|
The Willard Grant Conspiracy "Accidents actually make me smile," says singer-songwriter Robert Fisher with a grin. He's not confessing to misanthropic urges but talking about the unexpected mishaps that happen during a recording session. "They keep the music fresh, they help knock down the walls between the performers and the listener's ears." Along with co-writer Paul Austin, Fisher is the nucleus of the folk-rock outfit The Willard Grant Conspiracy. Who is Willard Grant? "We recorded our first album on Willard Grant Street and came up with the name because we figured it was obscure enough never to be stolen!" The band's new CD, "Mojave" (Ryko), is typical of their work: superb singing and instrumentation, haunting lyrics and sudden stylistic shifts, such as the neo-punkster, accelerated thrashing of "Go Jimmy Go" sandwiched between two brooding numbers. What was that about? "'Go Jimmy Go' was put in there to surprise people, to act like a sherbet, cleanse your palette and prepare you for what's to come. It's elements like that that make records fun." Another element is the influence of the Velvet Underground on their arrangements. "The Velvets were certainly a huge influence. They were the most ignored influential band in the history of music. It was only after they broke up that people started paying attention! In the US there are always bands that are below the radar. It's the indies that keep the musical scene alive, developing music out of the regions. Then a particular band will rise up to a level of mass acceptance and the big labels will jump in and homogenize it all!" You can catch the fully un-homogenized Willard Grant Conspiracy at Glaz'art on June 14. Charles Harvey "I think the French think of chanson as poetry set to music," says singer-songwriter Charles Harvey. "The lyrics are the most important part of the song. That can be a disadvantage when you're singing in English, because some people in the audience get frustrated if they can't understand all the words. That's the biggest musical hurdle for a folk performer in Paris." Born in Minnesota, Harvey performed all over Minneapolis, Boston and Austin before moving to Italy in 1990. "Italy gave me a different way of living. Initially it was a shock. If I wanted something in the afternoon, there was nothing open. At first you think, 'this is impossible, how can people live like this!' Then you start thinking, 'this is great, I can start taking it easy too!' But I found my music was slowing down as well. I needed the adrenaline Italy lacked." He moved to Paris in 1993, where he found not just energy, but inspiration in unlikely places. "Once a French woman started telling me how she loved 'hard' American gangsta rap as opposed to 'soft' French rap, and I realized she had no conception of where that music comes from, the reality of the projects." That conversation, followed by the LA riots, inspired one of his most savage songs, "Riots in the Streets," about the phenomenon of gangsta rap. ("Is it really revolutionary, to buy someone else's misery.") Harvey's latest group, which features John Silverman on bass and Jean-Marie Gerintes on percussion, has just put out a new CD, "Listen for a change," available in all FNAC stores, and he'll be launching it in a series of concerts across Paris. The Willard Grant Conspiracy, 8pm, June 14, Glaz'art, 7-15, av de la Porte de la Villette, 19e, Metro Porte de La Villette, 60F. Charles Harvey, 8:30pm, June 4, Péniche Six-Huit, quai Malaquais, Metro Pont-Neuf, tel: 01.46.34.53.05, 40F; 8pm, June 11, 18 & 25, Bar Saint-Nicolas, 2, rue St-Nicolas, 12e, Metro Ledru-Rollin, tel: 01.43.40.99.87, free; 8pm, July 4, The Bottleshop, 5, rue Trousseau, 11e, Metro Ledru-Rollin, tel: 01.43.14.28.04, free. |
|
