C.A.R. is the brand new project of Battant's former leader (a band whose set we enjoyed at Printemps de Bourges 2009), the lovely and very gifted Canadian artist Chloé Raunet. She has just released her excellent debut album, "My Friend", between electro pop, New Wave, experimental noise pop and post punk. She brilliantly introduces her new project in concert, which should bring her the recognition she fully deserves. After having been favourably impressed by her performance during her French tour in March 2015, we wanted to ask a few questions to the friendly, available young artist, who is definitely promised to a bright future.


En français / In french ici / here





Can you tell us the story of the band C.A.R. ? Is it a project involving just you or are you recording with other musicians ?
C.A.R. is my solo project. I wrote all the material on 'My Friend' myself and bar a few bits of instrumentation (drums on Sophomore & Angelina - Mark Kerr & guitar on HIJK - Timothy J Fairplay), recorded it all in my home studio. Once the songs were done, I worked with an arranger named Rupert Cross to fine-tune it all. Ivan Smagghe was in the mixing studio with us in Paris, but he acted more as an over-seer rather than producer, advising & guiding me as opposed to making executive decisions. I started to tour live alone but quickly realised me on my own frantically trying to trigger elements & fx whilst playing parts & singing, wasn't gonna make the most engaging show. I was already working with this lovely Icelandic sound-engineer, Thor Kolbrunarson who helped me mix the live before I went on tour with Gesaffelstein so I asked if he'd be up for coming on-stage. It's worked really well. Now he does all the Ableton stuff which frees me up to perform. I really enjoy working with someone and being on the road is a lot more fun when there's two of you! The live's evolving too. He'll change the fx or extend bits of songs, which keeps us both on our toes.

Back when you started, which bands inspired you to play music ?
None really. I ended up doing all this in a kinda backwards way. I was listening to a lot more dance music at the time & it was after the fact I started to discover all the influences people pinned on us.

What was your state of mind when you wrote and record the album " My Friend  " ?
Dark, dark, dark. I was going through some pretty intense stuff at the time. It's also the first time i've written and composed entirely on my own, so there was a certain amount of trepidation from the get-go.

During the recording of this album, were you influenced by any books, films, records...?
I'm sure I was indirectly, but to be honest I had so much personal / emotional shit to draw on, I think I relied on a fairly organic process. You know, all these feelings had to come out somehow... I was just kinda channeling what I was going though.

The whole record is really great but "Idle Eyes" , "HIJK", "My Friend D", "Ten steps up" & "Becky's" has the potential to become real hit singles. Did you notice that when your wrote & record them ?
Thank you. I think you know when you've written something catchy. I get this kinda manic excitement ... some songs just write themselves. In saying that, My Friend D took a bit longer to compose. It wasn't as instant as the others you mention.





Can you tell us the story behind your funny & sexy video for the song "Idle Eyes" ?
I met up with Fiona Garden & her partner Ben Ashton (aka The Fashtons) via a Facebook connection. It turns out Fiona and I have led somewhat parallel lives. It's super weird we haven't met before. It was like reconnecting with a long-lost sister and right from the start we were on the same page re the video. I wanted to do something funny, a bit self-deprecating and literal to the lyrics, so we came up with the idea together. The set Ben built was spot on too. Exactly how I imagined it (ie a big, colourful vulva). We had so much fun with it all.

Tell us why did you choose to cover a french song, "La petite fille du 3ème", a song by french cult singer Christophe...
I've been working with Kill The DJ for a long time and have always been really well-received over here, only I can't write in anything but english. And trust me, I've tried! So when the opportunity arose to record a cover, I knew I wanted it to be in french. I'm not sure who first introduced me to 'La Petite Fille du 3eme', but it's been a favourite of mine for a few years now. We play it a lot on our latete atoto show on NTS Radio. Without knowing much about Christophe, I figured the instrumentation would translate well to synths and the lyrics matched my universe, so I had a go. I've learned a lot more about him since releasing the song. I didn't realise how iconic he was when I got stuck in. I'm not sure I would dared to take him on, had I known at the time.

How is it to tour France for a month in small clubs like Le Baraka, in Clermont-Ferrand (where I saw you live) ? You and Thorbjorn Kolbrunarson seemed to have great fun on stage...
Yeah it's going really well. We're in Grenoble right now. We always try to get out and see the sights too. Climbed the mountain this morning! It was ace but I'm a wee bit sore.

How is it to play for the classy (they discovered a lot of young artists... ) french festival with 100% women, Les femmes s'en mêlent ?
It's great. We did a string of gigs with RONiiA who are our new friends. They tattooed me in a hotel room in Lorient and we're hoping to get out to the mid-west sometime soon. You meet some super cool people and discover lots of new music, plus the concerts so far have been really good.





During your tours, did you make great artistic encounters (recently or in the past years) ?
When I did Les Femmes S'en Melent with Battant, we played with Telepathe, Micachu and Au Revoir Simone but the only people we kinda stayed in touch with for a bit were these kids from Sweden called 'Those Dancing Days'. They were like 18 and drunk Joel and I under the table one night in London. I'm trying to be a bit better at it. With C.A.R. I've done some shows with Flavien Berger. I'm a big fan. We exchanged contact details and I've been meaning to get in touch.

Do you have dream musicians and producers you'd like to work with? Tell us who.
I'm really lucky and am already working / have worked with a lot of the people I admire. I'm ery excited about some tracks with Red Axes & Manfredas as well as the Ivan, Andrew etc ... connection. I guess Geoff Barrow? I'm a huge BEAK fan, but I'm sure he's got the box ticked with Anika.

What is the first record you ever bought with your pocket money ?
Rap Traxx 2, with some money I got for my 7th birthday. I still know all the lyrics. listen





What is your Top 5 of the perfect song ?
I have waaaaaaay more than 5. Totally depends on my mood, but to name a few...

Nora Dean, "Angie La La" listen
The Motels, "Total Control" listen
Perfume Genius, "Grid" listen
Cris & Cosey and The Eurythmics, "Sweet Surprise" listen
Papajim, "I Am A Robot" listen

What is your Top 5 of the perfect album ?
Gosh I hate these questions. It's so hard... again, totally depends on my mood. It changes everyday. A few favourites are

Robert Calvert - "Freq Revisted" listen
Tindersticks - "Tindersticks II" listen
My Bloody Valentine - "Loveless" listen
Quad Throw Salchow - "Speed" listen
Dirty Beaches - "Drifters / Love Is The Devil" listen

Tell us about your favourite bands of the moment...
We have these friends from Brighton called Dream Wife who are amazing live! Waiting to hear their debut EP to see if it's as good on record.

Have you already started writing new songs? Is your creating process slow or quick ?
I'm always writing new songs. Even though the album came out in October, we finished mixing in February. I go through waves where I'm really inspired and manage to churn a few out pretty quick, and then I might hit a dry spell. I try to be disciplined about it though. Like if I'm unable to come up with any music, at least try to get some words down or even a mix. Just stay active. Idleness is my worst enemy.

Do you have one last thing you want to tell us ?
Probably, but I'm saving it for my tombstone.





C.A.R. on tour...


Links : www.facebook.com/c.a.r.official, www.c-a-r-music.com, twitter.com/C_A_R_music, www.youtube.com/user/CARmusicofficial, soundcloud.com/c_a_r...


En Français / In french ici / here


Translation : Charlotte Blanchard & Coline Magaud


Photos : Yann Cabello www.profocus63.com www.facebook.com/yann.cabello.7