Along with the joy that was seeing LAMBCHOP in Leeds recently, we were delighted to be introduced to CHACDA, four musicians from Belgium and the Netherlands who are currently based in Brussels and who were doing a great support for Kurt Wagner and the band. CHACDA have also played alongside the guitars trumpets and desert landscapes of CALEXICO.
CHACDA were so good, we just assumed they were the Next Big Thing, and felt too shy to spend much time chatting. Attempts to buy the CD (I was skint on the night when everyone else in Leeds was getting theirs) came to nothing.
So I got in email contact to find out a UK release date for their debut album, la Sortie. I ended up in negotiations with Chantal Acda who must be the most cheerful email correspondent in the universe. Whisperinandhollerin got to hear of these manoeuvres and demanded a full report, interview, review, and gatefold photo session. Unfazed I agreed to ignore the requests. But between us, CHACDA and I worked out an agreement to do an email interview, with the threat of a full album review when the band are gigging in the UK again. A proper distribution deal should be worked out by then. November looks likely.
I sent the questions all in one email. Chacda (via the keyboard and multilingual fingers of Chantal Acda) did the answers.
W&H: What is the most annoying question you are asked?
Chantal: how old are you??
W&H: What question do you wish people would ask you?
Chantal: What do you want to reach when you do concerts or when people hear the CD?
W&H: What would your answer be to that question?
Chantal: I want to move people in every possible way. So that means that I wouldn't like it if people say after the show: 'I saw a nice band' . I would like them to feel something whether it is positive or negative ...
W&H: Who are the members of Chacda and where do they come from?
Chantal: Boris Gronemberger, Brussels; Teuk Henri, Brussels; Marissa van Mourik, Eindhoven (Netherlands); Chantal Acda, Brussels
W&H: What role does each person play in the band?
Chantal is mostly writing the songs on guitar and with vocals ... Boris
plays drums, guitar and sings more and more, Teuk plays guitar and Marissa plays melodica and clarinet ... because we still have a classical background and we love classical music!
W&H: What is the musical background of each member of Chacda?
Chantal: Chantal and Marissa used to busk on the streets all over Europe for a long time. Afterwards we started a band in Holland but that was not exactly what we wanted to have ... Chantal moved to Brussels and found Teuk and Boris. Teuk plays also in Sharko and Boris in Francoiz Breut and The Grandpiano.
W&H: What kinds of people is your music aimed at?
Chantal: All kinds of people, but most of all people who like intense music
...
W&H: Who has been the most helpful person in the Chacda story so far? (outside the band)
Chantal: Anna Moulson - a booker from Brighton gave us the chance to come to the UK and that was one of the best experiences in our lives!!
W&H: Which artist would you most like to admire your music?
Chantal: ppfff that's a hard question . I can only speak for myself - my mother ... she is a singer and it is very important for me that she likes it!!
W&H: How important are the words in your songs?
Chantal: very important for myself. It tells more about me than I would ever tell someone ... very personal, private and that's why it is scary to play in the UK ... you guys can understand it!!!!
W&H: You have played support to Lambchop in England. What was that like?
Chantal: It was really great! The audience was amazingly sweet and they were so silent during the songs ... Lambchop is a band that plays very soft and the people who like that, can be so silent. That was a special night.. So much love from the people around!!!
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W&H: How did you come to be on that tour?
Chantal: Anna Moulson.
W&H: Is there any other famous name you have played on the same stage as?
Chantal: Keith Caputo, Calexico, Belle and Sebastian.
W&H: If you could choose anyone at all, who would you like to play on the same bill as?
Chantal: The American band Low ... we all love them! They will always stay close to their hearts ... so intense ...
W&H: Who would you most like to be a guest performer or producer on your next album?
Chantal: the producer from the notwist album!! I don't know his name!!! (NOTWISTS's recent "Golden NEon" was produced by Galore W&H)
W&H: What gives you the most pleasure when you're playing as a band? Sometimes it feels like magics ... when everything falls together and everything fits ... nothing can make me more happy than that ...
W&H: What give you the most problems when you play as a band?
Chantal: we are all very different persons ... and that can be hard but we can all solve it with music!!
W&H: What are the differences between playing live in Belgium and the Netherlands and playing in the UK?
Chantal: In The UK people are more interested and have more respect. Belgium is much better than Holland to play. In Holland people are not very much in love with soft music and they talk a lot ...
W&H: What sort of new music scene is there in the low countries?
Chantal: a mix between electronical stuff- dEUS stuff and classical
music/soundscapes
W&H: If you were force to stay forever in one country, which one would it be and why?
Chantal: Iceland. I love that place, or Scotland ... I love the mysterious landscapes and the nature ... people there are great too!
W&H: What was the last CD/record you listened to? (each band member)
Chantal: - The Liars
Teuk Henri: - Coltrane
Boris: - Tortoise
Marissa: - Gorki
W&H: What were your main musical influences before starting Chacda?
Chantal: Motorpsycho, Low, Elliot Smith, Jim O'Rourke
W&H: Who is the most important person in your life?
Chantal: that's really hard...my boyfriend Teuk, My parents and my brother
W&H: How important to you is the natural world?
Chantal: Most important of all.. I ride horses 2 times a week in a big
nature reserve ... so beautiful ... I love animals and want to have an old farmhouse.
W&H: What has made you most angry this week?
Chantal: nobody...maybe tomorrow :))
Chantal: I maybe found a nice job as tourmanager
W&H: How can people get hold of your CD?
Chantal: It will be out in the UK in the end of this year!!!
W&H: When will you next be playing in the UK?
Chantal: We hope in November
W&H: Has your music been changing since you made la Sortie?
Chantal: a little bit - more singing together with Boris
W&H: Do you have another CD planned?
Chantal: We will start recording next year!! xxxxxxxxx
So lots of kisses for W&H, and a note in the UK diary for November. Watch out for CHACDA.
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