Feu! Chatterton: «Young people are usually the most inspired».»

Described as modern dandies, three members of the French band Feu! Chatterton - Arthur Teboul, Sébastien Wolf and Clément Doumic - spent a few sweltering moments with the Regard Libre before performing at Paléo on Wednesday July 20. Just enough time to chat about today's youth, overflowing with contagious energy, it seems.

Le Regard LibreYou're about to play at Paléo, in front of quite a few people. How would you describe your audience? 

FC: We observe everything. From teenagers to the parents of teenagers - and even the grandparents of teenagers. It's true that we're perhaps more used to seeing artists with very targeted audiences. For example, people who listen to Francis Cabrel tend to be older, whereas Clara Luciani's audience is, let's say, family-oriented. On our side, it's really transgenerational.

What does a cross-generational audience bring to the table?

An enormous pleasure! First of all, you don't decide that. If you manage to make music that crosses generations, it's because you're touching on an intense form of sharing. It's a beautiful thing. What's more, it's pleasant and above all extremely stimulating to watch people of all ages enjoying themselves at our concerts!

What about young audiences: what sets them apart from the rest?

Young audiences are always a pleasure: they're generally more energetic and motivated. After a certain age, for example, you lose the ability to create cohesion with the rest of the audience.

And do you still consider yourselves young?

We try. It's a cliché, but it's an observation: youth isn't a matter of age, it's in the mind. After that, it's true that in the music world, it's special: you're constantly in contact with younger people, who carry a contagious energy. In life, spending time with older people gives you essential wisdom, but spending time with young people keeps you curious and enthusiastic about life. That's the energy of youth. In the music world, you meet young people by rubbing shoulders with other musicians, for example. And it's a fact that the most original and divisive musical and artistic proposals, those that change things, are rarely put forward by older people. It's when you're young that you can create your voice and give your breath. Young people are usually the most inspired.

If we move away from the world of music, there is still a whole section of the younger generation who are powerless in the face of an uncertain future...

Of course, and it's totally justified. It must be very stressful - you wouldn't want to be fifteen today. But then again, they are the lifeblood of movements for causes like climate protection. It's a form of hope carried by 15-25 year-olds. This age group is dissatisfied with the state of the world. And it's not a recent phenomenon: every generation goes through this feeling, even if it's undoubtedly intensified these days by global warming. We've all wanted to change the world.

Twenty years from now, you'll still be young?

But it's all in your head! And it's a daily battle. So we hope. You meet very old people who have a mischievousness, a sense of humour, a joie de vivre that you don't see in 40-year-olds, who seem almost dead...

Is this desire - or need - to change the state of the world symptomatic of youth?

No, it's more constitutive. It's like a teenage crisis, it gives you wings! More seriously, it's an important form of daydreaming, because it means allowing yourself to think. than anything else is possible. If you don't start with that, something else will never happen. When you start to dream concretely, you start to think about how to put these new things into place: young people are less defeatist, they see fewer obstacles and difficulties. This idealism and energy of youth is good, because it's only if you believe in an ideal that you can achieve it.

Are you addressing this hopeful youth?

Our third album, Clay palace, deals with environmental and migration issues, as well as new technologies. Our artistic approach begins with observations and ends with a form of hope. But it's not political - we say that to ourselves more than to others. If we take the case of the piece New World, We started writing it on a hot day, because we were worried. The lyrics are for everyone:

«Everyone in town was complaining about the sub-Saharan climate
(…)
We all dreamed of a new world
But what did we know how to do with our hands?»

When Arthur (the band's singer Arthur Teboul is in charge of writing) creates the lyrics, he tries to find an emotion that is closer to the common than to the different.

Does your music have, or has it ever had, a vocation to change things in any way?

When we created the band, we were certainly idealists with a desire to do something, but perhaps not to change the world... We're already going to try to give our all for the concert. And we'll see tomorrow for the rest!

Write to the author: erica.berazategui@leregardlibre.com

Header image: French band Feu! Chatterton © Antoine Henault

You've just read an open-access article. Debates, analysis, cultural news: subscribe to support us and get access to all our content!