Each week we introduce you to a brand new artist we\u2019re going mad for here at NME Towers via our ego-busting Q&A, What\u2019s Your Band Called, Mate? This week, Parisian five-piece Film Noir talk bass player troubles, Bukowski and their ambition to make an erotic Bollywood movie<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Posted from: https:\/\/www.nme.com\/blogs\/nme-radar\/whats-your-band-called-mate-get-to-know-film-noir-radar-2696563<\/a> BySam Moore<\/a>28th June 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s your band called, mate?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Film Noir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you sound like?<\/strong>Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like a heart that pulsates faster and faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you any good (honestly)?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019d like to believe so. We do believe so, you have to believe so \u2014 or what\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s your best song?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hard to say, but people seem to like \u2018Br\u00fblant\u2019 live the most. It\u2019s a woman\u2019s take on Bukowski\u2019s novel Women<\/em>. In this case, it\u2019s a woman exploring her sexuality, half-empowered by it, half avoiding the pain of a memory she\u2019s trying to forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s been your most memorable gig?<\/strong>Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n We got booked at the very last minute for Standon Calling and our bass player couldn\u2019t make it, so we had to find someone to fill in for him. An American friend did, and we rehearsed quite a lot with him and felt good about it \u2014 but then he got detained at the train station in Paris the morning of the show because he\u2019d overstayed in the EU. So we arrived in London with no bass player and started to panic. We had a rehearsal space booked to rehearse a bit before heading to Standon, and a friend of someone working there ended up agreeing to try and learn the parts in the five hours left before the show. We rehearsed together all the way to the festival: in the train to get there, in the car from the train station and backstage right before the show. It was not our best show, but definitely memorable\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tell us something really interesting about you that isn\u2019t to do with music.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n One person involved in the making of this record is also a private detective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We said really interesting\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We can\u2019t disclose any more information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What is your karaoke song?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Jos\u00e9phine: \u2018Suspicious Minds\u2019 \u2013 Elvis Presley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alexandre: \u2018Ma pr\u00e9f\u00e9rence\u2019 \u2013 Julien Clerc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mathieu: \u2018I Hate Myself for Loving You\u2019 \u2013 Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Victor: \u2018La groupie du pianiste\u2019 \u2013 Michel Berger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Martin: \u2018Blinded by the Light\u2019 \u2013 Manfred Mann\u2019s Earth Band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scenario: we\u2019ve given you a shitload of money to make a big-budget video \u2014 what do you do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019d make an erotic Bollywood movie shot on 70mm film with all our songs being the narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you want to achieve with your music?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Some kind of group catharsis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your tour bus was hanging over the edge of a cliff and you needed to throw out one band member as ballast, which member would it be and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s gonna have to be the drummer: it\u2019s a known fact the drummer always gets it harder than the others in a band. Thank you for that [question], he\u2019s probably crying right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fill in the blanks:<\/strong> When you listen to our music it feels like<\/strong> love is<\/strong> blind but your<\/strong> heart can tell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your band had \u2018stans\u2019 (superfans, like Katy Perry\u2019s Kitty Cats or Lady Gaga\u2019s Little Monsters), what would the name for them be?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Helpless Romantics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where can we see you live next?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2018re playing on September 5 at La Guinguette Sonore, a festival on the beach in the south of France. Our UK and Europe tour was moved from April to October this year, but that might be wishful thinking\u2026 who knows \u2014 fingers crossed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you want to happen at your last-ever show?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n For people to kiss and cry and spit and drink and dance and laugh like it\u2019s the last time\u2026 Well, it would be the last time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Any final words?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hoping we all come out of these times more wholesome, aware, and proactive in facing the anti-racist, environmental and social emergencies of our time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Film Noir\u2019s \u2018Tendrement,\u2019 EP is out now<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n