Gaëtan Roussel and Arnaud Samuel form the rock group Louise Attaque. The group is back in stores and on platforms with a new single, Out of the ordinary. After the surprises of the anniversary concerts to mark the 25th anniversary of the release of their first eponymous album, Louise Attaque offers us a taste of her next album which will be released on November 4th.
franceinfo: How did you experience these concerts and the enthusiasm from the public because there were not enough dates?
Gaetan Roussel: But with happiness, with joy. What smiles. Tickets went out in minutes and people were there at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. At 7pm it wasn’t open, but at 9pm it was open again and they were there! So we received once again lots of smiles and therefore momentum.
It reassured you that, even if you weren’t very worried.
Arnaud Samuel: Yes, you are right, that reassured us. It also gave us energy, to be happy to be together again, to share that with the public who were present and who were festive. It was just a very nice birthday party.
We also realized how the first album had not aged a bit. Did you feel it, too or not?
Arnaud Samuel: What we felt was that it was coming back quickly. Playing it together, that, we had seen it a little when we were in rehearsals. But that changes everything as soon as we are “in situation”, as we say: black, room and the public is there. And what we felt was that people immediately started going again.
“On stage, it’s chemical, something is happening and that, we found it in our anniversary concerts.”
Arnaud Samuel, from the group Louise Attaqueat franceinfo
Out of the ordinary is the title of this first single. It’s an outstretched hand, I have the impression that it’s a bit of a hand on the shoulder with people, just to say: “Well, it’s not easy to be out of the ordinary on this planet. It’s not easy to find yourself“. Is it also a bit of a way to appease?
Gaetan Roussel: Getting out of the ordinary is a lot of things and it’s dreaming in particular. Of course, we all need this approach. If people find it in this song which is only moving forward, since in its form, this song is moving forward with this leitmotif: “Out of the ordinary”, that’s good, we are only asking for that.
Is that the DNA of Louise Attaque? There is no moralizing message.
Gaetan Roussel: You read my thoughts because I was going to say, especially not to be neither preachy nor giver of lessons. On the other hand, if we can accompany what we receive, it’s because people remember that they were in such and such a place when they listened to the record. So much the better if in a few years or now, they tell us: “I was there when Out of the ordinary came out, it made me think of this“We, what we are asking is that it be up to them, afterwards.
The full box of the first album was more than a dream for you. You didn’t even imagine yourself doing this to, and, earn a living and make a living from it.
Arnaud Samuel: It was our dream to start a band and make a living out of it, but like everyone else, not necessarily in a bigger way than that. We were very happy, for example, the first little tour we had done before the first album, it was in Italy and we said to ourselves: “Well, we are able to leave for a fortnight, play in bars, come back without losing money! It’s a good sign“.
Gaetan Roussel : Without winning either! I specify anyway.
You have grown enormously through this experience of bars, between the jukebox, billiards, even table football. This is where you built your live band identity.
Gaetan Roussel: When we started playing, our first desire was to go on stage, to experience that moment. And as soon as there was a place between table football and pinball, we went there and we were happy. Today, when you look at it, of course, you had to play two or three times for the bar to work a little bit. It’s part of what we came across. It forges.
You have each found your place. You already had it from the start, but I believe that you have never been so in osmosis with each other.
Gaetan Roussel: But that’s nice because when we decided to try the adventure of the fifth album, we gave ourselves a time and this allowed us to write different songs, including this one Out of the ordinary. And me, I have this impression that everyone has simply taken their place. There is Robin’s bass, Arnaud’s violin, a guitar, a voice, a text, drums, an arrangement. It’s not much after all and it takes its place quite simply. I hope that can be heard on the record. It was easier to find each other and bounce back, that’s the group.
And always being in the action because that’s also Louise Attaque’s DNA to always be in the action!
Arnaud Samuel: The albums are used for that, that is to say to take a picture at a given moment of what we know how to do. Gaëtan was talking about fitting together, that’s what was quite interesting to experience for the recording of this album and first of all for its composition. The goal is always that, because that’s how music simply lives. We talk about live, but yes, it’s true, it beats, it throbs on stage, together.