Hey, so we've been talking a lot about French folk/pop rockers The Bewitched Hands On the Top of Our Heads. Here at Mixtape Muse we figured, why not stop talking about them, and start talking to them. Thus, an interview was born. Read the full interview below and stream the EP while you do it. Hard to Cry is out now. Listen to it here.
Interview by Simon P.
How did the band form? What keeps you all together?
The band didn't form around the name, but it existed before. It was the name of Benjamin's solo project. When we had to find a name for our band, we thought this one was perfect for us: it was a long name and there are seven of us. And most of all, it was the kind of a psychedelic-oriented name which perfectly suited the musical feeling we wanted to share. We liked the image given by this name, the idea of bewitchery, the ensorcellment music can create.
The band formed in late 2006. We were friends and some of us have known each other for years. Each one of us had some different musical projects, and we wanted to gather songs from each one, to play and sing altogether and to have fun. In the beginning it was a kind of a recreative band, but we felt that the enthusiasm we had could be communicative. Since the beginning the number of people in the band has changed several times before reaching stability. We have had ten, eleven people.
You're coming into the US on the heels on some big waves that French music has made recently, namely Phoenix. Do you think they've opened up a channel for you all, or will it be harder to break in?
We enjoy the American success of Phoenix, but is it something really significant for French bands in general? And is it likely to make American people change their perception of French bands? Or is it an isolated phenomenon, focused on one band in particular ? I think it's difficult to know today. Moreover, aside from the fact that Phoenix and us both make melodic and catchy pop songs, we don't really feel close to them, at least in terms of sound, influences. And we don't have the feeling of being easily identified by foreign people as a French band, with a French sound and French influences, contrary to bands like Air, for instance.
The band didn't form around the name, but it existed before. It was the name of Benjamin's solo project. When we had to find a name for our band, we thought this one was perfect for us: it was a long name and there are seven of us. And most of all, it was the kind of a psychedelic-oriented name which perfectly suited the musical feeling we wanted to share. We liked the image given by this name, the idea of bewitchery, the ensorcellment music can create.
The band formed in late 2006. We were friends and some of us have known each other for years. Each one of us had some different musical projects, and we wanted to gather songs from each one, to play and sing altogether and to have fun. In the beginning it was a kind of a recreative band, but we felt that the enthusiasm we had could be communicative. Since the beginning the number of people in the band has changed several times before reaching stability. We have had ten, eleven people.
You're coming into the US on the heels on some big waves that French music has made recently, namely Phoenix. Do you think they've opened up a channel for you all, or will it be harder to break in?
We enjoy the American success of Phoenix, but is it something really significant for French bands in general? And is it likely to make American people change their perception of French bands? Or is it an isolated phenomenon, focused on one band in particular ? I think it's difficult to know today. Moreover, aside from the fact that Phoenix and us both make melodic and catchy pop songs, we don't really feel close to them, at least in terms of sound, influences. And we don't have the feeling of being easily identified by foreign people as a French band, with a French sound and French influences, contrary to bands like Air, for instance.
