What is Paris Popfest?
A DIY indiepop festival which started in 2017. This year’s edition will take place on September 21st and 22nd at Le Hasard Ludique with 8 bands, from cult bands to new groups.
Line up :
September 21 : The Orchids (UK), Cocoanut Groove (SE), Peaness (UK). DJs : Popnews
September 22 : Go-Kart Mozart (UK), Xavier Boyer (FR), Soft Science (US), Beach Youth (FR), Birdie (UK). DJs : Section 26
The Popfest team : They are Clémence, Emilie, Emmanuel et Joanny, 4 friends fond of indiepop music and labels such as Sarah, Postcard, Creation or Rough Trade. Our club Another Sunny Night has released a White Town 7″, and put on many bands like Allo Darlin’, The Wolfhounds, Orval Carlos Sibelius, The Brilliant Corners, Tender Trap, The Popguns, The Spook School, Alpaca Sports, Nick Garrie…
The bands :
Go-Kart Mozart
2018 will definitely remain the year of Go-Kart Mozart. Their 4th album, Mozart’s Mini Mart, released this winter by Cherry Red Records has been critically acclaimed by both the general and specialized press. A new record should be released in the coming months. Since the beginning of the year, English gigs were all sold out. We are proud to have them to play in Paris for their first French appearance since La Flèche d’Or in 2006. And because we can’t skip that kind of information : Go-Kart Mozart is the latest project of Lawrence, just as essential as the previous two, Denim and Felt, which discography is currently being re-edited.
The Orchids
Glasgow’s The Orchids are best known for their long association with the legendary Sarah Records, recording 3 albums and several singles for the label. The band originally split in the mid 1990s but reformed a decade later and have since released 3 more albums while regularly playing gigs including Primavera Sound in Barcelona, New York City Popfest and Indietracks festival. They have also recently been involved in 2 projects commemorating Sarah Records: the book Popkiss and the film My Secret World.
In 2017 the band celebrated their 30th anniversary with the release of the double CD compilation Who Needs Tomorrow on Cherry Red Records, followed by an appearance at the Shiiine On weekender in England. Plans for 2018 include the release of a brand new single for the Wiaiwya label, and the band are very excited to be playing in Paris for the first time in over 25 years!
Beach Youth
We discovered this band from Caen a few years ago when they supported Allo Darlin’ and loved their surf-influenced indie songs. They are now about to release their first LP, the follow-up to their Singles EP (2017). It was recorded in Rennes by Olivier Bastide and includes seven tracks than had never been released before. The Popfest will be the perfect place to listen to their new songs.
Birdie
Debsey Wykes a former member of the all girl band Dolly Mixture formed Birdie in 1994 with East Village guitarist Paul Kelly while the pair were playing together as part of the live touring band for Saint Etienne. They released their first single Spiral Staircase on the US label Summershine in 1997 before recording their debut LP Some Dusty in 1999 and touring in Europe and the US.
Since releasing their second album in 2001 the band have played just a handful of live shows. In May this year they released their first single in over sixteen years and are now joined by original member Jon Chandler and new recruit Patrick Ralla from The Hanging Stars.
Cocoanut Groove
Cocoanut Groove is the musical project of Olov Antonsson from Sweden. He follows in a grand tradition of Swedish indiepop, with focus on melody and beauty, tinged with melancholy. From the long, dark winters to the respite of the dreamy summers, the songs talk of escaping the city, pining for the countryside, drinking coffee and watching birds fly.
Cocoanut Grooves debut album ”Madeleine Street” was released in 2008 and followed in 2014 with ”How to build a maze”, released on the UK-based Fortuna Pop label. In 2016, Olov released an acclaimed album in Swedish (”Nere och ute i AC län”) under his own name with songs in swedish.
Olov Antonsson wears his 60s pop influences on his sleeve, along with traces of latter day pop like Belle & Sebastian and The Clientele.
Peaness
Three piece indie-pop band Peaness are the kind of instantly likeable, warm and creative people that can get away with having radio DJ’s blush like a peach every time they have to say the band’s name on the airwaves. Lucky really, as it’s a phenomenon that’s becoming increasingly more common with spins racking up at BBC Radio One, BBC6 Music, Radio X and more as this burgeoning bunch of friends grow quickly into the big shoes that the early press-hype has set out for them to fill.
Soft Science
Hailing from Northern California’s Sacramento Valley, Soft Science fuse melody, and texture inspired by 60s pop and 90s shoegaze to create their own sweet blend of modern pop music with a sonic edge. In 2011, Soft Science debuted with their first album ‘High and Lows’, with Pop Matters noting the band’s “potential to become one of the great Left Coast power pop bands.” In 2013, the band released the ‘Detour’ LP, which received notable critical reviews and was ranked #2 among Jack Rabid’s Top 40 in issue 74 of The Big Takeover Magazine. While working on their third album, the band released a split 7” with The Luxembourg Signal, featuring Soft Science’s well-received track ‘Breaking’, and were invited to play the New York Popfest. The dream-pop syndicate are currently playing live in support of their new album ‘Maps’ LP.
Xavier Boyer
Xavier Boyer is a French musician, most famous for fronting the indie pop band Tahiti 80. He released his solo album Some/Any/New last year. Le Hasard Ludique will be the perfect place to discover those delicate chamber pop songs. Xavier will be joined on stage by Hadrien Grange (Dorian Pimpernel, School Daze, Tahiti 80) and Stéphane Laporte (Domotic, Centenaire, Egyptology).