Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine

Interview

Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine - illustration 1

The French band Bel Plaine formed by Antoine and Morgan is coming out with a very first video called Life Boat and a new EP on June 3rd. They agreed to answer our questions and share with us their feelings about contemporary art. Also discover their favorites on Artsper!

Artsper: How did you meet? What was the desire to leave?

Bel Plaine: We met five years ago at a party. As we said goodbye, we started talking about some music. We hooked up quite a bit, but it was brief and furtive. Then we ran into each other again the next day on a subway platform, we were going to the same evening. So we exchanged songs, played songs and kept talking about music all evening. It is from there that we met very regularly to share, make music, listen to sounds, compose, etc. Bel Plaine was therefore created very naturally.

In Burgundy and Angers, the cities where we come from, we were already making music with different groups. We both arrived in Paris at about the same time and spent about a year without making music. This meeting thus concretized this desire to make music.

Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine - illustration 1
Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine - illustration 1

Artsper: Why did you choose to call your duo "Bel Plaine"?

Bel Plaine : As soon as we met, we started to compose songs at that time that were inspired by folk music, wide open spaces and the natural environment. We were inspired by the idea that we can have of the southern United States in particular. We came across this expression written on a tee-shirt, and we thought it completely echoed the music we were developing with this feeling of openness and immensity.

Artsper: Your EP will be released on June 3rd. Can you tell us a little more about it? What will be the universe of this album?

Bel Plaine : We are very happy to be able to give the audience a preview of our album with its first tracks. We thought a lot about what we were going to put in there. There's a little bit of everything, a real mix of what you can find on the album: you can find very fresh and pop songs like "Lifeboat", and sadder and deeper songs like "Dead White Tree".

We have been preparing this album for two years now. It is a work that we are preparing with a director-producer, Julien Delfaud, who is someone we admire very much and with whom it is a great pleasure to collaborate. He has worked with groups such as Phoenix, Revolver, Woodkid and Herman Dune. So many groups that inspire us. So our choice very quickly turned to him and we really find his touch on this album.

Artsper: Do you have any upcoming concerts planned?

Bel Plaine : We have a few concerts planned but the most important date is September 20, 2016 at La Boule Noire, in Paris. We will present the complete album, which will still not be released. We are looking forward to it, it will be our first Parisian date in a very long time. We look forward to returning to the stage to unveil all this work.

Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine - illustration 1
Meeting with the musicians of Bel Plaine - illustration 1

Artsper: Are you sensitive to contemporary art?

Bel Plaine : Yes, we are sensitive to it. We think that, from the moment you are touched by a song, it is impossible not to be touched by a painting or a photograph, even without being an expert.

What is interesting is that a work of art tells something, tells a story, as much as a song, a book or a film.

We like Banksy very much, we think it's similar to urban poetry.

We also like a photographer, Ciril Jazbec, who you have on Artsper and who regularly publishes in National Geographic. He takes a lot of pictures in Antarctica and at the North Pole. The photo that particularly appeals to us is a photo of an Inuit hunter that shows how much the North Pole ice cap melts. He had his picture taken on his old hunting ground: twenty years ago, it would have been the equivalent of the ice pack and today he is just standing on a big ice cube.

One exhibition that has left its mark on us, notably Morgan, is the exhibition by Kuniyoshi, a Japanese artist, at the Petit Palais. It's been three years now since I developed an attraction for Japanese art," says Morgan, "especially thanks to the Hokusai exhibition a few years ago. Since then, I have the impression that more and more Japanese artists are being presented in cultural events. I find that these works can rest me as a beautiful acoustic song could.


Their favorite artworks

Photography, #0001, Ciril Jazbec

#0001

Ciril Jazbec

Photography - 19.7 x 27.6 inch

$903

Print, La rue de Gravilliers, Jacques Villeglé

La rue de Gravilliers

Jacques Villeglé

Print - 31.5 x 23.2 inch

$1,242

Photography, Nuages flottants, Adeline Spengler

Nuages flottants

Adeline Spengler

Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch

$1,913