Between rock, pop and song, Nicolas Paugam explores singular voices

He presents himself as a craftsman. On his records, Nicolas Paugam does everything on its own, or almost. He just concedes that he does not play the trumpet on his latest record, Father P. hadrone. The fourth in eight years. “I try to keep this rhythm of an album every two years. “

Free electron of the song, Nicolas Paugam, in his forties, sails between Paris, where he teaches the guitar, and the Ardèche, where he repairs an old house.

The first time we met his music, it was during the 1990s with Da Capo, a pop-rock group signed on Lithium, the label of the debut of Dominique A, from Diabologumby Mendelson.

If his brother Alexandre continues since the pop adventure (Da Capo released his 7^e album, Paradize, in February), Nicolas preferred the back roads, being passionate about gypsy jazz and especially tropicalism. “I have always been a fan of Brazilian music even if my roots are also pop and rock”, he sums up.

“My voice is a permanent work site”

His music is at the crossroads of all his influences – think of Pierre Barouh, Dick Annegarn or Pierre Vassiliu – carried by his very special voice. “My timbre is naturally frayed. My voice is a permanent job even if I don’t forbid myself anything with it. “

It is in this singular phrasing that lies, among other things, the charm of Nicolas Paugam’s songs. This is understood on The happy man, who opens his album in duet with JP Nataf. “He did several takes for that song and then on one he told me he was going to try to sing like me. This is the one we have chosen. “

The voice of the singer of Innocents takes on an unexpected color on this song with its chiseled text that evokes migrants with accuracy and without pathos.

It is also the Paugam brand: texts that tell sometimes light, sometimes poignant stories, which is not afraid to take on a political and social dimension while not denying a little surrealist touch.

With the rhythm section of Iggy Pop

On Master father, we meet a stammering gold digger, a funny mythomaniac gus, a vaccine story written before the pandemic … “I often prefer the ‘he’ to the ‘I’ to write something more universal. I start with a drum loop to then improvise on the guitar and I let my subconscious speak for the lyrics without necessarily seeking harmony. “

Songs that Nicolas Paugam wishes less talkative and more energetic, he who does not hide his desire to do “A good French rock record”. He sketches it in Master father with compositions like The Dark Rivers. Rock, his concerts should be since he will be surrounded on stage by Thibaut Brandalise and Kenny Ruby, nothing less than the rhythm section of Iggy Pop !

A companionship that does not frighten Nicolas Paugam. He has been winding his way through music for years without having as much success as the Iguana. “But we are never safe from a hit”, he smiles. Some nuggets of Master father well deserve it.

Master father, Syncop’s Records / Inouïe Distribution, 12 tracks, 46 min.

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