Once again, we're really happy to be able to highlight another promising French rock band. Meet Darwells, a rock band from Lyon, France, who has just revealed a debut single, titled “Love Ya”!
[caption id="attachment_202748" align="alignnone" width="700"] Picture by Adrien Rossero[/caption]
Hey Darwells! For those who might discover your band via this interview, would you mind introducing yourselves?
Hello everybody, we are Darwells, a french rock band from Lyon. Our music is inspired by the music from the US, amps are loud, the rhythm section beats and grooves like never before. The flexible and robust voice - in English - allows the compositions to fully flourish. We are four musicians: Paul Esteve (vocals and guitar), Florent Pillon (guitar), Leo Zandomeneghi (bass) and Pierrick Plantevin (drums), but most importantly, we are four friends who share their love for music through this project.
What are your thoughts on the French rock scene ?
Even though rock music is not well represented in the french charts, there are a lot of great bands in our country. Some bigger bands like Shaka Ponk, Last Train, Skip the Use, help to represent this style in the media. But if you look closer, there is a very active underground scene, with a huge offer in punk rock, alternative and indie. We hope it will grow!
You've just revealed your debut single, “Love Ya”. A song that deals with the difficulty of showing one's feelings and saying I love you in any relationship. Does this song draw on personal experience?
Yes of course, we like to talk about topics that move us. And it’s true, it is hard to show your true feelings sometimes. I guess there is always a difference between what you feel and what you show, and for us, music is the best way to express ourselves without filters.
This song is taken from your upcoming EP, set to be released in October. How long have you worked on the EP?
This EP had been quite a long journey. After our first EP in 2020, we moved to Lyon to take the band a step further. For almost three years, we learnt how to be a band, we worked very hard on ourselves and our music. Our upcoming EP is the result. The first drafts were made in 2020, and some songs like “Love Ya” took us a very long time to finish. Not only was music an issue, but at the same time we were discovering a whole new world: the music industry.
We are very proud of the result, and we can’t wait to see what will happen next. But we can say one thing, it will not take us three more years to present the following.
How would you describe your writing process for this EP? How do you split the roles within the band?
When we are composing, we are always in the same room. Most of the time, Paul comes up with an idea like a melody or a hook and then we work on it to make it sound like Darwells. It’s like a little democracy, as long as everyone is not happy, we keep working. This process can be long, but in the end, it’s always worth it.
I noticed on your socials that you are often playing shows. Is there one show that really stood out to you? If yes, which one and why?
For us, to play live is vital. Rock music is meant to be performed live. Last year, we were lucky to be able to play a lot of gigs, and most of the time, we like to be “outsiders”. For example, last summer, we got to play the first part of the french pop artist Louane, who has a style drastically different from ours. It was a great show. The audience was not into rock music at first, but at the end, we managed to drive them into our universe, there is no such pleasure.
The last words are for you. If you have any other projects in the making or a message to convey, here's your chance!
Follow us on our socials, we share the life of the band and the upcoming releases. We hope to see you soon at one of our shows, the tour will continue after this summer with a show at "Rock n eat" in Lyon August 30th.
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