A Frenchman in England

Louis Philippe aka Philippe Auclair has studied philosophy and works for the BBC as a Musician and Sports Broadcaster. Since 1983, he has released a couple of albums that have brought him, especially in Japan, a cult following. Azure, his latest, is full of sad poesy.

On the cover of "A Kiss in the Funhouse" (The best songs of Louis Philippe) I read under "Bands you actually like" Eggstone. No one knows this band except for a couple of Swedish guys, some of my US Power Pop friends and me. Why do you actually like them? What is so special about them? (I know I should not come up with two questions after another, but what the heck!)

Eggstone is about the only band whose members are UNDER 40 years old that I really care about. And by really, I mean REALLY. I've been a fan since their second single. It's a perfect mix, really. The song writing is top-drawer, with plenty of nooks and crannies to get lost in, without losing the big picture and, most importantly, the beat. Their lyrics are offbeat, but sincere, a combination that's hard to achieve, and hard to beat. Great tunes, and, especially, great harmonic frameworks. The guitar work is simply astoundingly original. They're one of the best bands I've ever seen live (at the Dublin Castle, in London - crap venue, magical gig). Etc., etc.

On the same CD I read about your first band Border Boys and The Arcadians. The latter sound apparently like Ben Watt & The Marine Girls. How did the Border Boys sound?

Pure power-pop. Michel Duval apparently signed me/us because we reminded him of The Beatles, quite extraordinary, really, as I've never been a Beatles fan. But we used electric guitars.

When did you start with these bands?

1983, I think, recording a few demos at my parents' farm with Jean-Francois Champollion, "my" guitar player. The Arcadians were born in 1985 - when I became fed up with band politics.

Why did they break up?

See above. And we hardly ever played live, which bothered other band members. I guess I lacked the confidence to assert myself as a leader, and decided the easy way out was to call it a day, and do my own thing. The decision was the right one, but was an agonising one to take.

The Border Boys EP was produced by Andy Paley. How did that come together?

Andy was in town (Brussels) to produce a Plastic Bertrand single. We needed a producer, as we'd never set foot in a studio before. As Andy was a Beach Boys freak, like me (need I say this?), Michel Duval paired us up, and we hit it off straight away. We keep in touch with each other through mutual friends like April March.

What is your musical education?

Very limited, if you mean "education" in the formal sense; a few flute lessons, some sight-reading...and my mother's records, who was/is a Michel Legrand/Tom Jobim/Bill Evans fan. All that I know today I learned on my own with books or by working in the studio with trained musicians like Dean Brodrick and Danny Manners.

In your voice I hear a lot of influences from sixties vocal groups like The Tokens, The 4 Seasons, Beach Boys, Gene Pitney & French Chanson and Jazz. Is there a special band or vocalist that had an impact on your voice?

I love "white" vocal bands - the Hi-Lo's, the Four Freshmen, the Beach Boys. I couldn't sing the blues to save my life. Do not read anything sinister in this-Curtis Mayfield is one of my favourite singers. But I guess I like singers who do not rely on vibrato or melismas to express emotion or carry a lyric. A case of less is more, as usual.

I read that the recordings to "Jean Renoir" (1992) became something like an obsession. How long did the whole recording take?

Not that long, really - 3 weeks at the most. But the parts were devilishly complicated, and Dean and I worked like arses to get them right.

And how many takes did you on average need to record the vocals for each song?

On "Jean Renoir", from one to too many to mention (the 4/4 section over 3/4 on "Tout Bas" I will never forget). These days, I'm a 3-4 takes singer.

"Jean Renoir" sounds like an A-Capella album with later added instruments. Was it originally meant as a strictly A-Capella record?

Well spotted! But we lacked the time to finish it off as we wished, and I guess we took the easy road in the end.

Since you studied Philosophy, how do you approach your lyrics?

With great care, trepidation and absolutely no forethought whatsoever. My upbringing has no bearing on my method, apart from the fact that I like to be exact.

The compilation "A Kiss in a Funhouse" sounds very diverse. Do you like to jump around in styles?

Sorry if this sounds like a cop-out, but it just happens that way. Some tunes cry out to be arranged as rumbas, others plead for a lush orchestration. Whatever the tune needs is what matters. I do not think in terms of "style"; it all works very intuitively, really. I still believe all my songs have a particular melodic and harmonic flavour which is easily recognisable.

Which of your albums is your favourite?

I'm very fond of "Appointment with Venus", "Jackie Girl" and "Azure". At the moment! The two albums I have a bit of a problem with (mostly for extra-musical reasons) are "Ivory Tower" and "Yuri Gagarin". But my opinion changes quite often. I rarely listen to my own records, and am sometimes quite pleased to hear they have not aged too badly. In purely vocal terms, the best record I've ever done is our collection of Francis Poulenc melodies, "Nusch". I am very, very proud of it.

In your daytime job you work as a Musician and Sports Broadcaster for BBC World. What films, series or programmes have you been responsible for?

I commentated the 1991 Rugby World Cup, the Copa America (football) and the Tour of Spain (cycling), amongst other events. These days, my work at the World Service concentrates on the arts and cultural matters. But I'm very happy to be the London correspondent for France-Football magazine in London, which enables me to follow my club - Arsenal - from the press box...

Your latest work "Azure" was recorded with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague. How did that come together?

At a lunch with my producer Richard Preston. After "Jackie Girl", which was a very satisfying experience, we felt we could go one step further, for not that much more money. After all, the previous records had all been toying with full-blown orchestral arrangements...why not do it for real? The songs themselves lended themselves to that sort of treatment. They were...broader in scope, more lyrical. Danny was really up for it. It was a huge risk - we had just enough money for 4 sessions with the orchestra - but it paid off, I think.

Is there a kind of main theme on "Azure"?

Death, or rather, mortality.

Did you go on tour with "Azure"? If yes, how did you do it?

Unfortunately, no - sheer lack of resources. But we do play some of the tracks live ("When Georgie Died", "Down by the Riverbank", "Jolis Avions")

Did you go on tour with other albums?

I've never toured properly. A gig here, two gigs there. The closest I came to doing a proper tour was in Japan, in '87 and '91. I'm one of those souls who feel more at home in the recording studio than on stage. I've actually got a real thing about the whole "staging" of music, which might come from my admiration for Glenn Gould - and what he wrote about the circus that concerts actually are.

On "Azure" you cover "I can't own her" by XTC. Why exactly this song?

Andy had actually promised me the song (which I adored - marvellous imagery, and genuine tenderness, a rare combination in an XTC song) after I'd heard it on one of his demos. He said he would not do it, thanked me for rescuing it, then the bugger decided to record it on "Apple Venus" after I'd done my own version! GRRR!

Apparently, you had a lot of success in Japan. With which albums?

"Moderate" rather than "a lot" - ever since my first release there, "Mad Mad World", in 1985. Curiously, my biggest sale over there was "Rainfall"...then "Jackie Girl", I think.

How come your albums were released over there?

Disques du Crepuscule had a licensee in Japan; The Arcadians album did OK; then the whole El thing, in which I was a main protagonist, took off in quite an extraordinary fashion. From then on, I've had a very solid following over there, which was fed by many collaborations with prominent Japanese artists.

How many records did you sell there?

To this day, about 100,000, I think. Nothing extraordinary, but very respectable for an "indie" act.

What are your next projects?

A spoken word/incidental music album with novelist Jonathan Coe, which will be released through Tricatel in a month or two. A duo album with Stuart Moxham (Young Marble Giants), which has been ready for ages; and, some time this spring, a new Louis Philippe album.

Could you tell me how your duo album with Stuart Moxham is going to sound? I always loved the Young Marble Giants!

Very pastoral, very intense, very quiet. With some of the best songs that Stuart has written since "Searching for Mr. Wright". You'll have to judge by yourself, but I think that the way our voices and our guitars blend together is quite magical. The gigs we did together in Paris and New York WERE magical, really. I'm very proud of what we have done together.

What is a Frenchman doing in England?

My wife is English. My friends are English - or live in England. My record company used to be English. I do not fit in France anymore - never have really. I love London. Actually, I am a Londoner before anything else. Where do I stop? I cannot imagine myself living anywhere but London now. I read English novels, not French ones. I love cricket, I really do. I play cricket! The question for me is: why would anybody want to live anywhere else?

Link: www.netcomuk.co.uk/~louis/index.html

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