With the inaugural Adelaide French Festival just around the corner, we’ve been finding out some more about the artists and shows that will be coming to the Adelaide Festival Centre this January 12th – 14th. One of these groups is the talented Frànçois & the Atlas Mountains. Bringing their latest album Solide Mirage out to Australia, the band are more than just purveyors of indie-pop flair…
You will be performing as part of the Adelaide French Festival – how long has the show you will be bringing to it been touring for, and what is exciting you the most about it?
We’ve been playing those songs live for one year. But it’s always ever changing. What’s good about it is that we’ve had a long break through our European Winter and these songs, played under a different latitude, will sound new to us again.
Can you tell us a bit about the sort of impression you initially wanted to leave on your audience with this show, and how the show has progressed since you first started performing it? What’s been a significant highlight of the performance or change that you’ve undergone with it?
We like playing shows without a clear idea in mind. We want to be connected to the specificities of the moment. Every moment is new when you perform.
Have you been able to take this show elsewhere in Australia (or on tour around the world) in 2017, or are you at the start of your tour cycle?
We went to the Ile de La Reunion, that’s the furthest we took those songs to. We were introduced to some new rhythm there.
What has drawn you to bring this sort of music to life?
With Solide Mirage (our latest album) we wanted to do a music that was more grounded and with a dryer sound. We wrote the album in 2015 a year that was the end of the dolce vita for a lot of people. The violent events in France brought a new kind of awareness of the present moment.
With a New Year of music and creativity upon us, what is exciting you the most as a performer moving forward?
Getting rid of my illusions and getting more and more connected with the present moment. Getting a better understanding of the sound that connect us to one another.
If this is to be an audience member’s first Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains experience, what kind of experience do you hope they have?
I hope our music make people feel more alive and opens up their curiosity.
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Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains play at the Dunstan Playhouse on January 13th. For more information and tickets, visit here.
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