Ahead of the release of their debut album, The Decibel Decoder spoke to Thibault Moucron of Parisian based chest. The quintet created a stir in the UK with their appearance at Rockaway Beach festival in January, and went on to play sold out shows in Brighton, London and Bristol in May. Their debut album, Happy, Broken will be released via Howlin’ Banana on 16 October.
Congratulations on your debut album Happy, Broken. It follows the EP All Goods Things End which was released in 2025. Could you start by sharing how you approached creating the album?
We were in a studio where I work called La Frette Studios, and we started to record some songs that we had in mind. And at the end of this session, we were thinking about writing an album because we found a new colour for music, something more industrial, more maybe electronic, so we started to write some songs with this kind of idea. We planned to release the album before we’d finish writing all the songs! I think it was around February this year we realised that we had three months left to deliver the album, and we hadn’t written half of it! So we took a rabbit hole and went for it, and took maybe a month to write the six songs we had left to do. Yeah we just jumped into the rabbit hole and tried to make the best of it.
And how was that? Was it really stressful or did it actually help to focus?
At the beginning it was really stressful. We were just freaking out. But at the end, in the last week, I think it was really cool because we almost found like the direction we wanted to have, so we just followed the road, and I think we just found a way to do it easily and which we enjoyed.
From what I understand you’re very collaborative. Do you all work on the music, lyrics and production?
It really depends on the songs. Most of the songs at the beginning come from an idea by Pierre Louis (bassist). He’s doing a lot of demos on his own, and he sends us them. Sometimes just a riff, but we take the riff and share it and try to jam on it till it’s a song at the end. We usually start with the music, but sometimes Elliot (lead singer) comes with some ideas pretty quickly on some songs. We mix the vocal melody and music together to create the song from the beginning to the end. The first song on the album (‘Everyone Learns To Leave Quietly’) we wrote it during a night in the studio. I think it took two hours to do it. We had an idea at the beginning and, I don’t know how to explain, but just by adding some stuff and at the end we were like: “Wow, fuck! It’s a song. This works”, and so it came together really quickly.
Some songs are really magical like this, and some take a lot of time to finish, but usually it’s teamwork each time. Even for the mixing of the songs, I did it with Alexis (guitarist), who is also another sound engineer, and Pierre Louis, who is a sound engineer too. So we did some sessions together, the three of us, just like listen to the songs and doing some stuff. So yeah, it was really collaborative between the five of us.
Listening to the lyrics, it seems they’re quite personal, reflecting on the self and dealing with the challenges of the world at this time. It’s contemplating that from the individual’s point of view. Would that be right?
I think so. I think Elliot will have his own ideas on this question because he’s writing the lyrics. But most of the times he’s talking about his personal experiences, and he has a lot of, how to explain, trouble with his mind and everything, so he likes to react on it. It helps him to process all the bad things he has in mind, and he’s also really into political stuff. So I think he writes a lot about his personal feelings. And don’t know if the lyrics are really universal, but I think it can talk to a lot of people, to identify with him in his lyrics.
I have to admit my favourite track on the album is ‘Roger Roger’. The pulsating industrial sound, plus the speed of the song and Elliot’s impassioned vocals. It’s got an edge, but is totally accessible at the same time. Can you share a little about the track?
Actually it was one of the tracks that we didn’t write until the last week of the session. So we did this one pretty quickly, but there’s something impulsive on it because of the way it was written, I think. And what you said is really interesting because it’s kind of the whole purpose of our music. We want to have something rough and industrial, but still keep in mind that we want melodies and choruses and something that people can sing and which you can dance to. So yeah, it’s really pleasant to hear this because it’s like the whole purpose of what we’re doing.
I did want to ask you about Supersonic (the iconic independent music venue in Paris) because I know it’s very important in your band’s story. Did you all meet while working there?
Most of us, yes. And actually, there’s a funny story about our meeting because Nico (guitarist), and me we were in in high school together, and we did our own things after high school. We met once again five years later at Supersonic, during an after party. We didn’t talk for five years and we just met at this place. There’s something really special about this place for most of us. I think it’s almost a second house because we spend a lot of time over there working or just having parties. And the other thing, I don’t really think that we thought about it, but most of us were looking for a job and we didn’t find something. Nico and Elliot, they had a job before that they didn’t really like, and Supersonic gave them another way of earning their money and making something that they like, working in music industry. So, I think it’s something really special because it’s not only somewhere you work or somewhere you have beers or whatever. It’s also a place that gives us a job and security because of earning money in a way that we like. Same thing for me, Alexis and Pierre Louis because we were looking for a job as a sound engineer. It’s not that easy in France to get a job as a sound engineer, and Supersonic give us the chance to work as sound engineer. So yeah, it’s all these different things. That’s where we have all our friends too.
In addition you have bands touring and coming to play Supersonic and that has added to your community as well.
Yeah I think it’s a big help for us because we met a lot of friends over there, and they are great bands. Like Nerves, we all met them at Supersonic, and became friends, and then they welcome us in their cities, and it’s really pleasant to go to another country, and you know you have friends over there who you can rely on. Yeah, it’s really cool.
I read an interview that you did in Noize Magazine, where you shared that you’d started the band as a bit of fun, and it gained momentum quite quickly, and then all of a sudden you realised you had to pay a little more attention! I know there’s a big punk scene in France, but do you think having Elliot (the lead singer who is English whereas the rest of the band are French) make you a little bit different?
Yeah, Elliot is a big gift for us, if I can say. I don’t want him to to hear that, but he is English and he has a really good accent, and usually it’s something that is missing in French bands. I know most of the international people don’t really care about the accent in English, but strangely in France it does matter. I don’t know why, but I think it opens some doors for us in a strange way internationally. Playing in England was kind of easy because, as I said before, we have friends over there, and Elliot can talk really easily with people over there. It’s kind of a trick we have, for sure.
I know you’ve a handful of live dates in England in November ( 10 – Leeds at Wharf Chambers, 11 – Manchester at The Rat & Pigeon and 12 – London at Sebright Arms as part of The Great Escape Festival’s “First Fifty” showcase) and then in France. Are there plans to tour more next year?
Not sure if everything is really planned yet, but we do have some gigs for next year. We do have some ideas for next year, but I won’t say anything for now because nothing is really precise.
In Noize Magazine you also mentioned that you’re big fans of Fontaine’s DC. What is it about the band that you love so much?
I think it really depends on each of us. For me, I think I discovered them with A Hero’s Death album, so maybe 2020, something like that. This album was really cool for me. I don’t know how to explain it. There was something really interesting about it because, kind of the same thing with The Cure, you know, it’s something which is not explosive but really powerful and really tense at the same time. I listened to it on loop for two years, I think, and then they released Skinty Fia, and it was mind-blowing for me because I was expecting this shoegaze album. I think it’s the only band I can listen to on a loop for years and years and years without being annoyed by it. And then last year, I met Carlos, one of the guitarists, in my studio in Paris, and we worked together on an album, and he’s one of the most generous guys you can meet. He’s so cool and has some cool ideas on sounds and everything.
So you worked together?
Yeah, just me and Carlos for Dead Dad’s Club, the band of Chilli Jesson. So we worked on the album with Chilli and his band. Carlos was producing the album so we were together for two weeks maybe. He came back for another album with another band maybe four months ago. It’s really cool to work with him because I was a real fan of his band before and now we’re almost like colleagues!
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