July 11, 2020

Rachelle Plas interview

Rachelle Plas interview
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Season 1 Diatonic Harmonica Blues Harmonica Female Harmonica Player Pop Harmonica Rock Harmonica

Rachelle Plas is a French player who learnt her craft at an early age in group lessons provided by Greg Zlap in Paris. She won various competitions at French music festivals which led on to her touring Europe and beyond with her band. After making a splash at the World Harmonica Festival in Germany, Rachelle became the face of Hohner’s Golden Melody harmonicas. She has gone on to record two albums since, with her fusion of blues, soul, pop, rock & electro bringing her fast flowing harmonica style to a new and younger audience.

Select the Chapter Markers tab above to select different sections of the podcast (website version only).

Rachelle's website:
https://www.rachelleplas.com

Rachelle's boutique store, where songs and teaching material can be purchased:
https://www.rachelleplas.com/victoryswaymusic-boutique-store


YouTube videos:
Hohner Masters of Harmonica:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z_DrIDsQSw

SBW I’ve Got To Go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd43fxbelFI

Orange Blossom Special:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajrNA6sPoDM

Mellow Down Easy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwXt3Tj377A


French Harmonica Players:
https://www.planetharmonica.com/Ressources/FrenchHarp/FrHarpUK.htm


Podcast website:
https://www.harmonicahappyhour.com

Donations:
If you want to make a voluntary donation to help support the running costs of the podcast then please use this link (or visit the podcast website link above):
https://paypal.me/harmonicahappyhour?locale.x=en_GB

Spotify Playlist:
Also check out the Spotify Playlist, which contains most of the songs discussed in the podcast:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5QC6RF2VTfs4iPuasJBqwT?si=M-j3IkiISeefhR7ybm9qIQ

Podcast sponsors:
This podcast is sponsored by SEYDEL harmonicas - visit the oldest harmonica factory in the world at www.seydel1847.com  or on Facebook or Instagram at SEYDEL HARMONICAS
and Blows Me Away Productions: http://www.blowsmeaway.com/

Support the show

01:37 - Rachelle’s roots and Paris

03:18 - When Rachelle started playing harmonica

05:01 - Other instruments Rachelle played when young

05:58 - Lessons with Greg Zlap

08:43 - Rachelle forms first band

09:18 - JJ Milteau

10:49 - Rachelle’s first gig

11:26 - Won competitions

14:00 - First album ‘Profile’

14:33 - Appearance at World Harmonica Festival

15:44 - Rachelle becomes Hohner endorsee

16:23 - Judge at competition at WHF

16:36 - Rachelle is on packaging for Hohner Golden Melody

17:38 - Judo champion

21:56 - Toured around Europe, Canada & Thailand

23:33 - Summer camp in London

24:28 - Second album Cyclone

25:30 - Third album soon to be released

31:08 - Open Your Eyes single

34:05 - Hohner United In Sound videos and tuition videos

35:20 - Orange Blossom Special

37:08 - Stevie Wonder influence

37:33 - I Got To Go and Mellow Down Easy

38:54 - Other influences

39:22 - Female harmonica players

41:53 - Rachelle’s playing style

43:01 - How to play fast

44:44 - Improvising

47:07 - Hairstyle

47:59 - Chromatic harmonica

48:49 - 10 mins question

49:37 - Harmonica of choice

50:46 - Favourite key of diatonic

51:07 - Different tunings

51:32 - Overblows

52:15 - Embouchre

52:31 - Amps and mics

55:01 - Effects pedals

55:39 - Future plans

WEBVTT

00:00:01.697 --> 00:00:05.485
Hey everybody and welcome to episode 16 of the Happy Hour Harmonica podcast.

00:00:06.027 --> 00:00:12.680
Once again, thanks to my sponsor, the Lone Wolf Blues Company, makers of effects pedals, microphones and more, designed for harmonica.

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Remember, when you want control of your tone, you want Lone Wolf.

00:00:16.530 --> 00:00:20.358
Please remember to subscribe to the podcast and also check out the Spotify playlist.

00:00:21.794 --> 00:00:23.214
Rochelle Plass joins me today.

00:00:23.795 --> 00:00:28.920
Rochelle is a French player who learned her craft at an early age in group lessons provided by Greg Slap in Paris.

00:00:29.560 --> 00:00:35.024
She won various competitions at French music festivals, which led on to her touring Europe and beyond with her band.

00:00:35.685 --> 00:00:42.051
After making a splash at the World Harmonica Festival in Germany, Rochelle became the face of Holner's Golden Melody Harmonicas.

00:00:42.572 --> 00:00:52.357
She has gone on to record two albums since, with a fusion of blues, soul, pop, rock and electro, bringing her fast-flowing harmonica style to a new and younger audience.

00:01:30.626 --> 00:01:33.867
So hello, Rachelle Plass, and welcome to the podcast.

00:01:34.048 --> 00:01:34.652
Hello, Neil.

00:01:34.832 --> 00:01:36.524
Thanks a lot for the invitation.

00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:38.891
Starting out a little about yourself.

00:01:39.111 --> 00:01:41.453
You're French and you currently live in Paris.

00:01:41.914 --> 00:01:43.516
Yes, that's right.

00:01:43.835 --> 00:01:46.438
My birthplace is in Normandy.

00:01:46.718 --> 00:01:50.001
My family comes from there and a little bit from Brittany too.

00:01:50.462 --> 00:01:51.343
I live in Paris.

00:01:51.362 --> 00:01:58.808
It's the most important places for concerts and musical activities and a central point for all of this.

00:01:59.088 --> 00:02:07.335
And we are making our performances in France and of course in other countries, in Europe and all around Yeah,

00:02:07.656 --> 00:02:09.799
I've been to Paris many times myself.

00:02:10.038 --> 00:02:13.282
I went to the Sunset Jazz Club last summer.

00:02:13.562 --> 00:02:16.205
Yes, that's really a mythic place.

00:02:16.246 --> 00:02:22.331
I did a concert there a few years ago and it's a really lovely and nice jazz club.

00:02:22.673 --> 00:02:27.638
Did you move to Paris for the music or did your family take you there when you were younger?

00:02:27.657 --> 00:02:27.698
No,

00:02:28.679 --> 00:02:33.784
we were living 100 kilometers from Paris, so it's really close.

00:02:34.004 --> 00:02:43.241
We always went there on weekends to visit museums and cultural places for music and every art.

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There's a lot of things to do and see for the cultural life in Paris.

00:02:48.189 --> 00:02:50.975
So that's what we love.

00:02:51.135 --> 00:02:55.784
Even for French persons, Paris is great for tourism, I think.

00:02:56.481 --> 00:03:05.078
So I want to talk a little about the French blues scene, and particularly there's some very good French harmonica players, which maybe some of the listeners won't be so familiar with.

00:03:05.157 --> 00:03:15.897
So when you were going to Paris, visiting from Normandy when you were younger, were you aware of some of these French harmonica players and the blues scene in Paris at that time?

00:03:15.937 --> 00:03:18.021
Is that what got you interested in the harmonica?

00:03:18.306 --> 00:03:22.049
In fact, I started harmonica at five years old.

00:03:22.068 --> 00:03:27.454
In those years, I found a harmonica under the Christmas tree.

00:03:27.894 --> 00:03:30.757
It was my parents who offered to give me that gift.

00:03:31.076 --> 00:03:36.140
I did my first learn of songs really younger with my mother.

00:03:36.161 --> 00:03:44.528
We were just playing some few really easy songs like Amazing Grace, When the Saints, French songs also, and for kids, of course.

00:03:45.128 --> 00:03:50.776
After that, when I was eight, I started to come in Paris for the School of Harmonica.

00:03:51.037 --> 00:03:53.741
It was named Le Souffle du Blues.

00:03:54.162 --> 00:03:57.366
In English, it's something like the Breath of the Blues.

00:03:57.987 --> 00:04:03.417
I studied there during six years, from eight years old to 14 years old.

00:04:04.138 --> 00:04:05.881
Everything was in Paris.

00:04:06.140 --> 00:04:08.925
During those years, my teacher was Greg Lapp.

00:04:09.057 --> 00:04:19.552
The name of the place where the lessons were taken is a blues club in Paris, one of the most mythic blues clubs for the blues and harmonica scene in Paris.

00:04:19.692 --> 00:04:21.995
So we were already in a good place for that.

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And every night from 10 p.m.

00:04:25.779 --> 00:04:33.911
to two or three hours in the morning, there were some concerts with four stations of blues musicians in Paris.

00:04:33.971 --> 00:04:38.798
So there was Jean-Jacques Milteau and Greville Zalap, of course, for the harmonica players.

00:04:39.105 --> 00:04:41.028
There was a lot of other musicians.

00:04:41.608 --> 00:04:47.233
After that, myself, I built my first bands and first concerts.

00:04:47.934 --> 00:04:56.240
To a period when I was, I think, 17 or 18, I was going to make some concerts there every two months with my band.

00:04:56.740 --> 00:05:00.884
So you started on harmonica at the age of five, after your parents bought you a harmonica.

00:05:00.904 --> 00:05:00.985
Yeah.

00:05:01.444 --> 00:05:03.627
So was the harmonica your first instrument?

00:05:03.687 --> 00:05:07.670
Because I understand you also play a little flute, a little guitar as well.

00:05:08.211 --> 00:05:13.000
In my childhood, Childhood, when I was five, the first instrument was a little flute.

00:05:13.314 --> 00:05:16.598
And after that, I discovered harmonica at five.

00:05:16.637 --> 00:05:26.711
There was a guitar at home, so I tried to make a little learning of it, but it was hard because it's the hands for little girl.

00:05:27.052 --> 00:05:29.435
It's a little bit strong and more.

00:05:30.416 --> 00:05:35.262
It's making some hurt a little bit to the fingers because it's hard at the beginning.

00:05:36.184 --> 00:05:40.288
I had to choose something really because I was at the school in some moments.

00:05:40.350 --> 00:05:45.403
So I didn't have much more time and I did a lot of sports too.

00:05:45.725 --> 00:05:49.315
So I needed to choose one instrument after.

00:05:49.336 --> 00:05:51.281
So harmonica stays.

00:05:53.218 --> 00:05:53.838
Yeah, great.

00:05:53.879 --> 00:05:57.144
So you chose the harmonica, so it's good for us all.

00:05:57.185 --> 00:06:04.500
As you say, you took harmonica lessons with Greg Slap, who's a fantastic, actually originally a Polish harmonica player.

00:06:05.281 --> 00:06:05.380
Yeah.

00:06:05.401 --> 00:06:06.182
He moved to France.

00:06:06.382 --> 00:06:10.050
So Greg Slap, again, for people who don't know, is a fantastic player.

00:06:10.129 --> 00:06:10.490
Yeah.

00:06:12.014 --> 00:06:12.093
Yeah.

00:06:40.737 --> 00:06:44.307
seen him perform a few times so what was it like working with Greg Slap?

00:06:45.088 --> 00:07:01.723
It was absolutely great in fact it was some stages three months stages with a concert each time at the end So during three months, we learned some songs, a lot of songs, I think about 10 songs, different songs.

00:07:02.124 --> 00:07:10.971
And after that, we were choosing three or four and coming on stage with true musicians with all the harmonica school.

00:07:11.512 --> 00:07:13.994
There were four different levels.

00:07:14.254 --> 00:07:19.639
So I started by the level two because I played a little bit before by myself.

00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:46.093
And after I passed on the level three, the level four and in fact each time you are able to make some more improvisation so at the beginning during the concert you are just playing the main theme with your friends and after that a concert after concert so three months after three months you are making much more improvisation and surprise.

00:07:46.353 --> 00:08:09.014
So Greg used to call with a total surprise his students of the level three and four to make some improvisation with the musicians on some other songs with levels one and two to make something musical, something unique, I want to say, in real conditions.

00:08:09.254 --> 00:08:18.564
So it was really a great experience and exercise to prepare the first bands, making music with your friends in real conditions.

00:08:18.923 --> 00:08:22.288
That was a really great learning.

00:08:22.927 --> 00:08:25.571
So were they all group lessons with Greg Slatt?

00:08:26.112 --> 00:08:27.072
Yeah, there was.

00:08:27.093 --> 00:08:34.019
I think we used to be between 10 and 15 students for each session.

00:08:34.541 --> 00:08:38.725
There's some group lessons, lessons with 10 or 15 persons.

00:08:39.166 --> 00:08:41.327
But yes, it was not particular lessons.

00:08:41.327 --> 00:08:42.530
always with the group.

00:08:42.971 --> 00:08:47.384
After that, at 14, I stopped the lessons.

00:08:47.504 --> 00:08:53.779
In fact, in that harmonica school, I made my first bands, prepared my first CD.

00:08:54.522 --> 00:09:04.119
After that, Greg went with Johnny Holiday who is a great star in France for the French songs, a rock French song star in France.

00:09:04.558 --> 00:09:05.880
Very, very, very known.

00:09:05.921 --> 00:09:09.785
He was on tour with him, so he stopped also after that.

00:09:09.806 --> 00:09:12.590
A few years after, he stopped the school in Paris.

00:09:13.230 --> 00:09:17.918
And actually, the school is always running with all the teachers.

00:09:17.937 --> 00:09:17.957
I

00:09:18.739 --> 00:09:20.561
think you mentioned J.J.

00:09:20.841 --> 00:09:25.927
Jean-Jacques Milton, another, probably the sort of leading figure in French harmonica.

00:09:25.947 --> 00:09:27.070
Yeah, of course.

00:09:27.809 --> 00:09:28.125
Thank you.

00:09:46.785 --> 00:09:49.549
Did you listen to his music when you were young?

00:09:49.590 --> 00:09:51.011
Was that a big inspiration to you?

00:09:51.432 --> 00:09:59.363
In fact, when I was young, the first method of harmonica I used to learn was some from Jean-Jacques Milteau.

00:09:59.844 --> 00:10:08.215
After that, when I was taking lessons at the Utopia, this place in Paris, during the night there were some concerts.

00:10:08.916 --> 00:10:12.822
The concerts were also those of Jean-Jacques Milteau, sometimes.

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So one time I went there.

00:10:15.520 --> 00:10:20.287
It's a really small place, so everything is really close to the audience.

00:10:20.888 --> 00:10:25.094
I just went to see him and say, hello, what are you doing?

00:10:25.114 --> 00:10:28.158
I'm playing harmonica at the harmonica school, little girl.

00:10:28.177 --> 00:10:29.178
Okay, okay.

00:10:29.820 --> 00:10:32.464
And at the end, we did the jam together.

00:10:32.504 --> 00:10:33.485
So that was so nice.

00:10:34.567 --> 00:10:39.373
Yeah, you took these lessons and you started playing then with your own bands.

00:10:40.153 --> 00:10:42.717
What sort of age were you when you got your first band together?

00:10:43.105 --> 00:10:46.393
My first band, I have two stories to talk about.

00:10:46.432 --> 00:10:47.315
The first is 2003.

00:10:47.634 --> 00:10:55.572
I was 11 and I did an opening for the Blues Festival of Voreal in France.

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It was my first appearance with a real audience, with just a guitar player with me.

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I remember it was Yves and his first name.

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We did three songs.

00:11:07.738 --> 00:11:11.703
It was an absolutely cute and great experience I kept.

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I remember I have a film of that.

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So maybe one day I will put it on YouTube just for fun.

00:11:18.714 --> 00:11:25.985
It was a really nice experience and really the first appearance performance on stage, in fact.

00:11:26.004 --> 00:11:32.677
Two years after, when I was 13, I did like a concert with awards, a competition.

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It's a blues competition, always in Voreal.

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We were a few groups there at the end.

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I won, so I was very happy.

00:11:40.828 --> 00:11:43.371
I think we were seven or six on stage.

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So it was really my first band in 2005.

00:11:49.019 --> 00:11:49.559
Fantastic.

00:11:49.620 --> 00:11:54.405
So did that help launch your career then as a band, winning these two competitions?

00:11:54.946 --> 00:12:00.431
It permits me to get some concerts on great stages.

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That's really where the goal, in fact.

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What I remember of that night is that, in fact, at the end, I met one of the jury members.

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His name is Frédéric Youni, and he is a French harmonica player, one of the greatest ones.

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¶¶ He played with Prince, Stevie Wonder.

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Actually, he lives in the US.

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He was in the jury members.

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It was really a meeting, really interesting and full of hope for the future with a lot of good advices.

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I also met the headliner of this night, the group Jesus Vault, the rock group Jesus Vault.

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And I did a jam session with them at the end.

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They invited me to join them on stage.

00:13:05.826 --> 00:13:08.687
You were quite young then when you had quite a lot of success.

00:13:09.149 --> 00:13:14.793
So when you released your first album in 2012, the album called Profile.

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And just before that, I did another competition in the south of France.

00:13:19.738 --> 00:13:21.500
It was in 2010.

00:13:21.879 --> 00:13:24.962
It was like a small competition too with a few groups.

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And we won too.

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We had this chance.

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In fact, it permitted us to play in two absolutely great festivals, Kaor Blues Festival and and Cognac Blues Passion.

00:13:39.816 --> 00:13:45.702
In fact, those years, I've met a fantastic UK singer called Connie Lush.

00:13:46.182 --> 00:13:52.230
Same thing, we met some great artists and sometimes we do something on stage with them.

00:13:52.610 --> 00:14:00.057
So Connie invited me to join her on the main stage of the Coral Blues Festival this year and it's a great memory too.

00:14:00.217 --> 00:14:27.164
And all of those things were just before my first album profile in 2000 2012 it was a first experience it's far from for me now because at this moment it was really blues some first compositions it was all compositions already i i did a lot of concerts with this album after that we came back in studio and continue a musical way

00:14:27.618 --> 00:14:38.698
yeah and so yeah some of those uh songs on there one of them's called fire look there's a a good youtuber you playing the the world harmonica festival in germany in 2013 so

00:15:11.361 --> 00:15:12.543
A great moment we had.

00:15:12.582 --> 00:15:19.288
In fact, in 2009, I came in Trossingen for the World Harmonica Festival.

00:15:19.328 --> 00:15:24.774
And at this moment, it was just to visit and to participate in workshops.

00:15:25.014 --> 00:15:35.743
For example, Howard Levy workshop and participate to jam sessions on the evening and see concerts, all the great concerts you have all the day and night there.

00:15:36.123 --> 00:15:41.248
That was the year I recorded the video Master of the Harmonica with Horner.

00:15:41.327 --> 00:15:47.475
because it was my first time they invited me to join the Horner House.

00:15:48.115 --> 00:15:57.445
So I was very honored and I'm always very honored to be part of this great music house and artistic and harmonica.

00:15:57.745 --> 00:16:02.009
Horner is one of the first world masters of harmonica.

00:16:02.309 --> 00:16:18.552
I'm really, really happy and touched to be like an ambassador for them and to become it in 2009 and after, when I came back in 2013 for the World Harmonica Festival, I was in the program.

00:16:18.591 --> 00:16:23.039
We did this concert you saw with Fire Look, this great video.

00:16:23.421 --> 00:16:33.116
This year, I was part of the jury member for the blues and jazz competition, and we did also some workshops and some great meetings.

00:16:33.658 --> 00:16:35.721
It was a really impressive event.

00:16:36.162 --> 00:16:40.633
Horner used you as your image on the Golden Melody packaging.

00:16:41.033 --> 00:16:41.956
Yeah, that's right.

00:16:42.177 --> 00:16:45.404
They told me, yes, would you agree for that?

00:16:45.686 --> 00:16:50.538
I was a lot surprised and very happy and it was a huge honor for me.

00:16:50.839 --> 00:16:52.062
Yeah.

00:16:52.706 --> 00:16:55.207
How long were you on the packaging for the Golden Melody?

00:16:55.788 --> 00:17:03.615
I think they asked me around 2013, I think it was around those dates, probably 2014, something like that.

00:17:03.895 --> 00:17:05.477
But are you still on the packaging now?

00:17:05.896 --> 00:17:06.417
Yes, I am.

00:17:06.857 --> 00:17:08.179
It's really impressive.

00:17:08.199 --> 00:17:23.775
I receive sometimes some photos from persons who play harmonica or discover music, some people who are arriving on my website or social medias, and sometimes they say, yeah, I found you on the package of Golden melodies from Harner.

00:17:23.815 --> 00:17:24.696
I've just bought one.

00:17:24.997 --> 00:17:26.441
It's an amazing harmonica.

00:17:26.740 --> 00:17:32.354
Sometimes they send me some photos and I see those photos arriving from all around the world.

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So that's really impressive.

00:17:34.337 --> 00:17:44.508
Another song on that first album of yours, Profile, was a song called Killer, which I believe was a name that your judo instructor gave

00:17:44.528 --> 00:17:44.748
to you.

00:17:44.768 --> 00:17:45.528
Yeah, absolutely.

00:17:47.050 --> 00:17:55.459
It was a little thing to get a little bit upset before going on the tatami because I was not an upset girl.

00:17:55.538 --> 00:18:06.512
Sometimes it arrived bad things to me during the competitions of judo because I wasn't enough upset so he told me yeah you are a killer good

00:18:09.415 --> 00:18:17.923
but something that people might not know about you is that you were very good at judo in fact you came second it was in a world championship for france

00:18:18.503 --> 00:18:53.198
yes i won the french championships several times and the french international tournament i finished my judo career at the world championships and i finished two i was in the french national national team of judo during three years I was young in fact to stop my career but at the end I had to choose between judo and music I chose music because you can't play judo every time in your life it's a hard sport you can't make it all your life but music you can

00:18:53.238 --> 00:19:07.708
yeah so I mean fantastic achievement now to you know to reach that level in judo is I'm always interested do you think that Being very physically fit helps your musical career, maybe helps your harmonica playing in some way.

00:19:08.368 --> 00:19:14.819
I think the sport is a great training to go on stage because stage is a little physics too.

00:19:15.019 --> 00:19:20.669
For the breathing, it's true that making sport is a great thing in life in general way.

00:19:20.828 --> 00:20:07.432
But I think my years of French team in judo and high level sport gave me another opportunity common point with stage in fact what we learn in judo when you do competition is to be at the highest point of your performance when you go on the tatami and we say ajime the fight is running during a really small time four minutes you have to be really at the maximum of your abilities in that moment the same point with music is the moment where you are going on stage whereas a person's are telling you yes it's alright you can go and the show must go on in fact you have to be there and to really be ready

00:20:07.746 --> 00:20:09.769
Yeah, so good preparation from that point of view.

00:20:09.848 --> 00:20:17.862
Well, seeing some videos of you when you were younger, Rochelle, you had some very impressive shoulders, I think probably came from doing judo.

00:20:18.282 --> 00:20:25.253
In those years, I think I was too much more bigger than now, I think, because of sport.

00:20:25.733 --> 00:20:27.176
Everything was muscle.

00:20:27.376 --> 00:20:30.442
I didn't sweat in any clothes I had.

00:20:30.461 --> 00:20:34.667
I had some extra-sized clothes because of that for the shoulders.

00:20:34.728 --> 00:20:35.569
That was horrible.

00:20:35.905 --> 00:20:44.744
And after that, a few years after, I put again my little dresses, something like that.

00:20:45.122 --> 00:20:48.625
And I was really happy after to stop sport.

00:20:48.704 --> 00:21:00.454
In fact, I kept the use to go in my childhood school of judo a few months after quitting French team, the French team, national French team.

00:21:00.634 --> 00:21:06.180
But after that, I stopped completely sport during, I think, two or three years.

00:21:06.520 --> 00:21:15.087
I needed to change some air and do another thing, concentrate on music and not a physical performance, in fact.

00:21:15.087 --> 00:21:20.483
And after that, I've met someone from my childhood town.

00:21:20.884 --> 00:21:22.410
She is a dance teacher.

00:21:22.430 --> 00:21:29.049
And I go back on sports with dancing with her at the school Isabelle Lucky.

00:21:29.377 --> 00:21:30.098
Very good.

00:21:30.278 --> 00:21:32.281
Dancing will help your performance, no doubt.

00:21:32.321 --> 00:21:34.625
You're a good leader on stage.

00:21:34.684 --> 00:21:37.127
That comes through when you're dancing around the stage.

00:21:37.167 --> 00:21:38.630
So, yeah, that'll be very useful.

00:21:38.650 --> 00:21:39.550
Yeah, absolutely.

00:21:39.711 --> 00:21:40.913
And much more of that.

00:21:40.992 --> 00:21:45.818
It was really fun because, in fact, at the beginning, I was dancing like a judo player.

00:21:45.959 --> 00:21:47.300
So it was a little bit crazy.

00:21:49.223 --> 00:21:50.605
I needed to do another thing.

00:21:51.554 --> 00:21:55.438
Well, great, great thing to achieve, though, when you were young and getting to that heights of sport.

00:21:55.478 --> 00:22:02.124
So, yeah, so after that album in 2012, as you said, you toured around quite extensively around Europe.

00:22:02.284 --> 00:22:07.929
You went to Canada as well and played in the Montreal Blues Festival and played in Thailand.

00:22:07.949 --> 00:22:13.193
So is that a good experience touring around the world there and doing lots of gigs?

00:22:13.434 --> 00:22:21.001
Yes, we had the chance to make a lot of really impressive and huge concerts in the festival in Montreal.

00:22:21.506 --> 00:22:26.633
It was thousands of persons who were on the hill in front of us.

00:22:26.653 --> 00:22:29.355
It was really impressive and a great event.

00:22:29.636 --> 00:22:31.640
And it's a great memory for me.

00:22:31.799 --> 00:22:35.163
And I've never traveled so far to make a concert.

00:22:35.565 --> 00:22:37.887
So it was a unique experience.

00:22:38.568 --> 00:22:40.351
And the same, in fact, in Thailand.

00:22:40.371 --> 00:22:42.294
It was the first concert in Asia.

00:22:42.721 --> 00:22:45.765
It was a jazz national festival and heritage.

00:22:46.285 --> 00:22:49.948
So each artist were talking about some ages.

00:22:49.988 --> 00:22:53.151
For example, I was in the blues category.

00:22:53.590 --> 00:22:59.316
Some other artists were in percussive ones, other ones in the electro.

00:22:59.336 --> 00:23:02.138
You know, there was a lot of different styles.

00:23:02.439 --> 00:23:04.019
So that was a great festival for that.

00:23:04.340 --> 00:23:08.924
In Montreal, it was a blues and jazz festival, most blues one.

00:23:09.464 --> 00:23:14.769
Because of the fact there is some exchanges between France France and Canada with artists.

00:23:14.970 --> 00:23:17.913
We did another great festival in France, Blues sur Seine.

00:23:18.114 --> 00:23:23.078
We've met the persons there and there were some organizers from other festivals.

00:23:23.419 --> 00:23:24.961
The Montreal one was there.

00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:28.684
The year after, we were scheduled in Montreal.

00:23:29.045 --> 00:23:33.049
And have you continued touring around in different countries in more recent years?

00:23:33.089 --> 00:23:38.055
Yes, last year we were in UK, in London to make a summer camp.

00:23:38.375 --> 00:23:40.978
It was the summer camp with Greg Miller.

00:23:41.419 --> 00:23:46.243
I did a a day of workshops, conferences.

00:23:46.824 --> 00:24:01.819
We just made a concert on the evening too, but all the day was for the harmonica playing and a little bit of coaching for the persons who were already searching to make a band or technique specificities.

00:24:01.881 --> 00:24:04.182
We learned, we studied a lot of things.

00:24:04.563 --> 00:24:06.005
Yeah, I'm aware of that.

00:24:06.065 --> 00:24:11.931
I helped promote that for the harmonica organization in the UK called the, what was called the National Harmonically.

00:24:11.951 --> 00:24:12.592
So go ahead.

00:24:12.592 --> 00:24:15.798
Greg is French as well, isn't he?

00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:16.922
Greg is French.

00:24:17.162 --> 00:24:22.314
In fact, he went from Poland when he was a teenager.

00:24:22.653 --> 00:24:26.522
And after that, he lives in France forever, if I can say.

00:24:28.034 --> 00:24:33.942
And so in 2016, you released your second album, an EP called Cyclone.

00:24:34.442 --> 00:24:37.027
Yeah, it was a short album.

00:24:37.287 --> 00:24:45.199
We were tuning in a new style, in fact, a more actual and less older style of music.

00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:48.844
It was really axed on songs, songwriting.

00:24:48.864 --> 00:24:52.048
The compositions were much more personal.

00:24:52.568 --> 00:24:54.852
It was a really important album for me.

00:25:25.250 --> 00:25:29.576
And we are playing on stage those songs from that date.

00:25:30.155 --> 00:25:39.848
We were preparing the third album, who will, I think, be released in the next month after the dramatic events.

00:25:40.329 --> 00:25:43.473
We live for a month now, since the spring.

00:25:43.513 --> 00:25:44.714
So we will wait.

00:25:44.755 --> 00:25:46.877
After that, the album will be ready.

00:25:47.157 --> 00:25:52.846
So those songs are really the announcement of the third album.

00:25:53.281 --> 00:25:56.984
Yeah, so you've got the new album coming out later this year, is it?

00:25:57.224 --> 00:26:02.849
Later this year, after the pandemic, maybe during the next summer.

00:26:02.890 --> 00:26:05.952
We don't know how much time it will take.

00:26:05.972 --> 00:26:06.953
You're still recording?

00:26:06.993 --> 00:26:08.214
Everything is done.

00:26:08.255 --> 00:26:11.798
We are finishing the mixing and mastering work.

00:26:12.238 --> 00:26:25.349
You're moving away from maybe just playing more blues to playing more genres, playing more pop and rock, maybe appealing to a where a younger audience isn't strictly blues.

00:26:25.450 --> 00:26:29.714
So is that where the direction, certainly this Cyclone album and your new album, is it?

00:26:30.015 --> 00:26:30.435
Yes, yes.

00:26:30.556 --> 00:26:35.240
In fact, the new album is in the same way than the first one.

00:26:35.280 --> 00:26:38.884
The first one was just like I said, the first album.

00:26:39.345 --> 00:26:42.449
It's like a first experience.

00:26:42.669 --> 00:26:43.910
It's less precise.

00:26:43.950 --> 00:26:45.491
The sound is less good.

00:26:46.932 --> 00:26:50.856
So in my eyes, it's really the first tries.

00:26:50.877 --> 00:26:59.866
It was really the beginning, the first beginning So it's true that I prefer the last ones, but I love also the first.

00:27:00.268 --> 00:27:03.191
It was just another style and experience.

00:27:03.750 --> 00:27:06.775
After that, I saw music with other eyes.

00:27:07.275 --> 00:27:14.201
You have the years of work behind you, and you try to search a really unique style of music.

00:27:14.583 --> 00:27:17.266
You're reading of all the references.

00:27:17.526 --> 00:27:23.152
In fact, for example, I think that there is not just one style in music.

00:27:23.152 --> 00:27:25.173
in my play and my songs.

00:27:25.515 --> 00:27:34.944
I think there is a lot of influences, blues ones, jazz ones, gospel ones, rhythm and blues ones, and all the last ones.

00:27:35.806 --> 00:27:42.393
I mean, actual musics, rock, pop, folk, the new musics, in fact, a little bit of electro too.

00:27:42.492 --> 00:27:46.896
But I think music is not just one case or one style.

00:27:47.077 --> 00:27:52.884
It's just an addition of a lot of musical and artistic influences.

00:27:53.104 --> 00:27:56.166
you have in each artist a lot of things.

00:27:56.748 --> 00:28:03.634
And all the specific choices make the unique vision of each artist.

00:28:04.355 --> 00:28:08.220
And what role do you think the harmonica plays in that and in your music?

00:28:08.701 --> 00:28:10.762
The harmonica is like a second voice.

00:28:11.002 --> 00:28:16.128
In fact, it's true that on the album, there is a lot of place for the singing work.

00:28:16.709 --> 00:28:20.252
It was a wish I had because I thought it was really important.

00:28:20.452 --> 00:29:00.498
But in fact, on stage, you see that harmonica harmonica and voice have exactly the same place it's just that i wished on this album to get the place to sing expression because in precedent ones there were less less vocals so i thought it was important to tell stories too but harmonica has the main role in fact it's the main instrument it's the central piece and everything around is turning around harmonica if i would describe describe I would tell it like this after it's as much expressive than vocals

00:29:01.118 --> 00:29:12.673
yeah absolutely and you're a fantastic player we'll get into more into depth in your harmonica playing shortly so you're obviously a singer as well so do you and a songwriter do you write a lot of the songs yourself

00:29:13.153 --> 00:29:26.726
I write the song by myself and with Philippe Herouet, who composed and realized, arranged, produced music of all these albums, the second one and the third, the next one.

00:29:27.125 --> 00:29:32.510
In fact, we work together on the song sometimes for two or three of those.

00:29:32.530 --> 00:29:36.815
I did it by myself, but all the others, we did the work together.

00:29:36.835 --> 00:29:42.740
And for example, in the short album you have, there is my first song in French.

00:29:43.099 --> 00:29:51.152
I I'm French, but I took the use to write in English because harmonica was my first influence.

00:29:51.752 --> 00:29:54.958
English music, in fact, was my first influence.

00:29:55.138 --> 00:30:00.386
So I had a wish to play it by myself and do my own songs in that style.

00:30:00.406 --> 00:30:02.349
So I needed to talk in English.

00:30:02.786 --> 00:30:07.214
French writing is not at all the same exercise.

00:30:07.234 --> 00:30:13.607
It was really the specificity of Philippe Herouet to do the songs in French.

00:30:13.688 --> 00:30:17.474
So that's his writing and my composition for this one.

00:30:17.895 --> 00:30:21.083
Yeah, that song, if I'm pronouncing this correctly, is Horse Piste.

00:30:21.182 --> 00:30:21.864
In

00:30:21.923 --> 00:30:24.829
French, Horse Piste.

00:30:24.961 --> 00:30:29.246
I mean, personally, I think songs in the French language sound great.

00:30:29.385 --> 00:30:34.450
Listening as an English listener, they have a nice romantic mystique quality about them.

00:30:34.470 --> 00:30:40.434
So I think the French, there's definitely a place for French language songs, you know, on these albums as well.

00:30:40.454 --> 00:30:41.056
It sounds great.

00:30:43.597 --> 00:30:50.443
De nous en laisse, nous sommes tombés à l'hésite.

00:30:50.463 --> 00:30:51.825
Moi, je conteste et plus que tout, je résiste.

00:30:51.845 --> 00:30:53.207
Fini la messe, les longs discours politiques.

00:30:53.227 --> 00:30:54.928
Et qu'on me laisse le choix de faire du artiste.

00:30:54.928 --> 00:30:58.534
Yeah,

00:30:58.653 --> 00:30:59.454
thank you so much.

00:31:00.175 --> 00:31:03.201
But it's true that the two languages are important.

00:31:03.461 --> 00:31:07.106
And in the future, I will have other songs in French, I think.

00:31:08.169 --> 00:31:10.853
So that is your EP, Cyclone.

00:31:10.932 --> 00:31:13.277
You also released a single.

00:31:13.457 --> 00:31:13.718
Yeah.

00:31:14.038 --> 00:31:17.344
Which came out in, is it 2020, Open Your Eyes?

00:31:17.403 --> 00:31:18.665
Yeah, Open Your Eyes.

00:31:59.938 --> 00:32:02.965
That's a love song, a blues song for that one.

00:32:03.086 --> 00:32:05.230
A really slow blues song, in fact.

00:32:05.392 --> 00:32:07.135
But with my style.

00:32:08.078 --> 00:32:09.201
Not the traditional one.

00:32:09.561 --> 00:32:10.765
A modern blues one.

00:32:11.394 --> 00:32:15.241
And so is that part of the new album, that single, or was it just released as a...

00:32:15.563 --> 00:32:24.721
All those songs, The Last Sweet Angel, Cyclone, Orpist, We Can Move Mountains, and Open Your Eyes will be part of the new album.

00:32:25.502 --> 00:32:28.469
I think there will be 12 songs on the new album.

00:32:28.869 --> 00:32:32.758
To get my songs, I will tell you to go on my website...

00:32:33.185 --> 00:32:36.194
Because in fact, there is my own shop on it.

00:32:36.214 --> 00:32:43.717
It's much more easier because you buy the song directly on my website, www.rachelplast.com.

00:32:44.289 --> 00:32:46.932
And in fact, the song after is yours.

00:32:47.192 --> 00:32:48.854
You download it on your computer.

00:32:49.013 --> 00:32:53.557
And after you put it on your phone, on your computer, in your car, you do what you want.

00:32:53.978 --> 00:32:59.623
It's really the same principle that when you buy a CD, in fact.

00:33:00.304 --> 00:33:13.394
Because on Spotify, Deezer, other platforms, the default is when you are stopping paying every month on the platform, you lose all your discs and songs and everything.

00:33:13.454 --> 00:33:14.135
You lose everything.

00:33:14.256 --> 00:33:22.144
So I didn't want this for my songs and I really wished to get the numeric way with all the advantages.

00:33:22.565 --> 00:33:27.210
And we thought about it with my team from Victories Way Music.

00:33:27.490 --> 00:33:36.740
It's the label who organized everything, concerts for me, album release with Virginie Leroux.

00:33:37.480 --> 00:33:44.067
They thought that it was much more better to build an online shop directly on my website.

00:33:44.208 --> 00:33:47.550
So everything is available and it's much more easier.

00:33:47.570 --> 00:33:53.556
Yeah, I'll put a link to your website on the podcast page so people will be able to link to it from there.

00:33:53.576 --> 00:33:56.919
And as you say, you can buy your songs from there and other materials.

00:33:57.239 --> 00:34:01.663
And with the pandemic, we were obliged to stay home a lot.

00:34:01.942 --> 00:34:05.066
So we had some time, even if everything was stopped.

00:34:05.445 --> 00:34:09.010
I started a new experience about harmonica.

00:34:09.489 --> 00:34:13.873
It was linked to the United in Sound live streams.

00:34:14.177 --> 00:34:41.260
by Horner so always running until the end of August it gave me the idea to prepare pedagogical videos about harmonica so on my website just close to the songs you will find another catalog of videos where you can buy some things to discover harmonica it's really for the persons who never played before and wish to discover easily

00:34:42.181 --> 00:34:55.099
so you're teaching videos uh are available as you say on your website where you're teaching about bending and vibrato and people people can buy those they're quite low price and then get get some teaching directly from you from your website too

00:34:55.681 --> 00:35:09.461
yes they always download the content or their on their computer and make their life after they can do it any any time in the to the in the day or during the month they they can really be free with their work and content

00:35:10.210 --> 00:35:17.661
There's lots of videos of you playing around at different festivals, some of you mentioned, and playing with different people as a guest slot.

00:35:18.302 --> 00:35:20.126
So I just wanted to talk about a few of those.

00:35:20.505 --> 00:35:26.996
A song that you do very well, which is a challenging song, is Orange Blossom Special.

00:35:27.438 --> 00:35:31.143
So I had Charlie McCoy on the podcast some episodes ago.

00:35:31.244 --> 00:35:33.146
It's a song that he made famous in Harmonica.

00:35:33.206 --> 00:35:35.590
So how about Orange Blossom Special?

00:35:35.630 --> 00:35:36.472
Tell us about that song.

00:35:36.751 --> 00:35:37.693
Yeah.

00:35:37.793 --> 00:35:38.715
I love that song.

00:35:39.257 --> 00:35:44.570
Orange Blossom Special is a piece I've learned very young when I discovered harmonica.

00:35:44.972 --> 00:35:47.358
I've never lost it during all the years.

00:35:47.378 --> 00:35:49.443
I always play it on stage.

00:35:58.050 --> 00:36:08.541
so so

00:36:21.697 --> 00:36:28.943
It's funny because between the first times I played this song on stage and the last one, there is a big difference.

00:36:29.184 --> 00:36:31.666
And that's like a lifeline, in fact.

00:36:32.266 --> 00:36:39.914
And the Charlie McCoy songs, it was, in fact, really impressive for me because on the last year, he came in France for a concert.

00:36:40.333 --> 00:36:41.135
I saw him.

00:36:41.175 --> 00:36:43.277
I came to his concert and met him.

00:36:43.317 --> 00:36:45.778
And that was exactly what I told him.

00:36:45.798 --> 00:36:51.643
You know, I played this Euro song during all my childhood and my harmonica life.

00:36:51.664 --> 00:36:52.244
in fact.

00:36:52.585 --> 00:36:58.110
So that was a really wonderful moment to see him on stage and to see his performance.

00:36:58.731 --> 00:36:59.172
Absolutely.

00:36:59.211 --> 00:37:01.114
And he, of course, played with J.J.

00:37:01.175 --> 00:37:01.655
Miltow.

00:37:01.855 --> 00:37:03.157
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:37:03.556 --> 00:37:05.159
Very superstitious as well.

00:37:05.239 --> 00:37:07.541
It's another video I've seen you playing on.

00:37:08.202 --> 00:37:09.302
Yeah, that's true.

00:37:09.344 --> 00:37:11.505
Superstition from Stevie Wonder.

00:37:11.525 --> 00:37:14.028
Stevie Wonder is a great influence for me.

00:37:14.068 --> 00:37:18.574
For example, he's on She Loves Me, Superstition, I Wish, Seer Duke.

00:37:18.945 --> 00:37:29.487
because harmonica is playing the harmonica part from Stevie and also saxophone once and brass once, in fact.

00:37:29.686 --> 00:37:33.034
And it was a great pleasure to play that music.

00:37:33.570 --> 00:37:34.811
And some other ones as well.

00:37:34.831 --> 00:37:38.934
You clearly showed you had influence from the great harmonica players.

00:37:38.974 --> 00:37:42.398
There's a video of you doing a Sonny Boy Williamson tribute, I've Got To Go.

00:37:42.438 --> 00:37:44.559
There's videos of you doing Mellow Down Easy.

00:37:45.639 --> 00:37:48.902
So were the classic harmonica players clearly had a big influence on you?

00:37:49.664 --> 00:38:04.317
So I've Got To Go, it was a Sonny Boy Williamson song and it was a tribute I made with one of my first record tables and I was a child when I did this and it was one of my first clips.

00:38:33.057 --> 00:38:41.786
For the other one, Mellow Down Easy, I met Jason Ricci in France in some festivals and it was a really great moment and meeting.

00:38:42.286 --> 00:38:53.516
I've loved a lot his album and inspired myself from his version of this song because the version of Mellow Down Easy I'm playing on stage is the Jason Ricci one.

00:38:54.195 --> 00:39:03.023
And for the other influences in harmonica and playing is Stevie Wonder, of course, Tootsie Simmons, Charlie McCoy...

00:39:03.023 --> 00:39:08.693
But Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Paul Robert Johnson, Sonny Terry.

00:39:09.213 --> 00:39:12.278
Sonny Terry is a great part of my harmonica stadying.

00:39:12.800 --> 00:39:18.789
I stadied a lot his playing because it was very personal, something we've never heard before.

00:39:18.949 --> 00:39:21.532
And there's only him who plays like that.

00:39:22.338 --> 00:39:24.320
So you mentioned a few female singers there.

00:39:24.380 --> 00:39:26.942
So you're a female harmonica player.

00:39:27.001 --> 00:39:28.523
We don't see many of those.

00:39:28.864 --> 00:39:32.666
Do you see yourself as an ambassador for female harmonica players?

00:39:33.186 --> 00:39:33.867
Yes, why not?

00:39:34.608 --> 00:39:36.210
I don't think that so clearly.

00:39:36.289 --> 00:39:46.278
In fact, I'm very happy there is a lot of women today who are learning and playing harmonica professionally in several countries in the world.

00:39:46.378 --> 00:39:50.922
For example, I think to Andiera Sfer, who is from Brazil.

00:39:51.123 --> 00:39:52.304
She makes a great work.

00:39:52.304 --> 00:40:53.849
work on harmonica from there and so we are the first woman in the world to bring the instrument as the main part on stage and for the songs and everything so I think there is everything to develop for women in harmonica in fact I think that if I can do the image an instrument who is much more used by men because the origins of the instrument are very dark it's about cotton in USA you the slaves in fact after that it was the first times harmonica was really considered as an instrument it was the very first times it was when Horner gave some diatonic harmonica to the army of USA the story of this instrument is very dark and very heavy so I think it needs a lot of years and a lot of different things before being as popular as a guitar or piano or others.

00:40:54.150 --> 00:40:55.492
But it will come.

00:40:55.532 --> 00:41:09.706
I'm very happy to see much more persons who are taking harmonica to make a lot of styles of music and include it in every style and every type of concert type of things.

00:41:10.246 --> 00:41:15.353
Well, I'm sure you can help become an inspiration for female harmonica players around the world.

00:41:15.373 --> 00:41:22.159
So have you any words you'd like to say for any female harmonica players who are interested in playing and improving?

00:41:22.159 --> 00:41:53.324
what I would tell to a female a woman who would like to start harmonica or a little girl is just try to play on it and do your stuff and have fun that's the main thing have fun harmonica will be the greatest instrument you can have as well as the others in fact there is not one instrument better than one another but everyone's are great and if you like harmonica if you love harmonica just do it and have fun Just

00:41:53.385 --> 00:41:55.101
moving on to your playing style a little bit.

00:41:55.233 --> 00:42:00.077
play lots of fast licks, you play lots of kind of complex, rhythmical playing.

00:42:00.478 --> 00:42:02.920
So how did you develop your style of playing?

00:42:03.101 --> 00:42:07.925
When I started harmonica, I started playing with single notes.

00:42:08.626 --> 00:42:13.570
After, much more years after, I tried to develop tongue blocking.

00:42:13.889 --> 00:42:22.277
And after this, when I was composing my first songs with my first album, I started to link the both techniques, really.

00:42:22.498 --> 00:42:51.268
And I think that the way I'm playing today is the result of those years of playing for searching for new things new style of playing new new ways play my own stuff and own songs and the link I did between the single note playing and the rhythmic one and the tongue blocking one is making my own style today it's like a type of choices of nuances in fact and each player will take his best points

00:42:51.708 --> 00:43:01.262
yeah well you certainly have a great sound Rochelle you're very impressive You play some very fast riffs, but all very good rhythmically as well.

00:43:01.302 --> 00:43:05.630
How did you develop your ability to play fast in time?

00:43:05.690 --> 00:43:10.217
Because quite often people lose their time when they try to play too quickly, but you do it very well.

00:43:10.690 --> 00:43:13.371
I didn't play so fast for a long time.

00:43:13.452 --> 00:43:16.155
In fact, it came year after year.

00:43:16.534 --> 00:43:23.880
When I did my first concerts and when I was playing, for example, 10 years ago, it was not so fast, I think.

00:43:24.141 --> 00:43:29.947
In fact, the progression is not one day you play less fast and the day after you play more fast.

00:43:30.146 --> 00:43:33.570
No, it's day after day, year after year.

00:43:34.170 --> 00:44:05.653
And the key for me to play very fast at the end, after some years of practice, is is always to work on your difficult parts and difficult music play pieces of music you want to play really slow and precise and little by little you go faster one point by one point of tempo you go faster faster faster faster faster and at the end Months after, weeks after, years after, you will see the difference.

00:44:06.014 --> 00:44:08.175
But I think it's a really long way work.

00:44:08.536 --> 00:44:09.157
Yeah, absolutely.

00:44:09.257 --> 00:44:09.657
Yeah.

00:44:09.677 --> 00:44:11.599
And again, it comes across, sounds great.

00:44:11.639 --> 00:44:15.461
So yeah, you've developed a really interesting and quite a unique style as well.

00:44:15.501 --> 00:44:18.244
You sound quite different than a lot of other harmonica players.

00:44:18.965 --> 00:44:19.905
Very happy of that.

00:44:20.005 --> 00:44:20.507
Thanks a lot.

00:44:20.567 --> 00:44:22.108
It's a great compliment for me.

00:44:22.467 --> 00:44:23.088
Thanks a lot.

00:44:23.469 --> 00:44:28.273
I think that is, you know, it maybe shows that your influences are from different sorts of music.

00:44:28.634 --> 00:44:34.800
I think, you know, it's a danger listening to all the classic harmonica players that can, people can tend to sound quite the same.

00:44:34.820 --> 00:44:36.824
You know, they're playing that same sort of blue style.

00:44:37.204 --> 00:44:41.291
And I think definitely, you know, you've developed this unique sound, which, which is, which is great.

00:44:41.331 --> 00:44:41.572
Yeah.

00:44:41.672 --> 00:44:43.434
So, so congratulations on that.

00:44:43.855 --> 00:44:47.780
I know, I know you also see improvising as being an important part of your playing.

00:44:47.840 --> 00:44:50.885
So what would you say about improvising and how you develop that?

00:44:51.202 --> 00:44:57.427
On stage, we always have our own songs with theme, melodics and main stuff.

00:44:57.628 --> 00:45:01.530
But inside, you always have an improvisation part.

00:45:01.710 --> 00:45:11.739
So every night of concert is different, even if we do the same program, because we have a lot of musical parts with the musicians.

00:45:12.079 --> 00:45:55.010
So I think I developed it step by step from the times I've learned harmonica at the Utopia, where the exercise was really to do an improvisation on a new song we've never heard before and little by little I developed my own style on it because I love to make different things every time my pleasure is really to play my own songs every concert night never in the same way because of an introduction I will play more a solo I will do in the song and my musicians are always following me and we are really in the listen part of the music We play really what we love to play in the moment.

00:45:55.391 --> 00:45:57.699
So the emotion is not the same.

00:45:57.719 --> 00:46:01.268
Interpretation is evolving, in fact.

00:46:01.601 --> 00:46:06.307
So improvisation is a big part of the performance each time.

00:46:06.327 --> 00:46:14.998
Always, every evening, for example, for three months now with the live streams, I'm doing daily improvisation is the main thing.

00:46:15.018 --> 00:46:22.606
I propose to study some phrases, some exercise, some little songs sometimes.

00:46:22.967 --> 00:46:26.530
And every evening I do my own improvisation

00:46:26.972 --> 00:46:28.673
on a really simple stuff.

00:46:29.153 --> 00:46:30.916
Are those live streams in French?

00:46:31.315 --> 00:46:31.956
In French?

00:46:32.436 --> 00:46:37.661
It was in French because at the beginning, every country did it with Horner.

00:46:38.001 --> 00:46:44.907
I mean that, for example, there was one German, one from the UK, the other one from Brazil, the other one from Spain.

00:46:45.288 --> 00:46:48.590
So everybody did it in his native language.

00:46:49.050 --> 00:46:57.898
But after two months, when things started to changing with the pandemic, I started to make it a little bit in French and in the same time in English.

00:46:58.059 --> 00:47:05.126
I'm traducing a every time to permit English speaking persons to understand even if you don't know the French.

00:47:05.146 --> 00:47:06.387
It's all right.

00:47:06.427 --> 00:47:08.829
Got to ask you about your hairstyle.

00:47:09.251 --> 00:47:12.795
So you've got this kind of sparkling blue hairstyle.

00:47:12.855 --> 00:47:16.759
So maybe tell us about your image and your glamorous hairstyle.

00:47:17.159 --> 00:47:20.202
Yeah, it's a crazy idea I had when I was a girl.

00:47:20.222 --> 00:47:22.885
I found a spray with glitters.

00:47:23.485 --> 00:47:45.706
And after that, I found some all colors glitters and I put it in with some glue for her special glue you know and so it was sparkling by everything and i i had a fix on the blue glitters for a moment so there was a crazy stuff but now it's the white hairs i love

00:47:46.106 --> 00:48:04.286
so yeah well again i think you know representing the female harmonica players very well and showing maybe the men a little bit of how to uh you know improve the image a little bit so you're leading the way there on the image of the harmonica player as well which is good to see You've touched on a little bit being influenced by Toots Feelmans and Stevie Wonder.

00:48:04.467 --> 00:48:06.889
So they're largely chromatic harmonica players.

00:48:06.909 --> 00:48:08.829
Do you play any chromatic harmonica yourself?

00:48:08.891 --> 00:48:09.411
Not at all.

00:48:09.690 --> 00:48:13.474
I don't play chromatic because I tried when I was a teenager.

00:48:13.494 --> 00:48:24.123
But unfortunately, I've broken a lot of reeds because I had the reflex to bend and not to push with the hand, you know, in the side of the harmonica.

00:48:24.264 --> 00:48:28.967
So I sent them to be repaired and came back and I broke them again.

00:48:29.007 --> 00:48:29.527
same way.

00:48:29.588 --> 00:48:33.952
So I said, okay, diatonic is my instrument, chromatic is really different.

00:48:34.492 --> 00:48:37.956
And in fact, the notes are not positioned in the same way.

00:48:38.295 --> 00:48:44.262
In fact, I learned a lot of songs from Toots and Stevie with my diatonic harmonica.

00:48:44.621 --> 00:48:48.826
It's another kind of work, but it's true that they are playing chromatic.

00:48:49.686 --> 00:48:57.653
And a question I ask each time is, if you had 10 minutes to practice in the day, what would you spend those 10 minutes doing?

00:48:58.177 --> 00:49:07.137
pushing on my record app on my phone and try to find new melodies and new tricks on the harmonica.

00:49:07.478 --> 00:49:14.914
I will just play and record while I'm playing and I will hear what I've played to see if there's something interesting.

00:49:15.233 --> 00:49:20.297
So you see recording yourself as a really important part of your practice and then listen back to that.

00:49:20.358 --> 00:49:25.382
Yeah, if I have only 10 minutes to play in the day, I will try to find a new melody, for example.

00:49:26.123 --> 00:49:33.489
So if we move on to the last section now, as we're talking about gear or equipment, so I'll ask you some questions now about equipment.

00:49:33.769 --> 00:49:39.014
First question in this is, and you've already mainly answered this, is what harmony do you play?

00:49:39.114 --> 00:49:40.456
Clearly that's a golden melody.

00:49:40.496 --> 00:49:43.478
So is that still the only diatonic that you play?

00:49:43.858 --> 00:49:45.199
Yeah, it's the only one.

00:49:45.199 --> 00:49:49.344
I only play on golden melody from Horner, the red ones.

00:49:50.045 --> 00:49:55.391
But sometimes for the low keys, there is no low keys in golden melody.

00:49:55.471 --> 00:49:59.315
So I take a Thunderbird from Horner to get the low keys.

00:49:59.655 --> 00:50:02.539
A Thunderbird is one of my favorites for the low keys.

00:50:02.579 --> 00:50:06.463
But my main instrument, the only one I use is the golden melody.

00:50:06.742 --> 00:50:08.985
What is it you like about the golden melody so much?

00:50:09.405 --> 00:50:11.668
It's because there's a warm sound.

00:50:11.708 --> 00:50:15.152
It's really easy to play and for bendings.

00:50:15.152 --> 00:50:27.085
The characteristic, special characteristic is the holes are a little bit thinner and you don't have some loss of air by the side of the instrument.

00:50:27.105 --> 00:50:28.326
It's totally closed.

00:50:28.365 --> 00:50:32.010
So for me, it's better to get more breath.

00:50:32.289 --> 00:50:35.793
In fact, I play really gently in the instrument.

00:50:35.813 --> 00:50:39.797
It's not very hard with using a lot of breath.

00:50:40.079 --> 00:50:45.103
I don't use so much breath when I'm playing, even if I play loud and fast.

00:50:45.103 --> 00:50:45.405
Thank you.

00:50:45.570 --> 00:50:48.211
And do you have a favourite key of diatonic?

00:50:48.512 --> 00:50:56.719
I love B bemol, but in fact I love also A, D, C, all those ones, B, D bemol.

00:50:57.860 --> 00:51:00.322
You say B flat, did you call that something different in French?

00:51:00.342 --> 00:51:00.463
Oh yes,

00:51:00.483 --> 00:51:02.063
sorry, it's B flat, yes.

00:51:02.905 --> 00:51:04.246
In French it's bemol.

00:51:04.786 --> 00:51:05.686
Ah, great, thank you.

00:51:05.748 --> 00:51:06.887
I never knew that, thank you.

00:51:07.268 --> 00:51:09.451
And do you play any different tunings?

00:51:09.570 --> 00:51:10.371
No, not at all.

00:51:10.592 --> 00:51:14.255
It's the factory tunings, it's everything fine for me.

00:51:14.695 --> 00:51:31.501
I don't do something on the instruments i play them just from the factory but in fact the only thing i do is to reduce the space on the gap sometimes if i see there is a default but it's really rare

00:51:32.001 --> 00:51:33.945
and do you play any overblows

00:51:34.025 --> 00:51:48.246
yes of course when i need those I don't play overblows every time, only when I'm needing them to make the melodies or really, in my sense, give highest value to what I'm playing.

00:51:48.766 --> 00:51:50.731
The overblow is a need.

00:51:50.771 --> 00:51:53.898
If it's not needed for what I'm playing, I won't play it.

00:51:54.306 --> 00:51:58.072
Yeah, but you talked about playing, say, some songs from Toots Thielman.

00:51:58.112 --> 00:52:00.637
So you need to play some overblows to be able to play.

00:52:00.677 --> 00:52:01.639
Yes, of course.

00:52:01.800 --> 00:52:02.021
Yes.

00:52:02.501 --> 00:52:08.634
But in my songs, when I'm not needing overblows, I don't search to put it in my play.

00:52:08.813 --> 00:52:11.980
If it's not needed in my sense, I live my life without.

00:52:12.099 --> 00:52:13.804
But when I need them, I do them.

00:52:16.065 --> 00:52:19.170
So are you a lip purser or a tongue blocker?

00:52:19.271 --> 00:52:20.793
You mentioned tongue blocking earlier on.

00:52:20.893 --> 00:52:26.242
Both ones, lip purser and tongue block when I need it for rhythmic and rhythm ones.

00:52:27.123 --> 00:52:30.409
But in fact, I'm always switching between the two techniques.

00:52:31.431 --> 00:52:35.938
And talking about equipment now, what amplifier do you like to use?

00:52:36.097 --> 00:52:38.121
No, I don't use any amplifier.

00:52:38.657 --> 00:52:47.233
So sometimes I'm putting my harmonica on a voice microphone, like a Beyer, for example, on a Shure.

00:52:47.273 --> 00:52:54.686
For example, I put it on a guitar amp sometimes when we are recording in studio to have a special sound.

00:52:54.786 --> 00:53:00.797
But in the main part of my play, I'm just playing harmonica in a voice microphone.

00:53:00.961 --> 00:53:06.027
Yeah, but Horner just put a harp blaster, which is very interesting.

00:53:06.067 --> 00:53:11.992
I've recorded something with it, the Fly song, which is on YouTube on the last weeks.

00:53:12.494 --> 00:53:13.795
I really like it too.

00:53:14.195 --> 00:53:16.597
Okay, so you mentioned a couple of microphones.

00:53:16.717 --> 00:53:18.679
Any particular microphones?

00:53:18.699 --> 00:53:20.041
You mentioned a Beyer microphone.

00:53:20.362 --> 00:53:23.605
It's a voice microphone, a hand microphone.

00:53:24.266 --> 00:53:28.510
So do you have any particular models of Schuers or Beyers that you use?

00:53:28.833 --> 00:53:32.259
Yeah, I prefer the Shure KSM9.

00:53:33.541 --> 00:53:43.855
For the Beyer microphone, it was a T88, a special microphone who is able to take the sound of several instruments.

00:53:44.757 --> 00:53:48.481
Do you use a separate microphone for your singing or do you use the same microphone?

00:53:48.994 --> 00:54:00.965
I did it for a moment last year ago, but not anymore because I switched really fast between vocals and harmonica, so I really need to be comfortable with that on stage.

00:54:01.206 --> 00:54:06.150
So now I'm just playing harmonica and vocals in the same one, the Shure one.

00:54:06.711 --> 00:54:12.958
That's interesting because a lot of times harmonica would have different settings than a vocal setting.

00:54:13.259 --> 00:54:14.679
You might turn down the highs.

00:54:14.719 --> 00:54:23.021
So do you keep your setup suited to vocals and you just play your harmonica through the setup as you would set up a vocal microphone.

00:54:23.041 --> 00:54:28.128
Yeah, I play harmonica through the vocal microphone set up for vocals.

00:54:28.849 --> 00:54:41.025
And the sound engineer is always the hand on his buttons to be careful of the level difference between vocals and harmonica.

00:54:41.474 --> 00:54:44.679
That's true, it's a huge work, but it's really necessary.

00:54:45.400 --> 00:54:49.286
So he switches the settings maybe when you start to do a harmonica solo, does he?

00:54:50.547 --> 00:55:00.643
I think he's putting a little less level when I'm playing harmonica solos and putting in the vocal level just after when I'm going back in vocals.

00:55:01.224 --> 00:55:04.329
And do you use any effects pedals at all with your harmonica?

00:55:04.708 --> 00:55:05.150
Not at all.

00:55:05.474 --> 00:55:11.583
No, I tried to a period, but I didn't find something who suits me.

00:55:11.943 --> 00:55:14.757
So I just preferred the natural sound.

00:55:15.041 --> 00:55:17.063
Yeah, well, again, you certainly get a great sound.

00:55:17.344 --> 00:55:19.885
It's really interesting, again, talking to people on here.

00:55:20.126 --> 00:55:28.032
People have different setups, but quite a lot of people, you know, maybe don't use much like you're saying and get a great sound from lots of different ways, you know.

00:55:28.112 --> 00:55:35.559
So I think this idea that you have to use, you know, harmonica amplifiers and harmonica microphones, I think people like yourself show that that's not always the case.

00:55:35.579 --> 00:55:37.782
You know, you're getting a great sound without that equipment.

00:55:38.121 --> 00:55:38.481
Thank you.

00:55:38.541 --> 00:55:42.746
So last question then is just around any future plans you have.

00:55:42.806 --> 00:55:45.007
You talked about you've got the album coming out in 2021.

00:55:45.007 --> 00:55:55.559
2020 or maybe next year depending on how things go but any other plans you know any any more touring planned or working any new album or anything else

00:55:56.260 --> 00:56:17.905
yes always we are always working on new stuff and things and songs for the future but for the moment we are concentrated on the new album for the next weeks and months unfortunately for the moment the concert were all cancelled so we hope everything is is going back to normal for the next year.

00:56:17.925 --> 00:56:23.753
It starts, the event starts for the moment to come back from October.

00:56:24.114 --> 00:56:33.048
So we will see if it's possible to make it grow and report the council event in those months.

00:56:33.068 --> 00:56:38.858
But it's true that it's really frightening and it's a frightening period for everybody, I think.

00:56:39.137 --> 00:56:45.867
So yeah, hopefully we'll see you back out playing again and look forward to hearing your new album, which will again be available through your website, yeah?

00:56:46.367 --> 00:56:50.952
Yeah, everything is updated day by day and week after week on my website.

00:56:51.373 --> 00:56:57.121
All the information for touring, album, meetings, live streams and everything are on it.

00:56:57.681 --> 00:56:59.905
So it's really a good place to go.

00:57:01.090 --> 00:57:03.652
Okay, so thank you, Rochelle.

00:57:03.753 --> 00:57:05.335
Great to speak to you today.

00:57:05.875 --> 00:57:06.936
So thanks a lot.

00:57:07.016 --> 00:57:08.617
I'm very happy to be your guest.

00:57:08.797 --> 00:57:10.320
Thanks a million for being there.

00:57:10.340 --> 00:57:12.061
And see you soon, I hope.

00:57:13.103 --> 00:57:14.405
That's it for today, folks.

00:57:14.764 --> 00:57:22.492
Final word from my sponsor, the Longwolf Blues Company, providing some great effects pedals and microphones, all purpose-built for the harmonica.

00:57:22.833 --> 00:57:24.375
Be sure to check out their website.

00:57:26.958 --> 00:57:30.461
Rochelle, players out.

00:57:30.818 --> 00:57:59.710
Thank you.

00:58:07.489 --> 00:58:08.137
Bye.