What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.
– To listen to my mum singing and my cousins playing music as a small kid
– Douglas First is born 15 years ago as a way to put solo project tracks to life, and it took time to be really born as a band as it is now for 10 years. Douglas First songs are built for a band playing with the power of the instruments and the waves of the sound. We are lucky we found each other to play together, because finding good musicians is hard and even more to connect as friends at the same time. This is one difficult thing in music, as it is also in love, finding the partners in crime. So, we enjoy!
– We released 2 albums: “Tide” in 2014 and “Seeds” in 1016. “SOLAR”, coming on the 1st of june 2022, is the third
– We are an international band as we have 3 different nationalities:
Fabien: French Guitarist/singer (also member of “Who are you Lutra Lutra ??”)
Julien: French guitarist/pianist (also member of “Who are you Lutra Lutra ??”)
Selim: Turkish bass player
Marcel: German drummer
– We are a DIY band as we don’t have yet label and manager, and we succeed to organize Tours and play in Denmark, Germany, France, Australia the past 10 years
Provide us with some info about your latest release…
– SOLAR shows an evolution in our sound, with more dreamy parts but also jumpy rhythms. We went in some indie Studios in Berlin, which opened new music horizons. It has been recorded with our previous drummer and bass player, but this album is the symbol of a new start. As we never played it “Live” it allowed the new drummer and bass players to give their inputs and ideas, dive into Douglas First, and support those new tracks with their own personalities, which was essential.
Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?
– music-wise: Sofa Surfers (album “Sofa Surfers”) / Mono (Japanese progressive Rock, album “Rays of Darkness”) / We lost the Sea (album “Departure Songs”) / Jeff Buckley / Overhead
– non-music-wise: Berlin town / Love and sadness / Travelling
In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?
– First, we put our love and guts in the tracks and it drives our way. We don’t search to please or reach commercial standards. We are just happy when people like and come back to us touched by any way possible
– Second, we have such different styles of music inspiring us (post rock, indie folk, progressive rock, electro, trip hop) and we like to think our music is the result of this cocktail, offering a fresh feeling
– Third, our sound is hard to describe as we have quite some opposite styles in some songs. We are talking about rhythms and melodies. We like to surprise. Our sound changed in the last decade, but since 5 years, we found it and hope it translates well our intentions and energies
Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…
– Album: Departure songs (We Lost The Sea)
– Movie: The Big Lebowski,
– Book: The power of Now (from Eckhart Tolle)
Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?
– Live. Definitely. Studio has many amazing advantages as, the possibility to set up a cosy place for inspirational vibes to rise, physical comfort, and is welcoming composition and out of the box arrangements, but Live playing, you feel the energy coming from the crowd, you share this moment that will never be again with strangers that are no longer one for the whole time of the set. It is like allowing yourself to bond with a random person and offer him/her one of the most personal thing you could. It is about intensity and honesty. You feel naked and feel no fear, no shame, it is about letting go and be. That’s why probably it is addictive. So Live, without a doubt.
Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?
– Haha, yes of course there are quite some, as touring offers the situation for nice meetings but also hard or weird situations. It is hard to describe for most of them, as it is about the moment, but there are several.
For example, arriving to the biggest venue of our Tour in Australia (means it is quite a travel to go touring over there and big cost), and the guy ask us why we are there cause no concert happens that day… The booker just forgot to book our concert in their agenda and didn’t put any posters in town as planned, and so, we ended up still playing, in this 400 people venue, but with only 20 people in the audience. You can imagine the frustration and how happy we were, to play in front of an empty room, and also not having any income for the night, as it was supposed to be the biggest one on the Tour…
Another one in Australia, was insane. We just landed in Brisbane, and 24h after we land, they had the biggest flood ever. The flood area was as big France and Germany together, and 80% of our Tour dates were under water…. So, 8 month of preparation, booking venues, private concerts, hotels…. Gone 1 day after we arrived there. We ended up staying at a really good friend house in Airlie Beach for 2 weeks, and play one concert every night, renewing the audience every day. It was amazing encounters and crazy times. So, sometimes, shit happens, but it is possible to deal with it.
Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?
– Personally, and I can’t say for the other members, I would say “Boxi”. For several reasons.
The song is about Boxhagener Platz in Berlin which is the heart of the amazing suburb we all hang out in. It feels like home, wherever you are from.
It’s on our new album Solar.
Also, it is the only song I wrote the lyrics at 4 hands, and with my girlfriend, so it is special and it’s the song I take the most pleasure to play live, cause it has a great rock riff, some guitar dreamy parts, and the vocals goes from soft and grow to an explosion. It feels so good to let go my voice
Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?
– We have a Tour coming up in Denmark in July
– Recording a new album in 2023
– Getting some nice new videos as our team evolved
Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…
In which way would you describe what music has given you in life?
– Music can do so much. I can’t talk for my fellow partners in the band or for any other musician, but I think we all find some common things in it.
Personally, music has offered me a way to express myself that I never found in anything else. I can write down my feelings and it helps to deal with emotions and situations, good or hard. It can sometimes be as effective as a therapy, but without feeling the hard work to get there. It feels natural and logic.
I don’t know what my life would have been without music. I met half of my best friends doing so, and love. It is also the reason why I am now living in Berlin, and that move changed my life. So, in a word, music has been driving my life without asking for. It just did, and I’m glad.
Curated by: Christos Doukakis
Recommended listening:
.
.
Connect with Douglas First:
https://www.facebook.com/douglasfirstmusic