Brisa Roché Interview: SXSW 2010

Posted on Mar 10th 2010 8:44AM by Colleen Larson
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The hauntingly beautiful Brisa Roché is an American singer who settled in Paris. After finding a band that became a perfect fit, she took them back home to her mother's cabin on 40 acres in Northern California, where she has a solar-powered studio. Brisa and her band spent one month together creating the 14 tracks heard on her new record, 'All Right Now.' Along with a guitarist friend, she'll perform pared down versions of songs from her new album at SXSW. Spinner caught up with the artist known as Brisa Roché.

Describe your sound in your own words.

Focusing on our third record ['All Right Now'], it has a much punchier sound. I would describe it as garage disco. It's a band record and we all play live together.

How did your band form?

To have a real band is every singer's dream, and when it does happen it's such an ephemeral thing. I needed a band for a tour. I didn't want to do it with auditions, because they might not work well together. I looked for an existing band and we found one band. It wasn't a great audition, but I noticed how well they communicated together. Afterward, I found out they were pretending to be a band for the audition! They're perfect, the greatest love story of my life. They've been such a great gift for me.

Is Brisa Roché your real name?

My real name is La Brisa Day Roché, but it sounds pretentious. So it's Brisa Roché.

What are your musical influences?

My parents. They were rock and rollers and hippies. My mom grew up in Haight-Ashbury. Instead of going to the prom, she went to see Hendrix. My dad is more '80s. He was into groups like Talking Heads. But they were not involved in mainstream society.

Beatles or Stones?

Stones.

What's the craziest thing you've seen or experienced while on tour?

We were playing at an island by Madagascar. These whales kept coming by. The theory is that they were attracted by the sub-bass.

What's your musical guilty pleasure?

Improvising over electronic music. It can be deep, but you can pretty much do anything and you sound good.

What is your biggest vice?

Living outside of society.

What are your thoughts on SXSW?

It's rather melancholy. There's not enough money to take the entire band, just a guitar player friend and myself. I'll be carrying the torch for them [the band] while I'm there. It will be interesting to try and represent the project. I'm proud of the new record and I'm really ready to bring it back to the states.

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