French boy band wraps up debut India tour

Thumping drum beats coupled with melodies of a clarinet and the fat tunes of a tuba took the audience by surprise as visiting French boy band, La Fanfare Couche-Tard played eastern European tracks before concluding its debut India tour here recently.
Taking the stage at Antisocial here for the first of its six-city tour that included performances in Mumbai and Bengaluru, music enthusiasts got an entirely new flavor of classical European tunes mixed with upbeat modern electronic music.
La Fanfare Couche-Tard's irresistible energy stands with a versatile line-up consisting of Gregory Bluad on vocals and clarinet, Florian Vallo playing the saxophone and douk douk, Nathanael Bianconi on the accordion, synth and vocals, Patrice Komlanz for the tuba and bass synth and Robin Veyssiere the man on the drums.

"We used to go on holidays and play music on streets just for fun and later realised that the band had already risen and it felt cool to play together. We met some organisers and started playing gigs and that's how it all happened," says drummer Veyssiere.
Inspirations from melodies of classical European music together with influences ranging from rock to jazz, mixed up with modern dance music beats to create something that is between tradition and modernity is how the band describes its music.
With over 250 gigs in Europe, the band stepped out of France for the first time following the release of its latest album 'Balkanize Me'.

The 10-track album is a work that La Fanfare Couche-Tard takes pride in as members of the band get to express their influence and the inspiration they take from Balkan music.

"We are very proud of this one since we thought of doing an album the moment we had the ideas with us, we wrote the songs and recorded it all in just 6 months. There is lot of energy in it, our music has also evolved over time and it's the nearest what we will be performing during our tours now," says Komlanz.
Playing on the streets is still their favorite and the artists still find time to do it among a busy schedule.

"The streets are the best way to meet people. We have met many organisers of music festivals. You are totally unexpected when u play there, lot of ideas we do now came to us during streets only, you try something new, if people like it you take it back and perform it for the audience later at the shows.
Travelling places and meeting new people has been an
important part of this band so much that a whole track is dedicated to a hairstyle and now the band members too proudly adorn the quirky hairdo.
"A lot of our tracks are named after a memory not during a show but our lives together while travelling. We tell stories in our music," says drummer Veyssiere.

"Coupe Mulet is a tribute to the classic haircut, Mullet, we all got it after Florian came up with that haircut first while we were travelling and that's how the idea for the song came. 'Carnet de Voyage' is another track about our travelling and meeting people, we make them happy and they make us happy. It talks about the memories we have collected. We play it at every gig," he says.
Classical music and tabla beats got the Frenchmen's fancy as it was their first encounter with Indian music during a visit to a Gurudwara.
With huge expectations for the India tour, the band says it made memories and experiences that are sure to get reflected in their next releases.

"I think the tour will be a huge influence for us when we head back to studio in France, we have been listening to classical music, tabla and meditative music. It's going to be a huge inspiration for us," says Komlanz.
"For us its not just a music tour, it's more personal, like discovering a culture, meeting new people. New shows, a new album is in planning and it may have these elements. We are just discovering the genres in India and we will continue doing it," says Veyssiere.
The band says it hopes to do a lot more shows in India soon.