Oh go on…Head On outta here!

Croissants, baguettes, champagne, escargots and freakin’ french fries is what comes outta France and then there is Head On!

These Rennes’ers latest record from last year “Changing Shape” is a record that slowly crawls under your skin like humidity on a cold day and the only thing you want to do is to heat up on a shot of bourbon…shot by shot by shot by…and the listening experience just got better.

I don’t drink bourbon myself but it runs pretty good on beer too!

It’s a real pleasure to present, in this mini-feature, the guys behind Head On and their latest album which came together in collaboration with Pete Ross and Susy Sapphire.

Find out who they are and listen to their songs (parental advisory: this music can be highly addictive!)

Band members:

Name: Boogie (vox)

Other / Former bands: Dead Horse Problem / Witcherry Wild, Born in Flames, Nitrobrew

Who and/or what inspired you to become a musician: Reptiles At Dawn

Passions besides music: Reading and drinking

Eat for breakfast: Nothing

Name: Mitch (bass)

Former bands: The Six Million Dollar Men, The Speedoracers

Who and/or what inspired you to become a musician: The first time I heard saturated guitars on the radio when I was a kid, can’t remember the name of the band, it sounded tough and I could feel the danger, so good!

Passions besides music: Reading and riding my old motorcycle

Eat for breakfast: Coffee + cigarette

Name: Marco (guitar)

Former bands: The Six Million Dollar Men, The Speedoracers.

Who and/or what inspired you to become a musician: I was tired of playing drums

Passions besides music: Family + Friends

Eat for breakfast: Aspirin + Black coffee

Name: Franck Headon (drums)

Other / Former bands: Bed Bunker / Witcherry Wild, Born in Flames

Who and/or what inspired you to become a musician: The Stooges !

Passions besides music: Cooking and High Fidelity sound systems!

Eat for breakfast: Nothing! Only Black coffee!

Name: Chris (guitar)

Former bands: Witcherry Wild, Born in Flames, Orville Brody & Goodfellas

Who and/or what inspired you to become a musician: My brother Lorenzo. I was 13 or 14 years old and I watched him torture his guitar with his friends. The sound was crazy, saturated, totally punk. Boogie’s father made us wooden guitars with broomsticks and no strings. We looked at ourselves playing in the mirror on our knees with long greasy hair, smoking cigarettes. We were sure we’ll get all the girls.

Passions besides music: My son, my wife, my family, my friends, beer, wine, drugs, Bouli Lanners’ movies, my job, food……

Eat for breakfast: A cigarette!

About the band:

How and when did this band start up?

Boogie: 2010

Mitch: Something like 4 or 5 years ago when Born in Flames and the Speedoracers broke up. As we (Speedoracers) used to open for Born in Flames and shared the same good music tastes, we joined forces to built Head On.

The new album “Changing Shape” which by the way is a beautiful rock album, how long did it take to finish the songs for this album?

Boogie: We played most of the songs during one year and it took 3 days in the studio to lock them. We recorded live, adding the sax later and some backing vocals as not everyone was able to be there at during those days.

Mitch: A few months to write the music and just a few days to record.

Is this album the best recording project you guys ever made so far?

Boogie: I think so

Mitch: Yes, no doubt for me

Marco: Indeed, the album sounds just like we wanted it to sound.

Please describe the story behind the lyrics of the song “I Fell Down”?

Boogie: It’s about redemption, everybody does shit one fine day and in my opinion most people wants to pay for their crimes or find somebody to forgive them, this is the story about a son who disappoints his mom.

Any particular or peculiar story you would like to share in regards to the making of this album?

Boogie: Too many stories in a short time, I can’t remember any particular story, I need a brand new brain! I just want to thank Pete Ross and Michelle (Susy Sapphire) for their kindness and their help on this album.

Mitch: Too many! It was so great to have Pete and Michelle with us, the way Pete managed everything, running everywhere to be sure everything was perfect, the time he spent to help Chris and Marco to get the perfect sound, put the microphones at the right place while Michelle was peacefully advising Boogie about his accent on the lyrics and knitting or practicing the bass at the same time. So good to work with so involved and passionate persons like them.

Chris: A nice collaboration between Pete Ross, Susy Sapphire and the band! Everyone was listening to each other, we tried various things, erased others, always with the purpose to record something remaining close to us. The songs allowed us to go through a lot of paths, sometimes in fuzzy way, other times in clear way. That’s what I like about this album, it is rich and is what I’d like to do for the next ones too.

Who’s more rock, who’s more punk and who’s the melancholic in the band?

Boogie: You can’t be rock if you’re not a little bit melancholic too.

Mitch: I would say we’re all some kind of melancholic punk rockers.

Chris: Good question. We’re all fond of rock’n’roll, no doubt. Sometimes we are more punk, I guess Marco (Dick) is the punkest of us despite of his glasses, Romain (Mitch) is a good one too. Maybe I’m the most melancholic, couldn’t say myself…