
That's how the world works, I suppose, but sometimes
I can't handle it. I wanted to dedicate a song to all
the small minded people that keep criticizing or make
fun of whoever tries to do his best to accomplish a
dream or, at least, something. I don't blame them, they
are the ones who look soured. All the songs from our
EP were demos recorded at home with a light equipment.
Then, we added the drums, bass & guitars. Nuno did
a great job arranging the drum parts especially on "Wrapped
Myself". He also had the idea of the French speech
at the end of the song, which I wrote and recorded in
his home studio in Boston.
How would you describe today's
French rock scene? Is there any band that you particulary
like and want to mention to our readers? I know bands
as: Sparkling Bombs, High-School Motherfuckers, Tracy
Gang Pussy, Undercover Slut...
To be honest, I'm not really into the French rock scene.
But we have a special affection for High-School MotherFuckers,
who are old friends. And I have to say that we were
really impressed about their Ramone's tribute live performance.
They are a good band !
Top five albums, books, movies
and... Uhm, fave pornstars!
For the top 5 albums I'd say "Dirty Deeds"
by AC/DC, "Bleach" by Nirvana, "Dirty
Mind" by Prince, "Ziggy Stardust" by
David Bowie and "Chinatown" by Thin Lizzy.
As top 5 books
let me think
"Le Parfum"
by Patrick Sunskind, "Dead Elvis" by Greil
Marcus, "Poison Heart, surviving The Ramones"
by D.D.Ramone, "The Book Of Illusions" by
Paul Auster and "Paroles" by Jacques Prévert.
Mmmm
top 5 movies
"Magnolia",
"Man On The Moon", "Punch Drunk Love",
"Godfellas", "Happiness". Favourite
porn stars
Clara Morgane and Ovidie.
Choose between these two options:
Making music for passion gaining
money or making music for money and fame: Music
for passion amd getting paid for it. No doubt.
David Bowie or Marc Bolan: I
would choose David Bowie for what he accomplished. What
a career !
Rock against Bush or rock pro
Bush: Neither 1 or 2. I hate politics if it's
not for a good reason. I have a lot of respect for people
like Bono from U2. He uses his notoriety to fight for
his beliefs but when he is on stage he is there to perform,
that's it.
Telling always the truth or telling
lies for convenience: I would be more the kinda
guy that tells the truth but all the truth are not good
to tell, right ?
Freddy Mercury or John Lennon:
Freddie Mercury is one of the best performer of all
time. And he seemed to be a great human being.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
or Angel Dust: I'm a big fan of The Beatles.
Plus, it's a great song. Even, if I really like Faith
No More.
In your opinion which has been
the best decade for rock music? Tell us the reasons
of your choices.
The 70's were the best: Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy,
Neil Young, Bowie, T- Rex, Janis Joplin and I forget
a lot of great bands. That was really the time where
music was a passion before being a product.
If you hadn't yet decided to
become musicians what would you have done instead?
I wouldn't have been!
What is the craziest thing ever
done in your life?
Try to make a living with music. That's the craziest
thing I have done. But I don't regret it. The downs
make you appreciate more the ups.
Ok Philipp, the interview is
over. Thanx for the cooperation and I give you the permission
to write here everything you want:
A message for you Bruno: I would like to thank you for
being present on the net. You are someone special and
I'm not saying that because you're Italian, I really
mean it. I wish you the best for the future and please
keep your passion for music alive. Thanx!
Intervista realizzata da Bruno
Rossi e Margherita
Realmonte
Tradotta da Margherita
Realmonte
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