photo by Melanie Elbaz

French sextet The Bewitched Hands is a busy bunch. In addition to playing both CMJ and South by Southwest here in the US, they have plans to play several festivals in Europe over the summer. They recently worked with French electronic producer Yuksek on their debut full-length album Bird and Drums, which was released in France in October and available in the US on May 24th. You might even remember them from our BestNewBands.com exclusive backstory available here. Due to their busy schedule we exchanged words via email last week. When I read their responses, it was hard not to hear their charming French accents as they described writing in the English language for the first time, the highs and lows of touring, and what they hope listeners take away from their record.

Laurel Kathleen: In the last year you played both CMJ and South by Southwest, the two biggest new music festivals in the US. How did they compare?

The Bewitched Hands: It’s difficult to answer to this question for us, as when we played at SXSW, we played several days and we had the time to impregnate the festival’s ambiance. There’s no real equivalent of SXSW in the festivals where we’ve ever played, we really loved being there, we loved to go from a point to another to see concerts everywhere…At CMJ, we just saw the night when we played, and we played in a French evening, with French bands and musicians (Emilie Simon, Revolver), so it was very different, and more familiar for us… We didn’t have the time to really see the festival but we loved to play there. In fact the two festivals were benefic for us, as they permitted us to discover the American public, and to be seen by professionals.

LK: You’ve got quite a few show dates lined up for the summer, including several festivals. Is there a specific show or festival you’re particularly excited about?

TBH: Yes, we will play in NXNE in Toronto, which is the equivalent of SXSW in Austin, we’ve never been to Canada, so we’re very excited about that…

LK: Is there a big difference between your audiences in Europe versus here in the states?

TBH: Not really. We were apprehended a little before going there: we didn’t know how they would react to our music, and to our English lyrics… Our approach of the English language is rather musical and phonetical than really guided by the search of a real meaning. But the reactions were good, our music is quite catchy and straightforward, and American audiences seemed to appreciate it in a natural way.

LK: Your debut full length album Birds and Drums was released in October in Europe and comes out in the US on May 24th. How has the band changed since its creation?

TBH: I don’t think the band changed in a fundamental way except on some points: first of all, we are more used to play behind people who know our songs, we often see some of them singing the lyrics… And we made a lot of gigs since October, so I think we are more experienced onstage.

LK: If a potential new fan was hearing your music for the first time and could only listen to one song, what would it be and why?

TBH: Maybe “Saharan Dream” because it’s the last song we recorded for the album. In this song, we really worked a lot on the arrangements in studio, and since the band exists, we progressively learned to work altogether on recordings, and to find each one’s role in the composition and recording process. So “Saharan Dream” is maybe-on the album- the song which corresponds the most to what is the band is today, and to what it will become in the future…

LK: What do you hope listeners take away from this record?

TBH: We hope they will appreciate the musical diversity of the songs, and in the same time, we hope they will find an unity in the globality of the album. And we hope they’ll want to play the record a second time when it’s over…

LK: What are the best and worst parts about being a touring band?

TBH: The best: playing onstage every night, going into different cities and countries, meeting people, having fun. The worst: spending a lot of time in vans and planes, eating shit in gas stations, being tired sometimes.

LK: What’s the strangest thing that’s ever happened to you guys on the road?

TBH: We had a gig stopped in the second song of a gig because of an electrical problem, we missed a plane, we played behind less than ten persons in SXSW in a sunny afternoon… I don’t know which one is the strangest thing…!

The Bewitched Hands‘ full-length album Birds and Drums will be available in the US on May 24th. Stay tuned to their Facebook and Twitter pages for details on the album and their upcoming tour dates around the world!