French rock? We say yeah, yeah yeah
French rockers Balbec are a truly modern band. The group counts its success not in records sold but how many listens its songs have received through the internet.
It's the medium that transported contemporary luminaries Arctic Monkeys to fame, though Balbec are a long way from that crossover yet. Still, the self-financed, self-managed and unsigned band has taken advantage of the Web - as well as the growing global clout of bands from its once musically marginalised homeland - to establish a global reputation.
The result is that tomorrow night the group will play Le French May's 'Hong Kong is Gonna Say Yeah', along with compatriots Hushpuppies and Hong Kong-based outfit the Lovesong.
Balbec's lead vocalist, Isabelle Ledru, speaking on behalf of the band, rates this Asian debut as the biggest event to date in the outfit's six-year career.
'It is a significant achievement for us just to have been able to build and consolidate a band through six years,' says Ledru.
'We have had more than 100,000 plays on [the website] MySpace and that has helped lead us to Hong Kong, which we are proud of. Nowadays, many bands are emerging through the internet, through self-promoted gigs, through contests.'
While rap and R&B acts have proved successful in France in recent years, rock has slowly emerged from the shadows, with many bands such as the Teenagers singing in English rather than in French to ease the way to global acclaim in the wake of Daft Punk, Air and, most recently, Justice.
'Electronic music is probably still considered the 'French touch', as seen from overseas,' says Ledru. 'Some [rock] acts are getting major media exposure ... but not as much as other genres like R&B.'
The French rock scene was fairly barren when Ledru was growing up, with even global acts such as Telephone, Noir Desir and Les Rita Mitsouko relegated to the cult fringes. Ledru looked across the English Channel and the Atlantic for inspiration, absorbing 1980s and 90s indie-rock bands including the Pixies, Sonic Youth, Pavement and Radiohead.
The band came together in 2002, making music inspired by the ghostly electronica of Portishead and the fuzzed-out guitar melodies of indie rockers the Wedding Present. Balbec's diverse sound owes much to the multi-tasking members of the band:
Gabriel Bareux (guitar and bass), Stephane Donic (drums and guitar), Laurent Pierre (guitar and drums), Vincent Lenoir (bass), Martin Leclerc (guitar, banjo and vocals) and Fanny de Premorel (vocals and bass).
The group released its first self-produced demo album, Including Pauses, in December 2002. It was followed in 2004 with a seven-track album, From Mud to Gold, and eventually with its first full-length album, Behind the Red Curtain, in 2006.
The themes of Balbec's songs run the gamut from darkly toned excursions into complex love relationships, self-hate, frustration, technological slavery and modern schizophrenia to lighter, more cheerful celebrations of teenage memories, parties and hope.
It avoids politics, Ledru says, neatly sidestepping a question about the potential problems of appearing in Hong Kong the week of the Olympic torch run and anti-French protests outside Carrefour stores across the border.
Balbec, whose four-track single Manufactured, issued last year, was their best-received release to date, share billing with Hushpuppies, a five-piece whose members hail from southern France and Paris. Hushpuppies have just finished a German tour and recently played the Printemps de Bourges, one of France's biggest rock festivals.
'They have a unique style, a subtle combination of the dirtiest rock sound and the most atmospheric melodies, and prove to be as comfortable with both their garage rock and electro-psychedelic inclinations,' says event organiser Charlotte Le Sourd. Hong Kong is Gonna Say Yeah, feat. Balbec, Hushpuppies and the Lovesong, tomorrow night, 8pm, Sheung Wan Civic Centre Theatre, 345 Queen's Rd Central, HK$220, HK$300. Inquiries: 3752 9983
