Summer 67, the time of nostalgia

Summer 67 will be at La Maroquinerie in Paris on October 17, for its first "real" indoor concert in front of the French public. A new "small" Belgian group, rock in French, made up of young people aged 21 to 23 from Esneux near Liège (eastern Belgium). Discovery.

Trained since?

We've been playing together for 7-8 years. We were 14-15 years old. The group had no other ambition than to meet up with friends, drink a beer, listen to music and think about something other than school. Little by little, we started to perform in the neighborhood café, and in the biggest cafés and halls. We won the Francofolies de Spa springboard. Three years ago. It was the trigger.

Summer 67, what a name!

The name came naturally, it dates back to when we met. We were young, at school, the 5 who make up the group. It is also the time of the music that we listened to at that time.

Which music ?

The trend was dance music. We preferred Beatles, The Doors, Jimi Hendrickx. Naturally, these are the pieces that we played. We did covers. A summer extremely rich in good records. A utopia. The summer of flowers. Of love. A state of mind of openness to the world that touched us.

Less present today?

Things have changed. The natural tendency is not to hope and inveterate love. We are not nostalgic. It's more of a snap. All was not rosy at that time. We consciously idealize it.

A style ?

We didn't put up any barriers. More jazzy pieces, more acoustic pieces, more ballads. And very rock songs. It's a variety album in the noble sense of the term.

In French ?

It's true that all the bands sing in English. It happened naturally. It wasn't automatic. The covers were naturally in English. We wanted to express meaning in French, and to do it in a fairly subtle way, to play on words, to introduce humour... There is a whole tradition of French songs that we adore: Brel, Brassens, Higelin and, in contemporaries, Benabar, Fersen... Artists for whom playing with words is as important as sounds. Music is not only a sound, it is also a word that sounds good. So that people can recognize each other.

A title to highlight?

The " station area ". It is with this title that we presented ourselves. It sums up our approach well. It's simple, straightforward. This is about a district of Liège, the Guillemins district. In all the cities of the world, there is this district of the station which is always more or less the same, where both the businessmen who take the train and the tramps who are begging cross paths. It's a story of contrast. When you compose, you don't set a pre-established theme. Each song has its recipe. These are more everyday observations than grand pseudo-philosophical messages. It's not really our thing either. Maybe because we're so young and we don't want to worry too much. Or take yourself seriously. We want to tell the daily life, human relations.

Training ?

Nicolas on bass, Raphaël and Renaud on electric guitars, Brian on drums, Nicolas The singer and acoustic guitar and keyboard, Xavier has a freer role: sax, clarinet, tambourine, keyboards, harmonica. It allows us to be quieter after the concerts. There is no argument.

Paris ?

It's a big expectation. We've been waiting for this for a long time. It allows us to start from scratch. And to present ourselves in front of a new audience. It is a challenge that interests us.

Fashion is Belgian?

The Belgians pierce quite a bit. It's true. It's what we say. We'll go check it out. There is an awareness in Belgium that quality music can be exported. Look at Girls in hawai, Ghinzu, … In a way, that makes our life easier. But if a Belgian releases a bad record, that's not why he can export it.

The Belgian advantage?

It's gay in Belgium. We see each other regularly. We meet. between all groups. There are constant exchanges.

The next album?

In March 2007, after a more intensive tour in January, at Wagram).

(NGV)