Stereoboard Talk To Francois & The Atlas Mountains Ahead Of Brighton's Great Escape (Interview)
Tuesday, 08 May 2012
Written by Adam Holden
While talking to Francois from Francois and the Atlas Mountains on his tour bus in the South of France, it was hard to tell whether he was shy, suffering from long nights on the road, or we just struggled from a language barrier and poor telecommunications. Either way, he is a man of few words. Check out what he had to say ahead of his Brighton Great Escape festival performance below.
Steroboard: For people who don’t know much about your music, how would you sum up Francois and the Atlas Mountains?
Francois: Simply good time music.
Stereoboard: Concisely put. Nice. The name for the band is pretty cool, how did you come up with it?
Francois: Ah cheers. A friend of mine in Bristol wrote the letter on the fridge which had the words ‘The Atlas Mountains’ on it. I thought it sounded pretty cool and made me think of an adventure. I really liked the name, so I used it.
Stereoboard: I know the band has changed the members that make up the Atlas Mountains quite a few times. Has this changed the style of music much?
Francois: Yeah it has a lot, the style has changed. Now, there are a lot more words to our music and overall the music much groovier.
Stereoboard: I know the band is an amalgamated mixture of talent from England and France, so how did you guys meet?
Francois: Sadly there is no real interesting story behind it. We met some in England and some in France on our travels. We have a nice mixture of talent.
Stereoboard: How do you write your music, do you get drunk, high, find a stimulating environment?
Francois: No, no, we just like to get to a place where we all feel comfortable. We avoid expensive places (assuming studios) as we don’t like the pressure.
Stereoboard: Are there any bands you like in the UK at the moment?
Francois: Yeah, at the moment I like a band called ‘Being There.’ They have really catchy music and are really down to earth.
Stereoboard: Are you looking forward to coming back to Brighton for The Great Escape festival?
Francois: Yeah, I have never played at the Great Escape, but I really like Brighton and am looking forward to coming back.
Stereoboard: Are you staying around for the festival?
Francois: Yeah, I should be staying around for one night, so it should be some fun.
Stereoboard: Is there anyone you are looking forward to watching?
Francois: Yeah, I am looking forward to seeing ‘Stranded Horse.’
Stereoboard: I hear you do a lot of watercolour painting too. Is that true?
Francois: Yeah I do, but sadly I haven’t had much time to do any at the moment.
Stereoboard: You’re also a skater too?
Francois: Yeah, I love to skate. I love to do flips. I am a street skater.
Stereoboard: And quickly before I let you get back to your tour bus shenanigans, if you don’t mind, a quick fire round of your ‘firsts’ and ‘worst’s’. Is that cool?
Francois: Yeah, go for it.
Stereoboard: First instrument?
Francois: I guess the first instrument I started having fun with was the piano, which I started playing at home. So it’s my favourite as it’s the one I can just sit on and play freely.
Stereoboard: First gig as a fan?
Francois: As a fan it was really cool, I was having fun and crowd surfing a lot.
Stereoboard: Your first song, any good?
Francois: No it was really bad. I was playing so loud and kept blowing the amps up. It was terrible.
Stereoboard: First gig as an artist?
Francois: It was really edgy and was an incredible amount of fun. We got a little carried away and started crashing our guitars and stuff.
Stereoboard: Your first album bought?
Francois: It was the President of the United Stated. What an album that was.
Stereoboard: Your first sexual encounter?
Francois: Ah, yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it (laughs).
Stereoboard: Was it as bad as mine?
Francois: No, it was cool, it really was.
Stereoboard: Your first job?
Francois: I was sorting through archives in a lawyer’s office. It was really weird.
Stereoboard: And now your worst’s. What was your worst memory as a child?
Francois: Once when I was I kid my brother made all my family laugh with a joke, and I wanted to better him, so I told a naughty joke I learned at school that wasn’t really appropriate in front of my family. It didn’t go down to well. I felt really embarrassed.
Stereoboard: Your worst Sexual encounter?
Francois: I don’t really know, it’s all been good so far.
Stereoboard: Your worst film?
Francois: Probably Jumanji. I watched it on a plane and it just sucked.
Stereoboard: Your worst gig?
Francois: I was in Glasgow when I first started my career. There was only one person there sat in front of the stage with his arms crossed looking really pissed off. I was really really drunk and played awfully.
Stereoboard: What’s the worst drug you have taken:
Francois: The worst drug I have ever taken was MDMA. When I took it, I felt really ill and just generally didn’t enjoy it.
Stereoboard: And finally Francois, what’s the worst job you have had?
Francois: The worst job I have ever had was in working underground in kitchen’s doing general kitchen work. It just sucked.
Francois and the Atlas Mountains will be appearing at the Brighton Great Escape festival which begins the 10th May. See http://escapegreat.com/ for details.
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Steroboard: For people who don’t know much about your music, how would you sum up Francois and the Atlas Mountains?
