Bordeaux Expats – Music Interview with Dätcha Mandala

Bordeaux’s very own heavy blues group, Dätcha Mandala, are set to launch their upcoming album this Friday 10th November at the Krakatoa in Mérignac. The lads were kind enough to sit down with Bordeaux Expats to have a little chat about their new album, sleeping in vans and Canadian power trio, Rush.

Photo by Pierre Wetzel

Cheers for taking the time to have a chat. So, who’s in the band?

Nicolas Sauvey is the lead singer, plays bass, acoustic guitar & harmonica.
Jeremy Saigne is the guitarist, and he does some backing vocals.
Jean-Baptiste Mallet play drums and also lays down some backing vocals.

For the (English record), how did you meet and how long have you been together?

Nicolas and Jean-Baptiste met when we 12 years old at school, we started to play music together at that time. Jeremy joined us when we were around 15 years old after he met Nicolas in high school.
We have been together for 10 years now, Dätcha Mandala came together on the 19th of September, 2009 (to be exact).

What does name Datcha Mandala signify?

It’s like the Yin and Yang, a balance between the spiritual side and material side of life, as human beings.

What do you think of the Bordeaux / French music scene compared to what you have seen in other European Countries?

We have some great bands in Bordeaux and France, like Mars Red Sky, Les Insus, JC Satan, Year of no light, Overcharger, Salamander Jive, Krazolta, Lysistrata, Pogo Car Crash Control, Inspector Cluzo, Gojira and many more. There are also great bands coming from all over Europe, like Dewolff or Birth Of Joy, and we think the difference is more about the audience in those different countries. We feel like rock music is more a part of the culture in the UK or Germany than in France, even if there is a great audience for rock music in our country.

You are becoming known for being a hard touring band clocking up 450 gigs across Europe. Is touring still an adventure or do you ever get to the point where you miss sleeping in your own bed?

Of course touring is still a great adventure, we have a great time on tour and we always can’t wait to hit the road. We definitely love playing shows .. we’re made to play live! We often get to the point where we miss sleeping in beds on tour 😉

For your new album you worked with Clive Martin, who has worked with many large artist across the globe. Was it intimidating heading into the studio such an experienced pro? What was the working dynamic?

It was an amazing experience. Clive is a really nice person and a real pro, he didn’t intimidate us at all but made us feel confident immediately ! The recording process took 10 days, during this time we recorded 10 songs. We recorded live, bass/guitar/drums all together. Indeed, the analog process is a great way to catch the energy of a live performance on a record. The vocals and all the overdubs were recorded separately. It was pretty much, wake up, record, eat, record, sleep. So it was pretty intense !

This latest album was recording entirely in analog, what was the attraction? 

We heard a recording in full analog Clive did with Krazolta, and we instantly loved it. At the time, we were doing some pre-productions of our album and we definitely wanted to try to work in analog. The sound is warmer and more powerful than with a digital process and all the great bands we love like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Beatles etc, did their albums like this! We also enjoyed the fact that there wasn’t any screen or computers in the studio, we had only our ears to rely on.

In your opinion, where are some of the best audiences and why?

It’s a hard question, in the same country you can’t find the same audiences town to town, even sometimes it depend of the club you’re playing in! You won’t have the same crowd in an weird underground dank club than you can find in a bigger venue.

For example, we prefer to play in front of 50 people ready to dance until they drop, than to 5000 people that are as cold as ice! The best audience is the one who lets everything go into the music and who share the energy with the band.

Why the decision to sing in English? What was the attraction to write lyrics in English rather than in French?

We wrote a few songs in French but it didn’t sound really good with blues rock music. As we are mostly influenced by UK and US music, it’s easier for Nicolas to write in English because the sound of English words fit better with the music we play.

Do you think that there are pressures for French groups to sing in English if they would like to be able export their music?

Not at all, everyone should do what they please, and we personally don’t feel any pressure!

Between the three of you, name three influential albums that have helped shaped you as musicians:

1 – QUEEN : Sheer Heart Attack
2 – TOOL : 10 000 DAYS
3 – JEFF BUCKLEY : Grace

What can we expect to see from Datcha Mandala in the new year? 

Some video clips of our new album, a lot of gigs everywhere, new studio sessions, and everything life throws at us!

Lastly, has anyone ever mentioned that Nicolas looks a bit like Geddy Lee from Canadian power trio, Rush?

Geddy who … ??
Rush what ? Rush Hour?

Never heard of them .. 😉

Catch Dätcha Mandala live this Friday night at the Krakatoa.

www.datchamandala.net
www.facebook.com/datchamandala