You recorded the EP in a way that tried to capture the band as it actually sounds live. What do you think gets lost when music is made too perfectly?
The soul. You just have to trust yourself and hope for the best.
The band seems to have a very physical, instinctive way of making music. Do you usually know what you’re trying to make before you start playing?
Not really.
You bring poetry into the music quite naturally. Do you think of a Bande à Part song as a poem first, or does the music usually come first?
I shift between, I go by feeling always.
How much do the different things you do - music, writing, visual art - feed into each other?
It’s difficult for me to do anything else. I have to create, might as well do them all. I tried to stop and be normal as a teenager. It didn’t work very well and I think I died a bit inside then. Now, I can probably say I have never been happier.
There’s a lot of contrast in your music - something can go from very quiet to completely overwhelming. What draws you to that tension?
We love a good show.
You moved to London on your own at 19. How did the city and music scene here shape the band’s development?
I didn’t know who I was at 19. I always knew I wanted to do something with my life, rather than end up a ghost on a bus going to work. I couldn’t have met the band without London’s music scene. The British government should really get its funding straight.
You’ve described the band as being about artistic independence. What does being DIY actually mean to you in practice?
It means no help from others. You just gotta do it.
No money, practice your instrument, work. You just have to hustle. It’s the grind.
How important is the visual side of Bande à Part to you?
Everything, only second to music, which is the most important.
Your influences range from Swans to Portishead, Bach and John Lee Hooker. What do you think those very different artists have in common for you?
Incredible composing ability and great artistry.
What’s next for Bande à Part?
We’ve just been in the studio recording new music, and we’re looking ahead to a European tour while writing the next record. The black-and-white era is over. We’re ready for something new. I know the debut EP came out just this April but I think now we’re very deep into new arrangements, experimenting with new pedals, sampling and all that. So that’s what we’re gonna be playing.