Plastiscines : Interview

As one of the first signings of Nylon Records in New York, the Parisian all-girl guitar-wielding group Plasticines are back with their sound expanding sophomore record this year. The rock’n’roll of their former effort still exists but recording with the esteemed producer Butch Walker has brought a poppier progression; although this is not sugar infested pop a la his previous muse Katy Perry, but an all out frenzied sound reminiscent of the punkier girl groups of the 60’s.

Fearless and beautiful, Plasticines last year won over the tv execs in the US, achieving high profile appearances and soundtracking opportunities across the networks.  Most impressive has been their performances as part of the hugely popular Gossip Girl, sandwiched in between episodes showcasing musical icons such as Sonic Youth and Lady Gaga, bringing them to an audience that spans across the globe.

Plasticines started out life as a gang of teenage girls all sharing a passion for live music and a mutual love for bands including The Strokes, White Stripes and our very own Libertines.  Self-taught musicians who adhered to a-learn-as-you-go attitude they were quickly picked up in France by Virgin who soon after released their debut album.  However this was a working relationship not set to last, but after a time of reflection and writing they crossed paths with Nylon and the rest as they say is history.

Now set to prove the critics who wrote them off as merely part of the “les bebes rockers” collective in Paris, album 'About Love’ will be released this spring in the UK.  Recorded in LA last year it has already spawned high-octane tracks such as “Barcelona” and the subtly titled “Bitch” and their hyperactive reputation in the live environment goes a long way to prove they are more than just pretty faces.  

We spoke to Anais and Marine of Plasticines during their recent UK visit and had a very candid chat with them about recording with Butch Walker, Nylon and the media.

4or The Record: Plastiscines have been a band since you were all teenagers in Paris with a combined love for the same music.  Now with a 2nd album recorded would you say your sound has developed and matured?

Anais:  It has definitely evolved between the first and the second album; the second is very different because when we did the first we were very young and we were really bad musicians at the time [laughs].  But this time we still wanted powerful guitars but also more pop choruses and more melodies, whilst keeping the strong rock sound as a guitar band.  I think the most important thing was we just knew what we wanted this time and were much more aware of what we were doing.

4TR: ‘About Love’ was recorded with renowned pop producer Butch Walker, who has worked with names such as Pink and Katy Perry.  How was that experience?

Anais: Well Butch has worked with a lot of great pop artists but had also been working with the Donnas and on other really kind of rock and roll stuff, but we didn’t realize initially. 

Marine: [laughing] We met him when we played at Coachella and then looked him up on the internet after he said girls I want to work with you, and then we realized the amazing music he had worked on.

Anais: And it was after we ended our contract with Virgin, so it was kind of perfect timing.  Then Nylon Records propositioned us and said lets go and make a record in LA with Butch, so we said yes because it felt like the right thing for us to do.  But it was weird at the same time because we had written like 20 new songs but we just knew that through working with Butch everything would change, from the lyrics to the structure because he is used to working with real pop artists.

Marine: I think we were initially scared because we were worried we would lose the guitar side of the music, and our original sound, but when we had our first practice with him we all discussed what we wanted and how we wanted to do it, so it was a mutual brainstorming session.

Anais: It was incredible, we went to this huge house in Malibu up in the hills and for us it was a dream come true.  

Marine: Yeah, LA was a real adventure because we didn’t have return tickets so we didn’t know how long we would be there for, we just knew we were going to be recording a couple of songs.  But after the first couple of songs were done we all felt that the dynamic was so perfect we had to finish the whole record.  Butch did everything he could to make sure he was involved in finishing it and we had the perfect team with Butch and our sound engineer, Jake Sinclair, so I honestly don’t think we could have been luckier.

4TR: What do you think Butch’s influence and experience brought to the album?

Anais: Well he put in so much trust in us and pushed us every single day telling us we could go further or you can do it better, so he would make us do things over and over again to get it perfect.  

Marine: He just made the songs better and we worked together to get it right; everyone could be honest about what they liked and didn’t like and that affected the record by making it better.

4TR: You are a French band but traditionally you write your lyrics in English, why is that?

Anais: Yeah we never have done our songs in French because we’ve been so influenced by English and American bands and it sounds so great for us to listen to English lyrics and write English lyrics as well.  Actually writing in French is really hard because it has to be really poetic and kind of lyrically perfect, but if a song could work in either French or English for us, we do it in both.

4TR: Signing to Nylon records with its association to the incredibly successful Nylon Magazine must have been a very interesting opportunity for you after working with a major.

Anais: You know we signed with Nylon because we had so much trust in them, and its great because we work together; it isn’t like a big label saying do this and do that and then shut up, they actually ask us what we would like to do for our music. Plus they have so many incredible contacts, which is how we ended up working with Butch and then mixing with Claudius Mitendorf who has worked with people like Muse, Foo Fighters and Interpol.  And then they had the magazine to promote us as well, so it was a different way to work but a really good way.

Marine: Different because you know who you are talking to, what’s going on and who we are working with.  I guess they signed us because they wanted us to achieve and loved the music.  Most of the time with a big major label they just work on 2 artists within a huge roster and don’t give a shit about the others, but with Nylon you are a priority and they want to work with you.

4TR: Nylon as a magazine is synonymous with pop culture and fashion; you guys have a strong aesthetic image so would you agree the music and fashion aspect is quite a fitting niche for you?

Marine: Yeah but we don’t really pay attention to people who say we are a fashion band.   Nylon these past few years have been in advance with all the bands they have put in the magazine; they have supported some bands from early in their careers who have become huge, so if you look at the music pages 2 or 3 years ago, you will see bands who were not famous at the time but who are doing so well now.  They have always known and cared about music, so honestly if they have good taste in music I don’t care how many pairs of jeans I get given off the back of the association with them.

Anais: Image is important though, because we are not going to go on stage wearing no makeup with bad hair in a pair of jeans.  People love seeing someone like Katy Perry wearing amazing costumes because it makes you want to see her show and for us its not just a gig it’s a show as well.  So its important for us to look nice, but its difficult being in a label that is attached to a fashion magazine, because people just only talk about that and not the music.  

4TR: I think the other obvious reason people but an emphasis on your image and fashion is because you are an all girl band.  How do you feel about that?

Anais:  Its not a bad thing I guess because people are talking about us, but its hard to make people understand that we are not just fashionable girls; we love fashion, and getting dressed up and going shopping of course, but we are a serious band and music is all we have got and what we live for.  We understand how lucky we are to be in this position with a label, so the music of course is the most important thing to us.  There are so many great bands out there who don’t get the chances we have had so we take it very seriously.

4TR: When Plasticines began you cited your influences as being guitar bands like The Libertines and The strokes, is that still the case?

Marine: I don’t think you can hear the Libertines influence in there; it was more that the Libertines, The Strokes and Kings of Leon made us want to be in a band.  I would say that now most of our influences are from the 60s and 70s with a modern touch on it; we are influenced by Blondie and the Ramones and also especially in our second album, all the girl groups from the 60s like the Shangri-Las and Ronnettes and people like that; girly but powerful at the same time, strong women singing pop melodies.

4TR: The 60’s rock vibe is very apparent, through your image as well.

Marine: Absolutely we love it, but it’s hard to be taken seriously as a woman playing rock’n’roll, especially by journalists and people like that.  

Anais: It’s even worse in France people are really conservative about everything so its really hard.  We had a war with the journalists in France when we came back from America because they don’t understand us; if you wear glitter on stage they don’t understand; if you play rock’n’roll on stage they don’t understand; if you are nice to them they don’t understand [laughs].  So you have to be like “fuck you” to them and then they will say stuff like “oh yeah I met Plastiscines and they were really rock’n’roll because they told us to fuck off”.  It’s a joke, we are nice girls and we get fucked over a lot, which makes me angry.  

4TR: So lets talk about France then and music there.  I read that in the early days you were in the middle of this youth Parisian rock scene that the media named 'Les bébés rockers', tell us about that.

Marine: Yeah that was going on, basically teenagers playing in underground bars which was fucking cool but the media made it sound like a revolution and called it that, so it became this big deal that they talked about in the news.  To us we were just teenagers playing guitars and it was so normal especially because all the bands we liked at the time were just a couple of years older than we were, but they kind of destroyed it for us. 

4TR: Why?

Anais: Because it’s not really common in France to be like 15 in a rock band, whereas here that’s normal, it’s a shame.  French people think that kid of thing is weird because they don’t like change, so I guess they try to destroy it.

4TR: Finally, you appeared on 2 episodes of Gossip Girl, which is a huge show that has soundtrack that brings together the best of new music and old.  How did that opportunity arise and was it a career highlight?

Marine: I think they heard of us through the Nylon association and the woman who does the soundtrack for shows like Greys Anatomy and Gossip Girl heard our song ‘Bitch’ and then listened to the album and wanted to use some of our tracks. 

Anais: Then she said she wanted us to perform on the show, which is an amazing opportunity for us, especially because we love the music they use on the program.

Marine: TV shows like this are what people our age watch so it’s a big deal, maybe a few years ago people would have thought being on a soundtrack for a TV show was lame but now it’s a part of society and actually some TV shows are better than some movies.  Not many people can say they have had the chance to do something like that.  

Anais: Plus our episodes come in between Sonic Youth and Lady Gaga appearing, so that is kind of a perfect place for us to be [laughing].

'About Love' is out on February 8th on Nylon/Because Records

www.myspace.com/plasticine

Words: Francesca Strange

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