French Interview with Joe Sumner At MonaFM

[Fiction Plane Info Center]

An interview with FP frontman Joe Sumner has cropped up over at MonaFM in France. The interview was conducted to promote the most recent European tour.

The interview was conducted in French, so our apologies for the non-French-speaking audience. However, if anyone can translate and transcribe here, we would obviously greatly appreciate the assistance.

Check out the interview here!

[michellepa]

Aw man.. I wish I understood french! It was nice to listen to Joe, though.

[harembee]

A friend is very kindly working on transcribing this for us. Will get it to you soon. ;D

[clevermoniker]

I would volunteer my translation services but reading French and hearing it spoken are two different things for me. Sorry

[harembee]

Here is the transcript as promised. Huge amounts of gratitude and lots of hugs to lovely Marie for her help with this.


Hi Bee,
Here you have the translation of the Joe-interview !
Sometimes Joe's explanations are a bit tricky to translate...
It's not because I'm a poor translater, it's because joe's french is perhaps, well, let's say a bit confused... lol !

HERE WE GO :

RADIOMAN : So this is your second album?
Joe : It takes a long time for me to write songs !

R-M : You started out as a band with four members?
Joe : Yes, the bassist left to make babies ! I took over the bass.

R-M : You started FP by being influenced by Nirvana?
Joe : Yes, Nirvana gave me the desire to start a band.

R-M : Wasn't it your family that gave you the envy?
Joe : No, the family is only boring !

R-M : You've played in huge stadiums as an opening band for The Police, it must be difficult to go from a stadium to a small venue?
Joe : No the size of the venue is not the problem, the people are the important thing.

R-M : Isn't it difficult to play in a small venue?
Joe : That depends if the people are great or not !

R-M : You will play in Lille soon; have you exercised your "chti" ? In the north, people talk "chti" !
(then the interviewer tries to make Joe speak with the "chti" accent...and puts on a mix of a Police song and a FP song...)
Joe is the son of...

R-M : Are you the leader of FP ?
Joe : I'm the king of the world...!

R-M : So you initially played guitar in the group?
Joe : Yes because I wanted to be exactly like Kurt Cobain, but afterwards I discovered the bass was the best instrument for me and it is also easier.
I'm quite stupid and there are only four strings ! I'm a simple man !

R-M : Would you like to be as popular as Radiohead?
Joe : I'd like to make as interresting music as Radiohead ! They have made rock, jazz, trans, dance, they're crazy !

R-M : What do you talk about in the album? (LSOTB) Love ? War ? Drinking?
Joe : Yes on the album, there's a song called "drink"
When I drink too much, sometimes I'm the king, sometimes I'm just horrible, that's how it is !

R-M : Do you write all the songs?
Joe : I write all the lyrics and the music is a blend of us three.

R-M : Two of you live in London and one in the U.S. How do you prepare an album?
Joe : You just have to keep touring !
R-M : So you write your albums on tour?
Joe : Yes.

R-M : When FP got the opportunity to do the "stadium tour" with The Police, did you say yes straight away or did you ask yourselves if you should do it?
Joe : There was a time of hesitation. I prefer trying to make ourselves a name by playing our songs in small venues, in the street or in the metro.

R-M :When we see FP on stage, it really rocks. What do you prefer : the stage or the studio?
Joe : The stage because it's less scary.
R-M : Oh, really?
Joe : Yes because when you record in a studio, it is possible to rehear what you've recorded whereas a gig when it's over, it's over.

R-M : You're about to do a mini-tour where you go from Marseille to Paris and Lille. Is there a bigger tour coming afterwards?
Joe : Yes we go into the studio in February, afterwards we hope to play at the Olympia in Paris and make the biggest tour possible throughout France.

R-M : I had a good laugh because I thought you had done your studies in France, but infact, it's a girl who made you learn french !
Joe : Yes it's usually like that, isn't it ! But I only watch the girls !
R-M : But it seems to work pretty well with the girls : your french, your accent !
Joe : (laughing)

R-M : What are the names of the two other FP members?
Joe : Seton Daunt who plays the guitar and Pete Wilhoit, or Pété Wilhoit ! ("pété" in french = farting)
R-M : You say it but we don't ! (laugh)
It was nice to have you here today and we'll see you again in, let's say two or three years at Radiohead's place !
Joe : We hope so !

[michellepa]

I really enjoyed reading this! Thanks Marie and Bee for doing this for us!

And all this time I thought Joe was pretty fluent in French. Now I know he is just as confusing in French as he is in English!

[Marie GOY]

...my pleasure !!!
Big hugs to you all FP friends !
Marie xxx