When did the initial idea for your latest single come together?
Lionel WERNERT: Let’s talk about ‘As if it was enough’ the second track of our latest album ‘This is us’ released in 2022, September. Regarding to this song, the words came first to Gipsy. And she usually enjoys writing about extremes and opposites in human feelings, this time she worked on expectations that people can have concerning life, nature while contrasting with advice to act better with our actions. For my part, when I integrated the meaning of her lyrics, I immediately thought of something haunting, repetitive as if for each new observation the same errors were reproduced again and again. So, to translate that with music, I chose a rather ternary rhythm with a repetitive bass line, a little in the style of Black Velvet (Alanah Miles) for the verses. Then for the chorus whose text is more in the form of a question or even of a regret, I wanted the melody on vocal to be more marked with longer notes while keeping the bass/drum beat as a framework. Of course, always a good riff and lyric guitar solo.
How would you describe the track, to a reader that is unfamiliar with the band?
Lionel: I never want to copy some music I like. I get inspired by many influences of what I listen when I was a teenager, so in my songs some people can find similarities but never plagiarism. When we can meet the audience after our shows, people always told us “Oh I like this song, it makes me think of that song by …. “. You know, people like to be surprised with new groups but they also enjoy when the listen to something they already have in their mind. Our style starts to be recognize , a kind of Lee O’Nell Blues Gang’s signature, and I’m so proud of that!
This track particularly , is really interesting by its meaning, and I hope people would understand it for what it means to us.
Gipsy BACUET: And, we really pay attention to the construction of each song. The voice is there to tell stories, the guitar is there to illustrate and vice-versa. Always a deep interaction between the guitar and the voice, Lionel and me. One does not go without the other. It’s the same in our personal life !
Can you tell us a bit more about the meaning behind the track?
Gipsy: I usually write about human relations, and tell kind of little stories in the songs. ‘As if it was enough’ is in a way a song with a much more general theme. Of course based upon feelings observations and actions , but this song is not written like a story with a beginning and an ending . The main question is still present at the end , unanswered …
You know, my personal vision of life is rather fatalistic, but with always the desire to act instead of just watching and waiting to ry to change the current situation of what I don’t like. I think people are often complaining instead of living. I started with that point “as if it was enough to sit down and wait for the sun , we’d better stand up and run”. I think it’s always better to act to move yourself and not just wait for a change. And sometimes, I feel like I’m alone in this case : “is there someone here to answer to your question, does anyone else care about the children, or am I the only one to pray?”
I should have named this song ‘Carpe diem’, it’s a kind of ode to life. We can’t engrave the moments, we can’t engrave the sound of a laugh, the brightness of clear eyes etc…
I know this song is a little bite fatalistic, in its meaning, I ask questions that remains unanswered and Lionel succeeded in transmitting this fatalism and the recurrence of a certain gloom thanks to his music. When I had no more words to explain my mood, he started his guitar solo…
How would you say that the track compares to anything you’ve done before?
Lionel: This song is not different compares to what we’ve done before, because our identity , our sound and my way to compose is the same. Always a perpetual exchange, a dialogue between Gipsy and me.
What was the hardest part about putting it together, and why?
Lionel: I can’t say it’a a hard work. We like challenges and a new song is alway a new journey we loved to make together, side by side, hand in hand with our own individuality and way to express. A conversation between a voice and a guitar.
Why should a reader check out the track?
Lionel: May be to know us , to meet the more intimate part of our questions, doubts and hopes regarding to life.
What else can you tell us about the track, that we haven’t covered in this interview?
Gipsy: Listening to a song is always an experience between the listener and the creators. So whatever Lionel and I could explain, each of you could feel something else. Each song can touch and move someone in a way not expected by composer and writer …
Lionel: Listen to this song, and tell us what are your feelings…
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