Interview with Chris Pelle (Guitare Noire)
http://www.myspace.com/guitarenoire
Nattsol: Introduce yourself, please.
Chris: Hello my name is Chris Pelle and I’m living in the north of France. I started my own solo project Guitare Noire the last year. I’m into the underground scene since the middle of 80’s. But the most important thing is Walked in line records I run since 1995. At the same date we created with some friends the punk band Soup Toxic. I had my own street shop during 4 years too… So WIL was a records label, a magazine, a booking tours agency…etc… But now, it’s only a webzine with a few releases like the vinyl of Guitare Noire and the debut album of Suricates. I still reviews some stuff online at www.wilrecords.com so feel free to contact me and check the website, thank you.
Nattsol: As I know, you take a part in the band, called ‘Soup Toxic’. Tell me more about this band and about your participation in it.
Chris: Soup Toxic was a French post punk formed at the beginning of the year 1995. I was one of the both guitarists and the lead singer. We did not release so many records because we met so many problems!!! There were 5 different drummers for example. My participation was important of course. I think I was the leader but this word is extremely unpleasant. I never used it before. I found all the concerts dates and more still. Without me the group would have died at the end of the first year! Soup toxic is 11 years of my life and the split of the band was a depressingly dark experience for the three founding members and gave birth to Guitare Noire as for me.
Nattsol: So why did ‘Soup Toxic’ disband?
Chris: Due to adding the problems during all these years. I think there was not the same motivation for all the members. And a night we had that big quarrel that you can not come back alive.
Nattsol: You started ‘Guitare Noire’, which has plenty of differences if compare it with ‘Soup Toxic’. So what did you want to change in your new project? And what did you want to express?
Chris: Indeed, it is very different. I wanted to make a dark music and rather quiet. A come back to the cold wave music and some folk songs.. My first love! At the beginning, it was just for a page on MySpace and recording the voice of my daughter on songs. There were good words of a couple of persons on Internet. So I wanted to continue for others songs. I want to express the closest music to my mind at the moment. I don’t want to cheat myself even if a few people are close to my music. I want to play the music looks like to me.. It’s like a therapy! The first song I thought that nobody could like it but two persons said “it’s really nice” so I made some other songs.
Nattsol: Did you take some bands as references for ‘Guitare Noire’?
Chris: The song “Carnaval” is close to Bauhaus, don’t try to find another reference… it’s one of my principal influence. Most of people talk about Douglas Pearce from the Death In June acoustic songs but I don’t know these songs before to start Guitare Noire. It was rather Psychic TV in my head. I like this kind of artist could melt different style and find a strange atmosphere. You could find a part of The Cure and Cocteau Twins too of course…
Nattsol: Could you explain the name of the project?
Chris: Why Black Guitar? When I run my street shop, I found a flexidisc 7 inch 50’s in a old jazz music magazine. The word Guitare with an old font with a couple dancing. I put this picture on a frame. A day, I looked at this picture on the wall and said “oh I find the name of my project”.
Nattsol: Now let’s talk about your new release. Could you say a few words about it as the author?
Chris: It is a very personal project at first because I wanted only 25 copies for my close friends and to offer an attractive memory to my daughter who recorded her voice in a couple of songs. But the guy to the factory suggested me making 100 for the price of 50. I just needed to compose new songs even if I did not have a band anymore. Now, Guitare Noire looks like a long-term artistic project in my head. The nice columns that I received about “The Debut” gives me the feeling to keep up with work.
Nattsol: Why did you decide to make a vinyl release?
Chris: I try not to buy CD…I prefer vinyl stuff. The only CD you can find at my home are some promotional CD I receive for a review in my webzine or CD only available on this support I was obliged to buy. Also I am a collector of vinyls… I’m a big fan of The Cure for example with about 200 vinyls for the same band.
Nattsol: Is GN only a studio project? Would you like to play shows and/or invite other musicians in the project?
Chris: Some guys already asked me for shows… But sincerely it’s impossible for me because I’m alone and all songs are not really composed for a show live representation. It’s a music you play at home! Maybe a day if I found others musicians want to play this kind of music… I need to play with some others musicians more and more. I hope to find nice people for the next songs.
Nattsol: I already asked about references, but now I’d love to ask about your colleagues and like-minded bands/persons on the French stage or apart from it.
Chris: There is a post punk/cold wave scene with great bands in France. I see you know Excès Nocturne… I’m a fan of this band since the middle 80’s. I like very much to record a song with Remy the guitarist. He’s a very nice person. But it’s difficult to find others artists could find high interest to work with Guitare Noire. But you know that Guitare Noire and The Strange Walls from New York could release a split 7inch very soon? That will be thanks to you!
Nattsol: You already mentioned www.wilrecords.com. So could you say more about details it, like how was it created, what were/are the achievements and so on?
Chris: Yes, it’s my own label. You can have all the details visiting the website. I run Wil records since 1995. At the start Wil Records was a mailorder but a local event organizer too. I liked to add the interviews of the bands which played with some reviews too. I always loved fanzine. My first one it was in the 80s and it’s called Cocktail Molotov. And some years later Wil became a true printed fanzine with a free CD compilation. Also, Wil records is online since 1999. At This time I think we were only three French independent labels built a website. About 22 issues later I stopped the fanzine because I opened a records shop. No Time for Both.
Nattsol: And your final words.
Chris: Thank you for your help and for your interest in Guitare Noire. I’m still waiting to receive the CD of your band. Jon from The Strange Walls just told me it’s great!
Questions: Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
“Grave Jibes Fanzine”
