Bordeaux Lip

Hi all how are you?

Terrible. How about you?

First of all who is who and who does what?

My name is Neil. I play the guitar – not very good but it works – and I sing like a slightly retarded duck. Also I write all the lyrics and produce the songs myself – that’s because I dont trust anyone and can be a complicated prick when it comes to recording.

Then there’s Kenshj: He’s our bassist and just travelled to China by bicycle with our synth-player Addy – no joke: they went around 10’000 kilometers by bike. It took them almost a year. The other guys are called Luc, he’s our (more skilled) guitarist who’s such a nerd that he builds his own effect-pedals and Andrey, our drummer, a very talented guy who can pull on an e-cigarette longer than anyone else.

I notice one thing: there is not a girl in the group, I dare to embed myself or not? ☺

(I dont really get the question. What do you mean “embed”? But I assume it should be some statement on sexism …)

Isn’t it a bit sexist to assume that we all identify as men? I dont like the whole alpha-male-culture and am disgusted by the behaviour of lots of macho-dickheads. Still i was born with a penis and i’m sorry about that. But i never chose to be a men in the first way.

You know I think Bordeaux is a French wine (to consume with moderation), do you like wine or is it beer?

It’s actually a city in France where that wine is made. Also bordeaux-red it’s my favorite colour, especially in lip-sticks.

To get back to your question: I prefer red wine, because it pulls you down. Beer is fine to get drunk but it’s not as inspirational. Lately I’ve been into Gin a lot – guess I’m getting older.

Tell us about your new Colourgraded album? How was it designed? And who had the inspiration for the composition of the texts?

Phew! Big question but I’ll try to make it short … most of the songs are rather old – we wrote them all together over the last ten years or something. Some of them have been around since we were teenagers. The lyrics are special though: They came from a mental breakdown I had two years ago. I started questioning my whole existence – I didn’t know what’s real, what’s a dream, what’s life anymore. The core of it was the realization that everything we see, hear and feel is subjective. A colour may not look the same to me as it does to you … it’s all an interpretation of our brain. That’s where the title ‘colourgraded’ came from – our brain is constantly colourgrading our environment.

These thoughts gave me a proper existential crisis: How do you know another person has the same awareness as you? How do you know anyone else actually feels and lives? There’s no way to really answer that. The whole world might just be imagination.

Whatever ... that mental breakdown changed a lot of my thinking. That’s why I started over with most of the lyrics and tried to capture these thoughts. The song ‘Film Noir’ for example is all about that. But there’s also lyrics about capitalism (‘First At The Scene’), conspiracy theories (‘Pizza At Podesta’s’) and of course the most important topic of every artist: Falling in love (‘Come Say By Before You Leave’).

What are your musical influences?

If you ask me: The most important influences aren’t musical. Books can be just as important, just like your experiences with other people. Damn, I even lifted thoughts from internet-memes. But if you’re asking for an artist we tried to sound like, you should check out ‘Girl Band’ – great irish noise-rock. Plus Elton John.

An international stage of phew to make a masterful concert ...

I don’t get that question at all. Sorry.

60 70 80 or 90?

Not sure about this question either … you mean centuries? If yes: I’d say the 90s. I grew up with that stuff and obviously listened to way too much Nirvana. 60s/70s-Rock is terrible – damn hippies with their never-ending guitar-solos. Can’t stand it. 80s were too colourful for my taste. Most important years for me must have been 2005 – 2007 when bands like The Strokes or Arctic Monkeys came up.

A first dream part would be that of ...

I dont sleep too well. Most of the time I’m haunted by nightmares. Last night I dreamt about a spa where the swimming pool was filled with dead babies and their parents were just relaxing and enjoying their holiday. That was disturbing.

But if you mean “dream” in a metaphorical way: It would probably be playing a concert in a swinger-club where Julian Casablancas is having sex with Marion Cotillard, while Martin Shkreli is watching and Vladimir Putin serves drinks.

What was the trigger that made you want to play?

Seeing a Michael-Jackson-show when I was about six years old. And the realization that music was a good way to get into people’s heads (and pants).

Imagine an evil genius removes the fact of being a musician, what other art form would you choose?

Painting. I really admire Bob Ross. But I can’t even draw a stick-figure.

Unknown land, known land or known land?

Seriously – were you drunk when you wrote these questions? Haha.

Big mythical scene or intimate concert?

We’ve never played a really big show so I can’t tell. But from my own experience as a concert-goer: Big shows suck. I just saw Foo Fighters in Bern and it was terrible. I’d always prefer going to a small punk-venue around the corner and see some newcomers work their asses off.

The best reward you received last year ...

We played a support-show for Wolf Alice at Plaza Zürich. That was one of the most exciting (but also frightening) experiences of my whole life.

Dream or reality?

Reality. Dreams are chaotic and confusing. Reality seems to work in a more or less well-ordered way.

The first word that comes to mind right now right now?
Trottinett. One of my favourite words in swiss-german. It just sounds beautiful.

THE title that puts you in a good mood on waking
The Voidz – “All Wordz Are Made Up”
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnJPCooprnk

Master Gims or Big Flo and Oli?
Who are these people? Master Gims sounds like a wrestler, Big Flo could be a trucker and Oli is the name of the guy I buy my weed from … so I’d probably pick Oli.

Boys I leave you the word of the end
That was a very confusing interview. But still fun. And: Trottinett.

Thank you very much and nice musical continuation
So you still wanted to have the last word, right? haha. Thank you!

Crédit photo : Johanna Senn