When you think of garage rock, I’m pretty sure Geneva, Switzerland isn’t the first place to pop into your head. The Staches are working hard to change that.
I hate to simply paint them with the “garage” brush though, there’s some other really cool influences going on here like Sonic Youth and the 70s new wave post punk of Destroy All Monsters, Swell Maps and The Raincoats. It’s the synths man!
Their first LP Machine was released in 2014 followed by a bunch of singles and the EP III (Six Tonnes de Chair / Burger Records / Gnar Tapes) in September 2015.
The Staches have just released their second record – Placid Faces (on Bongo Joe Records and on cassette in the US from Dumpster Tapes in December) and our friends over at Six Tonnes de Chair Records released the first single – Total Commitment, a sneering nugget of post-punk, and a perfect intro to what The Staches are all about.
Over a barrage of fuzzed out guitars, throbbing bass, crashing drums and hissing synths vocalist Lise Sutter delivers with the attitude of a bored, sneering, defiant teenager. That the record was mastered by Mikey Young of the mighty Eddie Current Suppression Ring is telling, The Staches have a lot in common with the Australian punks.
We hooked up the band for a little Q&A.
We are….THE STACHES
Lise Sutter : lead vocal / synth
Charlotte Mermoud : bass / vocal
Léo Marchand : guitar
Martin Burger : drums
Tell us about your hometown scene…
We’re from Geneva, Switzerland, and we could say that the garage scene there is not very developed. There is a few places where you can go listen to hip hop, electro, metal, all style etc… but the offer for music that we like, and play, is a bit restricted. There’s of course some associations who book cool concerts in nice venues but we’re hungry for more! We also organize shows in Geneva and it’s not always easy to find a venue that is not booked for months…
What influences The Staches lyrically?
Lise: I would say the music mostly, I usually write the lyrics when we’re working on the song, so that’s the main influence. Writers like Ron Padget and Frank O’hara have a big effect on me.
Describe your sound as a cocktail – what would it be called and what would be in it?
It would be called a “Labrocol Squizzzz” and it would contain broccoli juice and Clairette de Die
What songs do you remember most from your childhood?
Leo: Super Papa – Le derrière des gens
Charlotte: Henri Salvador – Salade de fruit
Martin: George Brassens – La mausaise réputation
Lise: Janis Joplin – Mercedes-Benz
If you could pick any time and place to travel back to for music, where would you go and what year would it be….?
Charlotte: pfff… It’s hard to choose… I guess I wouldn’t go too far and I’d go in Zürich, Switzerland, in the late 70’s / early 80’s to see Kleenex/Liliput on stage. I wonder how the public received this music (also made by only women), how the Zürich’s music scene looked like at this time, etc. I guess it should be inspiring.
What tunes are currently on heavy rotation for you…?
Leo: Ichon, Muddy Monk – Si l’on ride
Charlotte: Lithics – Shees
Martin: Puberty – Nature Calls
Lise: Lena Platonos – Ti nea psipsina
If you could tour with any band/artist right now who would that be and why?
Charotte: Terry, from Melbourne, Australia, because they just are two pairs of sweethearts and they make great music very inspiring for us! We organized their show in Geneva in September: awesome!
What would The Staches do with $100,000?
Build our own recording studio! Start a label! Build a fucking kickass venue/bar and make amazing bands play there and pay them very well!
(Laurent : Really ? You told me you would give all to Six Tonnes De Chair!)
Give us your 10 song playlist for the tour van/bus/plane?
Rupert Holmes – Escape (The Pinia Colada Song )
Ichon – Par Terre (prod. Sypher)
Natural Child – Sure Is Nice
The Garden – Devour
Sonny & The Sunsets – Moods
Cate Le Bon – Wonderful
Puberty – Teenage Death
Peoples Temple – Loose (Fire)
Alex Chilton – Rock Hard
The Feelies – Too Much
When you’re not playing and have some time off, where could we find you…
In our rehearsal place, working on new songs for The Staches or one of the different side projects we all have. Or at our favourite bar l’Ecurie, if there’s a cool show.
What’s up for the rest of 2016 and 2017?
We’re leaving on a European tour the whole November for the release of our new LP Placid Faces. We’ll be in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, England and more… it’s still in construction. And after that, we’re planning to move in Leipzig, Germany, to try to make our lives all about making, booking, eating, drinking and whatever more that concerns music.
THE STACHES EUROPE TOUR 2016
NOVEMBER
04 FRI – CH – Lausanne – Le Bourg – w/ OK Vancouver OK
05 SAT – CH – Genève – Hot Point – w/ OK Vancouver OK
06 SUN – CH – Bienne – Le Salopard – w/ OK Vancouver OK
09 WED – IT – Firenze – Nof
10 THU – IT – Roma – Fanfulla 5/A
11 FRI – IT – Pieve Santo Stefano – La Terrazza sul Lago
12 SAT – IT – Fidenza – Taun
13 SUN – IT – Carpi – Zazzabar
14 MON – FR – Marseille – Les 9 Salopards
15 TUE – FR – Perpignan – El Pati
16 WED – ES – Madrid – Funhouse
17 THU – PT – Porto – Maus Habitos
18 FRI – PT – Lisbon – Damas
19 SAT – PT – Bragança – Central Pub
20 SUN – PT – Viana do Castelo – Centro historico
22 TUE – FR – Bordeaux – Wunderbar
23 WED – FR – Paris – La Mécanique Ondulatoire – w/ Stratocastors
24 THU – FR – Lille – La Peniche – w/ L.A. Witch
25 FRI – UK – Brighton – Sticky Mike’s Frog
26 SAT – UK – London – Birthday’s
28 MON – BE – Gent – Krawietelke
29 TUE – BE – Antwerp – TBA
30 WED – NL – Groningen – De Spieghel
DECEMBER
01 THU – DE – Heilbronn – Data 77112
02 FRI – CH – Bern – Playground Lounge
03 SAT – CH – Lugano – TBA
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