Tired of band ‘politics?’ Have a unique vision but need some help getting to the final product? North Pope Collective might be something for you to check into. They sent me an email recently and we exchanged messages about what they are up to.
Sebastien (of North Pope): We are a collective of artists from the North of France, more precisely from Lille, a city just near the Belgian’s border. The name is a direct reference to Sub Pop, but we included our roots from the North, and changed Pop to Pope as it suggests that we have a sort of wisdom. We are currently 7 in the collective (Arthur, Hugo, Charles, Thibault, Marc, Rowan and me, Sebastien), in which there are musicians but also videographers and graphists. Most of us know each other from a long time, especially because we were in bands together. As being in a band is sometimes a struggle due to different points of view, or the ego, we decided to create this collective. The goal is to make a lot of studio albums, without a specific genre, but with the help of the artist’s community inside the collective. We process as follows : A member brings his ideas (demos) and we help her/him to finish the songs. We also handle the communication after, as we create video clips and visuals for the EP/album.
The email also included this statement: Our main goal is to extend our network in order to attract musicians and videographers from all around the world, to do music with them for free. Your media could be a superb opportunity for us to be known in a different country. It would also be an honor to be part of your strong community.
I agreed that this sounds like a nice fit for Uncle Ears to grow with. It’s just the start of working together. Who knows where it might lead. My experiences are just beginning with this collective. I can’t offer any insight into what they do and who they are other than to make this post and getting going.
You might want to read more about North Pope here. (Use google page translate as needed.)
LINK: https://www.instagram.com/north_pope/
As for the music, North Pope have put out two EP’s in 2022. The first is called “Strange Times,” and the newest is called “Bungalow.” You can listen to both below, or go to the North Pope YouTube Channel to see single videos.
Sebastien shared about the creation of the “Strange Times” EP’s with us.
Sebastien: The “Strange Times” EP was my suggestion to the collective. I started to think about it during the curfews in France, we were locked inside our apartments and the future seemed very uncertain at this time.
I always dreamt about doing a record on my own but I didn’t really know where to start, as it was my first EP. What I was really sure about was the style that I was going to deal with: Coldwave. I spent all my teenage years listening to bands such as The Sound, And Also The Trees. Even recently, I was very amazed by the resurgence of the genre by Eastern European / Russian bands such as Ploho, Molchat Doma and so on.
The first song that came out was “Dark Towers.“ The very first version was something very close to Bauhaus as it is a major influence for me. By the time, it evolved and some other influences popped out such as The Chameleons, where you can hear this kind of vibe in their single “Don’t Fall”. I think it’s funny that this song has maybe the most “coldwave” instrumental of all the 4 songs on the EP, but the singing part transforms it into a more pop song. It deals with our day to day life.
For the second song, “Everyday Animals,” the main influence is Motorama. This song is a criticism of what happens in our society, especially with sexual harrassment and the fact that poeple who do that are rarely punished. I was helped by Hugo from the collective to do the singing part on this one.
The third song, “I’m Numb,” is something inbetween Editors and Interpol. We wanted to do a more dancing song on the EP, which also reminds of the style used by Molchat Doma. I really like this song as it goes straight to where you expect, simple lyrics, and moody guitars to depict images of a former love and melancholic mood. Hugo and Marc from the collective did the singing part.
Finally, the last song, “Dead Fish,” is a little bit more punk. We wanted to do a song that is more powerful for the end, but without getting away from the main style of the EP. I think that you can really feel that I’m a deep fan of Black Flag on this one, with unexpected notes and harsh guitar sound coming from nowhere. This song is a protest song against political abuse. While it has a nihilist point of view about the world, it wants you to motivate yourself to change it.
The singing part on the first and last songs are made by people who are not in the collective. I was interested in these singers for a long time and wanted a collaboration with them.
The EP is 11 minutes long and is distributed on the label Curved :
https://curvedlabel.bandcamp.com/music
We are currently working on a 6 tracks album which will be released next year. For now, we have already released a second EP, named “Bungalow.”
—Sebastien
UNCLE EARS is a music blog written by David Falk. davidrfalk@gmail.com David was born in 1962 and gravitates towards melodies, adventure, unsigned artists, fresh discoveries. He trusts his ear to know what it likes and loves sharing what he finds. He lives near Seattle, WA, USA.
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