Tom Leins gets the low-down from Le Chat Noir frontman Teddy Hesper…

Tom: For the uninitiated, how would you describe Le Chat Noir in 5 words?
Teddy: Frantic rock and roll madness!

Tom: What or where is the Silver City?
Teddy: When you come from a fairly well-off, privileged background it's disingenuous to pretend you've suffered like the old blues musicians who inspire so many modern, white, middle class bands. When we first began writing for the album, I decided that the only way I could write something that was true to myself and heartfelt was to approach the album as though I were writing a film, or a collection of short stories - as time went by, the idea of Silver City grew. It's a mish-mash of different influences, part Wild West frontier town, part neo-gothic film noir cityscape. Because it's a fictional place, I had real fun being able to mix and match styles and ideas from a broad spectrum of influences. I guess it the same way old blues guys were inspired by their experiences, so am I - I've spent years reading all kinds of fiction, watching films, travelling and

exploring other cultures, so Silver City came about due to that.

Tom: What effect – if any – does living in your part of the Westcountry have on your music?
Teddy: The main thing is that being out on Dartmoor has kept us quite isolated from current musical trends - because we don't listen to the radio or watch music television we aren't really part of a scene. Hopefully that has made our music a bit different to everything else that's around!

Tom: Which other Devon bands do you rate particularly highly at the moment? What are your thoughts on the local scene in general?
Teddy: We've recently discovered quite a few bands who have really impressed us - Leon Fazy and Supenik especially, they're both hard lo fi bands like ourselves. It's really encouraging to find other bands who share your ethos and ideas!

Tom: There are echoes of The Kills formation in your own Transatlantic origins – are you fans of theirs?
Teddy: We do like The Kills - they've got great attitude and it's cool to see other duos spanning the Anglo-American divide! A lot of the people who have got really into our music are big fans of the Kills, we're probably a bit heavier than them but it's not a comparison we'd take offence at!

Tom: You seem keen to distance yourselves from White Stripes comparisons: is it the band themselves, or just the lazy comparisons that you’re not particularly enamoured with?
Teddy: I think our major problem with White Stripes comparisons is that if you took someone and sat them in a room and just played our music and the White Stripes to them, they wouldn't say we were similar - we're much heavier and I like to think our lyrics are a bit darker and deeper. Too many people make value judgments based on appearance instead of listening properly. Although we appreciate the importance of image in getting people's attention, it's always the music that comes first for us. It's been quite encouraging getting out and playing live, because actually a lot of people have come up to us and said they were expecting us to sound like them but were pleasantly surprised! Also, Eileen is a bit of a secret weapon for us - because people are used to Meg's 'minimalist' drumming, when Eileen comes out and plays incredibly hard they sit up and take notice!

Tom: If you could sign to any record label – past or present – which one would you choose?
Teddy: I'd love to have been a part of 4AD in its heyday, alongside Pixies and Throwing Muses - they're two of the bands that have influenced me most, and it would've been great to have worked alongside them. I really like the instantly recognisable aesthetic to 4AD artwork of that period too.

Tom: Who would be your dream producer?
Teddy: Eileen would love to work with Stephen Street, who is most famous for working with The Smiths and Blur, two of her favourite bands. I'd probably go for John Leckie - he worked with Radiohead on The Bends, and I think that album is really well produced.

Tom: If you had to have the name of any band tattooed on you, which band would it be, and where?
Teddy: Eileen would get the Super Furry Animals logo on her forearm - to be honest, I don't think I'd get any, I like my skin the way it is, I'm not really a tattoo kind of person! perhaps 'Le chat Noir' on my arm, but I think it's a bit cliched when bands have their own names on them!

Tom: Who would you rather go for a Kentucky with – Jesus, Elvis or Nick Cave?
Teddy: We're not fans of fast food at all so I guess we'd take Elvis in his later years - he'd probably be able to eat enough for all 3 of us and we could sneak off for some proper food!

Tom: And, finally: Who is your favourite band beginning with L (apart from Le Chat Noir)?
Teddy: It's a toss-up between several bands - we really like Led

Zeppelin, Louis XIV are great, and Eileen's also a big fan of The Living End. We also have been known to stick on some Love once in a while, I was really lucky to see them at All Tomorrow's Parties one year whilst Arthur Lee was still alive. And speaking of 'L' bands, Le Tigre also played the same festival - we love to dance around to them!

Review & Interview by Tom Leins
www.myspace.com/chatnoirband