Punking it and popping it up today as we introduce French act Plastic Age…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Nevers, France.
How did you meet?
We met in secondary school after when Apolline posted an announce looking for band mates. We had our first rehearsal in Gaëlle’s garage in middle of a cold winter but the music warmed us all and so we get along ever since.
How long have you been playing as a band?
It has been seven years since we are playing together. We started when we were 15 and today we are 22. We carry the same lineup this matter makes us realise how time flies away!
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
The name of the band actually comes from The Buggles’ Living In The Plastic Age; the band which famously plays Video Killed The Radio Star. But it also takes roots from Wesley Ruggles’ The Plastic Age movie. By the way, we released a music video in which you can see us performing live and video cuts from this movie. We think that the name of the band speaks of nowadays situation given that we are literally living in a plastic age.
What are your influences?
They are numerous: Pixies, The Hives, The Jam, The Clash, Joy Division and so on.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We call ourselves “Pop Punk”. It’s a mixture of short but full of energy arrangements that’s punk on stage and of pop harmonic melodies.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
Apolline: I build my lyrics out of images, scenes, real or fictional. It’s all very cinematic which leaves a lot of room for interpretation from idea to text on paper. I try to make them very universal so anyone could make their own version of the world that’s described.
The recurrent themes are negative human behaviour, such as manipulation, lying, destruction and current affairs. Our songs speak about how we see the world on specific matters.
What’s your live show like? [ How many shows have you played? ]
It’s really intense and energetic.Our sets last between 45 minutes and one hour and we make it worth it. Our voices works are not left in the shadows. They reflect our music: Punk energy and Pop melodies. We also have an acoustic set for the most intimate and for some events.
We have played more than 150 shows.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
One day we were attending to our friends show from Johnny Mafia (Garage French band) when mid-set a drunk girl got on stage and started to hit cymbals and jump all over. They didn’t seem to worry so she went like this through the whole show. Really fun to witness.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Apolline plays on a Jaguar Fender bass guitar, Nicolas on an Casino Epiphone and Gaëlle on a DW Performance drum set. We also have some guitar effect pedals: chorus, reverb, boost, Wah, compression and distortion.
What are your plans for the rest of 2019?
2019 is almost done but this year marks our first trip to England. We’re set to leave in less than a week we can’t for it! We had a lot of live shows, our Blood Red Roses album went public and the critics loved it and many tracks are aired in France and England. We are currently working on a new album that will be out next year.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
For this kind of bill we would open for The Hives because we went to most of their concerts and they’re awesome. And we would choose Plastic Invaders to open for us, literally our “uncles” given that we already played together and that our styles blend perfectly during our “Plastic Nights”.
Plastic Age: official | facebook | bandcamp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0vudt5m8K4&feature=youtu.be
