L'Orchidee D'Hawai Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 3rd 2010 2:00PM by Chris Opfer
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In addition to one of the more exotic band names in the South by Southwest lineup, gypsy folk troupe L'Orchidée d'Hawaï has perhaps the longest route to Austin, traveling more than 5,000 miles from their home in Chambry, France. Despite the band's French handle, L'Orchidée members consider themselves citizens of the musical world with varied influences from '60s Japanese surf rock to traditional Eastern European tunes.

L'Orchidée d'Hawaï's third LP, 'Lights of Speed,' will be released in Europe in April. The band plays K Records' SXSW showcase at Beauty Bar on March 17. Spinner checked in with singer Karol Skotnicki in France as the band prepares for a US tour starting later in March.

How would you describe your sound?

We just recently found a new way of defining it: Space Age Rock. We play and sound a lot like a rock band, but we mix a lot of world folk music into it.

Your influences must be pretty varied.

We all listen to different types of music. We have an Italian in the band. He listens to old Italian folk music. I'm Polish and like a lot of Mexican folk. So, it's not one band that influences us. It's the idea of folk music across the world.

What languages are your lyrics in? I know you're Polish, and I hear some English and, I think, French.

Well, we sing in Polish, English, Spanish and Italian. We do not sing in French; nNever worked out. It's probably one of the less musical languages I know, and it's way too difficult to sing well in French. Too bad for us.

Any musical guilty pleasures?

If there is guilt, there is no pleasure.

Indeed. How about vices?

Well, if by "vice" you mean something you're addicted to, then for our band it would surely be food and cooking. Very good vices!

Beatles or Stones?

Beatles. We like a lot of Beatles songs. They know how to write some good pop songs.

How's the new album coming along?

We're sending it to be mixed this week. The new album will be released in Europe probably next month. It's called 'Lights of Speed.' In the beginning, we were playing mostly surf-rock instrumentals, but we're going in a new direction. We are very influenced by world music, but now this is very personal. It sounds like more fun and it's more adventurous.

We have a new label in France that we started, and this will be the first album on that label, Folk Welt. "Welt" means "world" in German. We all have a couple different projects, and all these projects will be on the new label.

How did you guys get together?

Three of the guys were in high school together and they had a different band then. I was a documentary filmmaker and made a film about their band. That's how we met. Later, we started playing music together.

Where did the name L'Orchidée d'Hawaï come from?

It means "Orchids of Hawaii" in English. It's a traditional song from Hawaii that we used to perform when we first started and we just kind of liked the name. Even though we don't sing in French, we wanted to have a French name.

What's in Your Festival Survival Kit?

Asprin. We've played festivals in Europe and France, but nothing like what South by Southwest looks like. This seems to be a lot bigger than what we've done.

What kind of crazy things have you seen at those festivals?

In France, we go every year to play in a small bar in an area called Brittany. It's just a strange place. Have you ever seen 'Twin Peaks'? It's kind of like that. It's hard to explain it, but every year it's weirder and weirder. It's a lot of strange, crazy people.

This is your second trip to the States?

Yeah, we did two US tours in 2008. Our first tour, we played some shows opening for Kimya Dawson and her husband, Angelo Spencer. It was huge venues, lots of crowds. It was like a dream tour. Then we did another tour by ourselves that was at smaller clubs.

Is it different playing shows in here than in Europe?

In the US, you celebrate live music more. It's more of an event. When people come to shows, I feel like they come to have fun and listen to the music. In Europe, it's more intellectual [laughs]. I mean that in a bad way.

Chris Opfer is a contributor from Seed.com. Learn how you can contribute here.