We get to know a little more about London based artist FANCHON, read on to learn more about her....
I stumbled upon a track called ‘Rsm Smile’ (Out Now) by a London based artist going by the name Fanchon. I listened to it and liked it….a lot, so we decided to get in touch to see if Fanchon would be up for an interview feature on the site, she said yes and here we are….
Read on to learn more about her musical upbringing (her father sounds like one cool motherf*cker), how she came to acquire her first guitar, her approach to writing music, her live music setup, her dream festival lineup and goodness knows what else!
Grab yourself a beer/brew and get comfy as this is a good one!
We know a bit about you…..we know you’re called Fanchon, we know you’re based in London and we know that your latest track is called ‘Rsm SMiLE’, tell me something that you’ve never told an interviewer before….
I have never yet told an interviewer that ‘Rsm’ stands for ‘Really Super Massive’ and that the song is about deciding you don’t owe people a good or bad mood, you can just be whatever you want to be in that moment ! I got tired of being told I looked better or worse when I smiled, it shouldn’t be in question!
The song writing element of Fanchon consists of yourself on vocals, song writing and guitar and Frazer Holloway on drums, production and song writing, tell me how you got together in the first place….
We met at university! Frazer mastered and recorded drums for some of my first songs. We realised we had a super similar taste in music and way of creating so we naturally just started collaborating on the writing too.
How was your song writing before Frazer came onboard?
I didn’t really start writing my own music until university, so the first years I was very much still learning the craft. I believe there’s a lot of unavoidably bad stuff you have to get out of your system before you can be comfortable enough to experiment with something of your own. I think maybe when I first started I overthought it a little bit, in terms of what I thought I should sound like as opposed to what flows naturally and what I am passionate about creating.
How would you say it has changed since you’ve been working together?
I’m way more inspired to try out different things, melodically and stylistically. When I write on my own I always do lyrics first, then melody and then I’ll find an accompaniment and build up the other instruments in my head. So when I’m working with the instrumentation to begin with, it flips my usual process around and I have so much more to bounce off of.
How does it work when you play live? Are there other musicians involved?
The name is perhaps slightly deceiving in the sense that I am a ‘solo artist’ but I care so much about it feeling like a band. When we play live I’m on vocals and guitar, Frazer is on drums and we’ve got a lead guitarist (Vittorio) and a bassist (Ewan).
Do you tend to call upon the same musicians every time or do you chop and change?
I reckon this line-up will stick for a while. Again, it’s really important to me for it to be a band and not just a solo artist with her musicians. Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all! It’s just that I grew up dreaming about rock bands and the sense of music ‘scenes’ and the music definitely lends itself to it.
Would you say that you’re from a musical family? If so, who played what?
Music was a huge part of my childhood, my dad’s especially passionate about it so there was always something playing in the house and we’d talk about it all the time. I loved watching my grandmother at her piano and my grandfather play guitar. I’d say we’re a musical family in that it’s always considered as something important and special.
If you were asked to choose the 3 headliners for next year’s Glastonbury Festival, who would you choose?
I wish I had been around to see Led Zeppelin in their time, and Daft Punk ! I’m also a huge fan of Grimes, her shows always look sick.
What is your earliest musical memory?
I lived in France until I was 6 years old, I have such vivid memories of the music we were listening to there. I remember this long road that would go up and down like a rollercoaster and had huge trees towering over on both sides (although that’s probably more of a testament to how small I was and hence, how huge everything felt in comparison). My dad would put the windows down and the volume high. It would always be The Pixies, RHCP, Gorillaz or The Strokes.
At what age did you get your first guitar?
I ‘stole’ an acoustic guitar from school when I was 14 years old. As in, I convinced them to let me borrow it for a long weekend which ended up lasting about two years.
Do you remember the first song you played on it?
The reason I took the guitar home was to teach myself to play ‘You’ by The Pretty Reckless so I could sing to it. It’s a 2 chord song…
What about your first ever musical purchase (CD/Vinyl) – What was it, do you still have it and do you still play it?
I remember spending hours looking for new music on Youtube, putting down names on a sticky note so that I could then go buy the albums, which was a great system until I wrote ‘F*** you’ (by Lily Allen) and left it on my parent’s desk. I didn’t quite master the English language yet at that point! My first vinyl was a gift from my drum teacher ! An old EP from his Polish punk band. I don’t have a turntable with me here, sadly, but I know it’s the first thing I’ll play when I get one.
What about your first live gig (as a ticket holder) who did you see, where was it, who did you go with and what do you remember of the show?
My first concert was Taylor Swift at the O2 in London, during her ‘Speak Now’ era. I drew a portrait of her that I thought I could casually hand her at some point and wore a dress because I had read in a magazine that she always liked people who were wearing dresses, I thought maybe we’d become friends. So yes I was very young, my dad took me with a classmate.
If you had to categorise your music, where would you find it in the racks at your local record shop?
I would be stoked to find it in the alternative rock / post-punk racks maybe next to Nothing But Thieves and Deftones... Depending on the release I reckon it could fit next to Lana Del Rey too.
We’re coming to yours for dinner, what are you going to cook us (3 courses please)
I am so sorry to admit I am the least foodie person on Earth. I’d love to have you over but I suggest we order some takeout. I just don’t like spending time on food. Besides, I’ve got a massive sweet tooth so I’d probably order 2 deserts and coffee.
Your influences range from grunge and alternative rock (The Strokes, Sonic Youth, Hole) to the wonderful abstract vocal tones of Lana Del Rey, what is it about these bands and artists that you enjoy so much?
I am in utter awe of Lana’s ability to construct vocal melodies. I also love how she manages to cover these mundane, messy topics with such elegance and glamour. She’s one of my go to artists if I feel like singing my heart out. The grunge and alternative rock side is because those are the bands that make me feel the most, instrumentally. That’s the music I’ve always been most obsessed with. I guess my main artistic intention is to create something that has that emotive, melodic sensibility with a heavy energetic backdrop.
Are there any new bands out there that you’re particularly enjoying at the moment?
I’m so into Pretty Sick at the moment, you should check out ‘She’ and ‘Dumb’ off her latest album or ‘Allen Street’ from the previous. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Nothing, Sasami and Blood Cultures.
As you both enjoy different styles of music, do you ever disagree on how a song should sound?
To be honest I trust Frazer’s music taste and abilities enough. If he has a different idea then I’m always interested in seeing how he makes it work. I’m still figuring out the creative process myself. Sometimes when I’m writing I can see where I want the song to end up so clearly that the process of transferring that from out of my head into something tangible and available for other people can make me very anxious. In the past it made me freeze if I wasn’t sure enough that every little step was in the ‘right’ direction which is completely counterproductive and not how art works at all. This hasn’t really been an issue with the new music, I’ve really just enjoyed seeing where it naturally goes. I think the skeleton to a good song can be shape-shifted into so many completely different worlds and textures and transcend just the same, the ‘genre’ is just one tool.
Who normally wins the argument?
If there ever was an argument I kind of have to tell you that I would win it. Just to affirm my stubbornness and back myself.
Is there such a thing as the ‘Perfect’ album, if so, what is it and why?
Yes, I guess so, but only if this definition of perfect is not exclusive to only one album and leaves room for a lot of imperfection as part of its concoction. It would have to be something with a brutally vulnerable narrative, containing both wall of sound and stripped back moments, something authentic but familiar… To be honest I can think of a few contenders, ‘Pleasure’ by Feist for one. Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’, Violent Soho’s ‘Hungry Ghost’… I need to stop myself now or I will go on for days.
‘Rsm SMiLE’ was recorded and produced in Frazer’s home studio, have you considered going into a recording studio to record any future tracks? If so, which one would you use?
Definitely imaginable for the future. I’d love to do a full band recording session, get a few songs down in a few days, the way the bands I love did it. I think we’ve got some ideas for where!
I’ve seen a few reviews on your site for ‘Rsm SMiLE’, do you find it interesting when reviewers pick up on the little things that maybe you haven’t thought about?
Yes I love it, it’s so cool! I write a lot of poetry as well and in the same way as lyrics, sometimes it all just floods out and I’m not really sure what it objectively means to me right away. It’s so interesting to see how other people relate to it or the connections they make. Sometimes they point out something that I didn’t even notice I did.
Now that the world is starting to get back to some form of ‘normal’, do you have any live shows planned?
We’re starting to book some dates now, yes. One of the ones I’m most excited for is my friend’s event company called Fernweh putting on a comeback gig that we might get to play at. The concept behind it is so exciting but I’m not sure I can say anything more for now. Stay tuned!
Any festivals pencilled in for 2022 that you can tell us about?
I’ve lived in England 4 years now since I moved back on my own and I have yet to witness the true British festival experience, I’ve only ever gone to a day at a time! And I’m a real festival addict, I’ve camped out at a lot of European ones. My favourites so far have been Open’er in Poland and Werchter in Belgium. Hopefully in a few months’ time I can tell you I’ve got one UK festival weekend ticket in the bag, at least.
Which of the many social media channels are best to keep up to date with your musical happenings?
I’m pretty active on my Instagram, but if it’s a big announcement you’ll find it on my Facebook and Twitter too. You can find me as ‘xfanchonx’ everywhere! I sometimes put up some unreleased demo style tracks or covers on my SoundCloud and YouTube too if you’re interested in that sort of content.
So what’s next for Fanchon?
We’ve got so much material in the works, I’m really excited to keep playing around with the sound and getting the songs out one by one. I’m also focusing on strengthening our live thing right now, I’d love to be gigging more regularly. I think it’s so important to enjoy where you’re at and I’m passionate about doing things with a ‘DIY’ ethos for now. To learn as I go and trust that the level develops organically as I keep putting in consistent work and meeting cool people.
Finally, would you rather be able to talk to animals or be the best guitar player on the planet?
Undoubtedly, I would rather be the best guitar player on the planet. I love animals but I am way too introverted to have a couple million more voices speaking to me, I can barely handle the amount of humans out there. Besides, nothing beats a good shred!
We’d like to thank Fanchon for sparing the time to chat to us and we wish her all the very best for the future.
You can keep up to date with her and her music at the following social media sites;