‘We don’t know Malta, but we want to set it on fire’ | François Byrski and Lucas Barbier

How did you meet, and what led you to decide to form a band?

We met each other on an internship during our studies. It was a classical music festival, François was setting up the website and Lucas was recording the performances. We started talking about music and bands we liked. Later we found ourselves in Paris, we tried to make music together and it was like we had always played together. That convinced us to form a band.

What were some of your main inspirations when you were starting out, and how did your sound develop over the years?

Our main inspiration are the 90s US indie rock bands: Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, Sonic Youth, Pavement. But this isn't our 'inspiration', technically speaking, this is a part of our culture. We think that life inspires us more directly: dancing with friends, the feeling we get when we're in love or when a tear runs down our cheek... and living in Paris!

What is the music scene in France like? What are some of its main challenges?

In France, there's an old and conservative culture and history related to emblematic singers. This scene is doing well, but it's not the same for the kind of rock we play. We have less visibility, but some bands like Stuck In The Sound can play at the main festival like Eurokéenne. And this is one of the challenges: every big festival organises a contest for unknown bands and gives them a chance to play at this kind of festival.

What would you say are some of the main struggles of contemporary musicians?

A contemporary musician must have a second job!

Do you look forward to playing in Malta?

We are really excited to go and perform in Malta because we met a few Maltese bands in Paris (For Strings Inn and nosnow/noalps) and those were great moments. It's great to see each other again. And also, it's always great for us to play our music in front of a new audience. They don't know us and we'll try to set them on fire!