The delirious Shaka Ponk was at a press conference at Solidays 2018. A serious group that doesn't take itself seriously at all and that's what we like.
Very relaxed and always ready to release a, the Shaka Ponk in the presence of Frah, Steeve and Ion, still managed to approach serious topics with a little lightness. We tell you the story.
Shaka Ponk comes from shakyamuni, the first official Buddha, but also means priest in Malay. We can say that you are the priests of punk… Is this provocation?
Frah: Buddha and punk are right. The priest's blow we did not know ourselves, we learned it by chance. But it's really good, it gives a lot of cachet to the group. And for provocation, we wanted to go from one extreme to the other.
Steeve: The thread in the center, the balance to find between all the senses, but you have to know how to come back to the middle a little from time to time.
Frah: We were young at the time, we were a little crazy, we had funny ideas.
You have a strong attachment to Berlin. What inspires you there?
Steeve: Burritos!
Frah: We created ourselves there. Without really thinking about it, we were inspired, not necessarily by the city and the people, but also to be at home in another place whose language we do not speak. It is very interesting as an experience and I recommend it. Spending years immersed in another place to build something artistic had to strengthen the links, that's for sure; It allowed us to relativize on many things that could split a group. On has learned to talk to each other, to understand each other, to put the real problems in the spotlight and the rest in the trash.
Steeve: It's a bit like the Koh Lanta of music!
Frah: Except that in Berlin we curdled our loaves a little, especially when the heating no longer worked at home. It was horrible…
Between November 2014 and November 2017, why such a long silence? What have you been doing all this time?
Steeve: We worked!!We couldn't finish, actually. We said to ourselves: "We have time, we're going to stop for two years because we want to do something quite complex. " We needed time for that. We started to develop ideas, to go in all directions and it was so nice that we wanted to finish the album and show it to you, but in fact we worked for two and a half years finally! We haven't done that many shows since the beginning, and now we really want to play and get out of the studio. Today, we swung at 9am, no one complained! We were happy.
Frah: We had spent so much of our lives going on without stopping and it was funny, we liked to do that. But then we said to ourselves: "We're going to do like the other bands; we're going to land, put ourselves in a place that doesn't run, so not a tour bus and we're going to make a record! " So we asked how is that?
And we were told: "You just did a concert yesterday, today you can do nothing, maybe stop for a month or two… Take time for yourself." We then set up a place to record, we acted as if we were really going to make a record in a studio and it took us much longer than before where it was coming out in all directions. But it's also not bad to take your time! We're not going to do it again, though.
Steeve: It was a good experience. We learned a lot of tricks: to sit down, to organize, to disorganize…
Frah: Undoing things. It's not bad when they're all made, nickel, finished, to start from scratch.
In your visuals was born a character, Goz, who is part of the group. Has the title of your album The Evol' also evolved?
Frah: Yes! It's very weird this monkey, it started out of nowhere. We diluted it in a lot of different visuals and ideas. It is true that depending on the tables (not according to the albums) we will represent it differently: rather mecha, rather warrior, rather animal… Depending on the songs, it goes from one state to another. It's always difficult because people have the impression that the monkey, Goz, is the one on the cover of the first record. On the last album we let loose on the Darwin side – the subject of evolution that is part of the great debates and the big questions: how can we arrive at the state of the world today? How one species managed to fuck up all this mess compared to others… ? It's still class!
Isn't the answer to all this in the title of the album?
Frah: Yes, we had fun with this title which is an abbreviation of evolution and upside down reads "Love": love! We see "In Love We Trust" on the top of the stage on which we are going to play. We're very touched that they did that for us (laughs).
Steeve: Thank you Luc!
Frah: So love is the solution, yeah!
What is the creative process for the graphic side of your concerts?
Ion: There is no method, no order. It's unconventional, we do a little bit of everything at the same time. That's what sometimes makes it quite exciting. Music can influence the image as well as the opposite. Sometimes we start with a little aesthetic gimmick and it will inspire us from the sound; It depends on who in the group starts…
Steeve: But there are no rules, you could say anyhow.
Ion: Either way, that's a good answer!
You are in the middle of a tour with La Cigale at the end of the year. How can we describe your show which is quite visual and very immersive?
Ion: We're continuing the tour until next spring. We redo a series of Zenith after the Cicada
Steeve: Monkadelic Tour 2, to extend the life of that one. We stopped for a long time, 2 years and a half, to make it. The tour went by so fast that we wanted to add concerts and extend the crazy life of what we live every night with this show.
Ion: We know that we have some beautiful festivals there that start today with Solidays. We are already thinking about changing the show and taking a little more freedom…
Steeve: An upgrade!
Ion: The show is in tune with who we were when we created it, even if we always feel like the latest version is the most successful.
Frah: We're happy there! It's a weird cycle because you're like, "Oh, that's what I wanted to do." And then when you look back at the very old stuff and you think it was much better… with a Toy Club trampoline! But it can work out. I think the production will please if we tell them we want a trampoline.
Solidays is a committed festival. What are your commitments?
Frah: We are quite concerned by ecological problems. We are currently working on a big project for the Nicolas Hulot Foundation that will see the light of day next week; It took us 3 years of work. This is our big file!
Learn more about Shaka Ponk's eco-project
Frah: We love coming to put our little stone in the building of the work of Solidarité Sida and do concerts at Solidays. It is very pleasant beyond the cause.What else do we do… We actually took vows of chastity in Shaka Ponk. It is our way of avoiding the proliferation of the disease and of participating in the fight against AIDS.
Steeve: But it's not a solution that suits everyone…
Frah: Well, it's not just for that; We decided to stop sex completely (laughs). On the other hand, for those who continue, we all know that as an old the only solution against the virus is protection. But the problem is that the new generations don't know it. There is a lot of education work. Make kids understand that what they don't see is still present… and dangerous!
You said you had collaborated with the Nicolas Hulot Foundation. Since he has been in government he has offered you something?
Frah: Nicolas? Not. On the other hand, we offered him a lot of stuff but he answers more. Since he has been in government, he has been left alone. The poor man, I think he has a lot to deal with; It must not be obvious. For the moment we do without him but he works in submarine, in secret.
You have put definitions on your website including that of Backstage: "Games room entirely dedicated to the pleasure of the artist". How will the backstage be tonight?
Steeve: We're full of artists, so imagine, it's going to be crazy!
Frah: There, we've already seen foosball stuff…
Steeve: I've seen giant ducks…
Frah: A great bar… What's going to be pretty good is to see all the other artists. That's what's great about festivals. Some you can't sack them, but go… "That's okay buddy! " There is a good spirit.
Do you have a message for Solidays?
Steeve: It's a beautiful festival where you can gather under the sun, the weather is nice. There's music. And then just find a little lightness to address or not subjects. There are people who drop by just to listen to music. But when you have smiles on your faces, it makes you want to stop, talk to people, talk about everything. Here, indeed, there is something that is targeted and people come to raise awareness as well. We are the first by the way! We know just now about sexuality, but we do not have too much time to talk about new technologies. We leave with pockets full of good ideas.
Find the postponement of their concert at Solidays
