“The power of music is beyond life.”
– Viktor Solf

On behalf of the band and after consulting their label, we decided to release the interview with Her right now. This silent and contemplative time of the year also should serve to wallow in memories and to remember and honour all the people who are no longer with us. 

We met Viktor Solf and Simon Carpentier in April this year, before their sold out show in Berlin. From strong and independent women to Peaky Blinders and really deep quotes and poems, the french soul-pop duo has a lot to say. We hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as we did enjoy  talking to Viktor and Simon.

How do you feel playing your first Berlin headline show and it’s already sold out?

Simon: Actually we played at Kantine am Berhain before and that was almost sold out. We were at the same high school and we studied German together. One summer we came to Germany for a vacation and we decided it would be cool to come back and play here. 
Viktor: I was actually born in Germany, in Düsseldorf. So for me it’s also an emotional thing to play here. 
Simon: But yes, so far it’s really cool. Our german audience is the second biggest. Last January we toured with AnnenMayKantereit for 5 gigs and this summer we are going to play some festivals – c/o pop (Cologne), Puls Open Air in Bavaria and Dockville in Hamburg. Last year we were at Reeperbahn Festival, that was so cool, so we hope to come back next year, we love Hamburg. We just never have enough time at the places we play. But we’re staying for some days in Berlin now so that’ll be exciting.

What are your main influences in music?

Simon: The main influence I’d say is American Black music, and we also listen to a lot of Kendrick Lamar, James Blake, Alabama Shakes. But we also listen to a lot of older stuff, like Jazz and Rock Vinyls like Frank Zappa.
Viktor: We started to really get into music when we discovered Blues and Jazz. I started playing Saxophone and guitar when I was 7. Thanks to Jazz and Blues we were inspired to start writing our own music and compose. 
Simon: Blues and Jazz are the roots of every song you can listen to these days.

What are bands you listened to when you were growing up?

Viktor: When I was in high school I was in love with The Strokes. I wanted to dress and sing like them, like Julian Casablancas. And then with Simon we had a big crush on Foals, especially the first album. We listened to it all the time. 
Simon: A few years ago we were really into Whitest Boy Alive. They’re based in Berlin. That is a great band, especially live. When I was in  high school I was really into Hip hop.

The first EP you brought out was about relationships, meeting someone, falling in love and longing for someone. What is the story behind your second EP?

Simon: That’s more complicated. I would say it’s a bit deeper. We talk about women, femininity, love, but in different ways. Maternal love of a mother, or brother- and sister-love. We talk about all the strong and great women that influence us, in the songs ‘Queens’ for example. ‘Jeanie J’ is about the relationship between us and another band of two persons.

You’re using poetry, like different poems in different languages for your intros, especially on your second EP. What was the thought behind that?

Viktor: It was really simple. We asked our mothers to speak about their sons – the best way they can. My mother chose to tell a poem about our childhood and the mother of our sound engineer she chose to leave a message on the phone.
Simon: My mother talked about love. We used a phrase from a french psychologist. ‚Loving is to give something you don’t have to someone who doesn’t want it.‘ It’s quite a complex and deep definition of love.

Why did you choose that specific very special poem from Peter Handke for the interlude? 

Viktor: One of the main subjects is the childhood and the relationship between a child and it’s mother. So in this poem there is a child that asks it’s parents things it doesn’t understand about the world, but are really obvious when you are a grown up.

On the first intro you had women’s speeches. For example Emma Watson and Nina Haagen. How did you come up with that idea? 

Simon: We wanted this as a first take, instead of sound. With that we wanted to explain to the listeners what we wanted to say with the album. Every woman is different and with the different speeches we wanted to make clear that you have to see every woman as a different individual.