Punky Tunes comes from France and they play a
really good sort of punkrock. This interview was
done in january-2024…
Tell me the short or the long story how you did
come together as a band?
Matthias: One could say we
are a Covid-lockdown-band
After
having finished a lot of videogames, watched
more movies than I can count, and left a
noticeable curve on my couch, I've decided that
it was the moment to do something, before
melting with the aformentioned couch! Starting a
punk band was something we had discussed a lot
with Loïc (guitar), which was my roommate at the
time, but words didn't translated into
actions... until that point! Since I previously
had an hardcore band with Matthieu (bass), I
asked him if he would be up to it, and he was!
Then, I randomly told Laurent (guitar) that we
had started a band with Matthieu and Loïc, and,
boom, a second guitarist appears! Loïc, who
plays in Beer Me Up with Giada, suggested she
could be our lead singer, since she plays bass
and does backing vocals in Beer Me Up. And that
was the first three years of Punky Tunes. Giada
and us parted ways since, and Marie is now the
new voice of the Punky Tunes!
Tell me a little about every member, age, work
and something bad about every one. Do you have
any other bands on the side of Punky Tunes?
Matthias: I used to play in
Hardcore bands (Nonsense, Make It Worse), Loïc
also plays in Beer Me Up (Pop-punk), Matthieu
plays in The Manky Melters and the Moorings
(Celtic-Folk-Punk), Matthieu and Laurent used to
play in Sparkling Bombs (Glam-rock) together,
and Laurent played in a lot of bands (Pitfall,
Ahimsa, Epsilon, Bridewell Hospital, Secretos
Del Corazon, Sparkling Bombs). Age-wise, we
cover a large spectrum in the band, but I'm not
gonna give any specific number
Let's
just say some of us are young, and some of us
are a little less young
You do a 7 Seconds cover on your record, do you
play any other covers?
Matthias: Actually, we
started as a cover band. It was probably the
fastest way to start to play music together. We
still have quite a few cover in our set,
depending on the length of it. We also released
"Take back the power (The Interrupters)", "True
Believers (The Bouncing Souls)", "Fall Back Down
(Rancid)" and "Living Daylights (Kid Dynamite)"
as singles. Our first 6-track EP with original
songs was released in early 2023 and we'll be
recording with Marie at the end of the year. The
next EP will be out in early 2024
I hear that you have influences of Rancid,
Interrupters, folkpunk etc?
Loïc : Actually, our main
influences come from the 90s & 2000s Punk-Rock &
Hardcore scenes. For Laurent, Matthias &
Matthieu, this is the music that they grew up
with as teenagers/young adults and they
(especially Matthias) made me dig in these
genres and I immediatly fell in love with it. So
yeah, Rancid is a big influence, The
Interrupters too, as they are from the “new
school of punk rock”. But there are so many
other bands and artists, it would require an
entire book to cite them all
Is Kanal Hysterik a good label? Have you done
anything more that you have released on record?
Matthieu: Yeah it’s a good independant label
that release mostly french punk bands records.
They go to many shows with their old-school
distro, selling vinyls and fanzines, we like
that. Steph and Moutch from the label also
promote shows and festivals (Solar Punk Fest).
What does punk mean to you , is it only music or
is it a life style? How have your thought about
punk changed through all the years you have been
in the movement?
Marie : For me, punk is a whole. My punk
lifestyle came with the music. As I discovered
punk, I encountered punk lovers, and there is no
denying most of them are closer to being “my
people” than in any other environment I’ve been
in. I’d say it’s about accepting yourself for
who you really are and giving as little f*cks as
you can, while respecting everybody around at
the same time, so everyone can grow together and
learn about each other and themselves. This is
my take on punk right now, based on the fact
that I recently joined the movement.
Laurent: Marie has just
wonderfully summed up the essence of my punk
philosophy & the punk rock music
I'd
just like to add that I have inside me the rage
that built this vindictive punk movement in
1977. Punk attitude is a protest movement and
will remain so as long as there is
discrimination.
Is there any good punkbands around in France
right now?
Matthias: The first that come to mind are Dead
Krazukies, P.O. Box for Ska-Punk, and of course
our friends in Escape!
Laurent: There's a scene in France like
everywhere else! There are 100% autonomous and
independent bands, but also bookers like ROCKIN'
DOGS BOOKING, KICKING BOOKING, our label KANAL
HYSTERIK or RAGE TOUR BOOKING who develop the
scene.
Do you have any Swedish favorites?
Matthias: I think I equally grew up on the
swedish Punk-Hardcore scene as on the american
one, if not more! Here are a few I like: 59
Times The Pain, Abhinanda, Adhesive, Another
Year, The Kind That Kills, Millencolin, No Fun
At All, Outlast, Section 8, Raised Fist, Randy,
Refused, Satanic Surfers, Skumdum, Venerea,
Within Reach. I've listened a lot to the
Hardcore For The Masses Vol. II compilation,
from Burning Heart records. Matthieu: Pretty
much all the bands from the labels like Burning
Heart, Bad Taste, Ampersand, Desperate Fight,
and also the glam punk bands like The Baboon
Show, Backyard Babies, Hardcore Superstar,
Hellacopters, Crucified Barbara, Babylon Bombs,
Crashdiet…
Laurent: the same bands as
Matthias and Matthieu
but
the Swedish HxC scene in the 90s was a
revelation for me.
Have you been here and played anytime?
Matthias: No, but I'd love to!
Matthieu: No but I was an exchange student in
Uppsala in 2005. I promoted a show at my nation
(Kalmar), Stockholm’s glam-pop-punk act “Starlett
Suicide”.
Loïc : No, but this is something I’d like to
check on my bucket list
Laurent: No but…
Pleaaassseeee!!!
How did the name came up? Which is your
favoritbandname alltime?
Loïc : The name came up as
we started as a simple punk rock cover band. We
play punk rock songs, punk songs, punky songs,
Punky Tunes! As simple as that
It’s
also a little allusion to the first album of
Millencolin : Tiny Tunes/Same Old Tunes
Could you feel that you have released a record
if you only put it out digitally?
Laurent: At first, yes, because that's what's
done today, but then you absolutely have to
release an object like a CD and especially a LP.
Do you buy much records yourself? Do you have
any recordstore left in your hometown?
Marie : I do buy records, I ask my friends to
gift some to me and it happens sometimes that I
bargain-hunt for some oldies. In Strasbourg
there are still 2 or 3 recordstores.
Loïc : I still buy LPs from bands at their shows
and sometimes in record stores. In our home town
of Sélestat there is one record store, we even
shot some parts of the Punky Family music video
there!
Laurent: I still buy a lot of LPs and I often
support bands by buying their records.
Are you listening to any other music than punk?
Any band you really like but you “shouldn´t”
like?
Matthias: I think that you
can find good bands in (almost?
every
genre. Starting from punk, I can go anywhere
from Ska to Metalcore I guess. I also listen to
Hip-Hop and Electronic music. As for my guilty
pleasure, let's say that there can be some
Frenchcore/uptempo late at night
Marie : I’d say I also listen to a lot of metal,
instrumental guitar and indie rock. I guess my
guilty pleasure is Elton John…
Loïc : I’ve been listening to a lot of Emo music
lately, from Midwest emo to Emo-Punk/Emo-Hardcore,
but I guess that you could put it into the
Punk/Hardcore spectrum still. I’m also a big fan
of Ska music, which causes a lot of desperation
to my music buddies ^^ And for my guilty
pleasure (even though Ska could already be
enough), I would say that Country music is the
answer.
Laurent: I listen to many
styles of music including punk rock, HxC, rock,
pop-rock, reggae, hip-hop, metal, rhythm and
blues, electronic music and i think Shakira is
my guilty pleasure
Which is your personal Punky Tunes favorite song
and which is the audience’s choice?
Matthias: I really like Posi Care Bears Anthem,
for its sing-along part, atypical structure, and
positive lyrics!
Marie : HomoPoliticus is my
favorite, very hardcore
Loïc : The aftermath
because it starts with a guitar solo
Laurent: HomoPoliticus
Which is…. the album which make you wanna do
music and play yourself?
Laurent: Minor Threat
How is it to live in France right now,
political, bad economy, racists etc?
Marie : Our society is increasingly adopting the
right-wing ideas, our politicians are suspected
rapists, racism and sexism are quite bad… It
looks like, as a society, we are not ready for a
real change, unfortunately. Some alternative
groups and movements are formed to combat the
social oppressions we suffer, but nationwide,
it’s not enough.
Laurent: We're not going in the right direction,
and that saddens me greatly because our society
is becoming increasingly radicalized.
If you have the chance to rule France for a
week, which have been the first thing you have
been changed?
Marie : I would’ve suppressed the idea of ruling
people.
Do you think that politics should be in music?
Which is your most political song?
Matthieu: Yes, I don’t agree with people yelling
that punk-rock/music should’nt mix with
politics. Art in general can help to spread the
word, and why not a with a political message. We
have a song called “Homo-Politicus”, and a new
song, to be released next year, called
“Eco-Anxiety”, talking about environment.
Loïc : To me, everything in art is political.
And to say that you don’t want to bring politics
in your art is a political statement. So, as
there are people listening to our music and
coming to our shows, we find it important to
spread our convictions which are : anti-fascism,
anti-sexism, anti-homo/transphobia, pro-feminism
and many more.
Laurent: if we talk about our society, it will
be necessarily a political discussion.
Best political band/artist?
Matthieu: Propagandhi
Laurent: Dead Kennedys with Jello Biafra and
Propagandhi
You sing mostly in English, why not in French?
Is it easier to write songs in English?
Matthias: I don't know if it's the same for
every language, but I think that songs in French
can sound really corny really quickly. Plus,
most of the music I listen to is in English, so
it was kind of an obvious choice when I started
writing lyrics. .
Do you have any new songs on it´s way?
Matthieu: Indeed, a new 6 tracks EP coming up.
It will be released in spring 2024.
Please tell me a little about the following
songs?
-Punky Family
Matthias: It's your typical punk-rock friendship
song!
-Posi Care Bears anthem
Loïc : This song is about taking care of other
people, and rejecting individualism
-Homo politicus
Matthias: This song deals with the excessive
ambition of politicians, who would promise you
anything, as long as they can gather votes from
it.
Future plans for the band?
Matthias: We're recording a new EP in a few
weeks, and of course, as much gigs as we can!
I do beer myself and I really like beer. You
haven´t any thoughts of doing a Punky Tunes
beer, if you do it what have it been called and
which type of beer would it have been? Or maybe
you´re straight edge?
Matthias: Haha, Drunky Tunes, maybe?
I
would go for a german Hefeweizen or an IPA.
Marie : Drunky Tunes is a VERY good name for a
beer. Love it. I’d love a white fruity beer.
Loïc : We’re only straight edge until 11 AM
Yeah,
Drunky Tunes is a good name, and I would also
propose “Posi Care Beers Anthem”. A mix between
an IPA and a white beer and a little bit acidic
would be the best for me.
Wisdomword?
Yoda: Do or do not, there is no try
Something to add?
Laurent: Thank you for your
very rich and pertinent questions, it was long
but we love it!
Thank
you very much. Love & respect!