Pravda, the Parisian electro punk rockers opening Movement, take time out to talk Buzzcocks and bedrooms.
Conceived quite literally in the bedroom, Pravda formed in 2003 playing electro covers of the Buzzcocks before concocting their own heady mix of electro punk. Their first album A L'Ouest was released in 2007 and has earned them a huge fan base in and out of France.
How would you describe your music to someone who hasn't heard it before?
DIY electro rock. We are a bedroom-rock band as opposed to garage rock, because we've recorded everything and practised in the bedroom, with a standard PC. Our recordings are straightforward, rather tuneful and riffy. On stage though, our songs are sped up a little, played with more distortion, with a real drummer, and they are also simplified; we remove some of the sequenced synth parts. So it's really punk-rocking.
So, how did you get together?
We were hanging out together and one day we recorded some Buzzcock covers - minimal electro, with a bit of electric guitar. We were lucky that these songs were put on a rare split single 7" vinyl. It gave us the heart to form a proper band.
Who are your musical influences?
The Buzzcocks, Miss Kittin & the Hacker, ACDC, Gang of Four and Mötorhead.
What subjects do you tackle in your lyrics?
No need to use strong language, please (laughs). We don't really "tackle" subjects, we write about stuff that make us laugh or that we find exciting, like sex, booze or even Rock'n'Roll itself. We think it's cool to make songs about Rock'n'Roll, it's a bit naïve or adolescent some would think; in fact we think it's the Degré Zéro of Rock'n'Roll!
Your music is available through Movement (available on PLAYSTATION Store), how are the Internet and downloads changing the face of the music industry?
We are newbies in the music industry and we don't share the same feelings of threat as the old school guys, those who complain all the time. We've heard that because of downloaded music, less CDs are being sold than before, and less money is being made. We don't know. It's our first album and we're more than happy about how it has sold.
We've been touring in the past two years, in front of an increasing number of people, even in countries where our record wasn't available yet - Germany, Russia, Scotland, Portugal - and we can thank the Internet for this. We're in touch with all our fans through the Internet and on tour as well.
What do you think of the general perception of music from your country?
We think that everybody always had a laugh about French music, especially French Rock'n'Roll. It's fair enough. The French industry has produced the most horrific, the vilest, and the garlic-est most rotten pop music in the whole world for decades. Even we French people have a laugh at our pop music, especially when the record company marketers try to dress it up as Rock... Argh! But we always had a couple of great Rock'n'Roll bands every decade or so, the brilliant angry synth punk-rockers Metal Urbain in the late 70s, Daft Punk in the 90s and Pravda in the 00s!
Are you touring this year or will you be doing any festivals?
No, we're having a big break until autumn. No touring, no gigs, no internet connection! Just writing songs, enjoying the summer, designing and fine-tuning the next project.
Pravda's Movement videos can be downloaded from PLAYSTATION Store. More about Pravda can be found on their MySpace page, myspace.com/pr4vd4.
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