David Eugene Edwards and Jean-Yves Tola were invited by the Aligre FM radiostation, Paris (FR), where they performed the following accoustic set:

During the show an interview was conducted partly in French by Richard Stradiotti. Underneath you can find the translation/transcript:

Fortunately, one of the 2 musicians we have here speaks French, so JYT will translate for me...
JYT: Yeah, well I'll try!... So let's introduce ourselves... there's DEE, who sings, plays the guitar, the banjo and the concertina, and also a bit of keyboards on the record, and myself, JYT. I do percussion and the piano. The 2 others aren't here; bassist Pascal Humbert and guitarist Steve Taylor.

So there are 2 Americans and 2 Frenchmen in the band ...
JYT: Yes.

I know you 2 worked with Theo Hakola (Passion Fodder). Have you met the others members of 16HP through him?
JYT: Indirectly, yeah. Pascal & I played with Passion Fodder. We followed the band to the USA and settled there, about 12 years ago, almost. And that's how we met, we all worked on film sets in LA; that's how we met David. Then well, Passion Fodder split, and David, Pascal & I started playing together. And to make a long story short, David and I went to Denver. And that's where we really started 16HP. Now it's about 7 or 8 years ago.

Your music sounds very inspired by the roots of American music. Isn't it too difficult for 2 Frenchmen to fit in such a background, a culture that is so different from French culture?
JYT: Pascal & I grew up listening to American music, and that's also why we felt at ease in the US. Actually, we don't really think about that... being French, or American... Well a Swedish girl plays the violin with us; she's American, but of Swedish origin. We just don't think about that, we do what we wanna do and that's it.

Isn't it too hard to play...country music today? Let's say country because that's what your music sounds closest to. First of all, could we say you play country music? Do you mind?
JYT: It's not that we don't mind, but still, the word's not suitable. We don't really try to define the style of music we play. We just have to think about it when being asked. We talk about that among ourselves, but we wouldn't say we play country music. Of course, there are country influences. David listened to and played a lot of country music, so it is quite present. But we think it's more of a mix between different kinds of music, different origins.

Let's say a word about the songs...David's the lyricist... so what are the lyrics about?
David: I just talk about me ... my own thoughts ... my own experience. It is very personal, I guess, ... I don't really sing about a certain subject necessarily ...

It doesn't really tell the actual story ...
David: I guess I see the music in picture, when I talk about the picture ... maybe it's something I've seen or that I imagined. I guess I just use those images to get to say whatever I'm saying, whatever point of the lyric is. It's very visual.

Does he write the music as well?
JYT: He described it in his music. It's the same. It's very pictorial for all of us. Actually, we all add our own pictures to the music. To respond to you last question: Most of the songs on the first 2 records were written by David, some of them are pretty old. Now on this record, the songs are more recent, and David and I, especially, worked together on the music -but not on the lyrics.

Your latest album sounds more representative of the whole band...
JYT: Yeah, especially because we produced it. We put all our hearts into it.

Why? Didn't you find a producer, or...
JYT: No, that's what we wanted. We worked with producers for the first 2 albums, and that's something we enjoy, we really like working with people, but for this record we wanted to go for it and produce it ourselves. So we took the risk, thinking that maybe it wouldn't go well... and actually we're rather satisfied with the result!

Release date March 27th, is it? So you signed with Glitterhouse, quite a legendary label, though not as famous as it used to be. Why did you choose Glitterhouse? By chance, or...
JYT: No, we were in touch with different record companies, and Glitterhouse seemed the most interested and motivated, that's what really matters to us. We don't mind whether it's a major or an independent label. We pay more attention to the people behind the company.

Does the fact that they're German pose a problem? Do they have a branch in the US?
JYT: No. Our contract covers Europe only. Doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the world.

And in the USA?
JYT: We signed with another record company.

Isn't this situation too difficult? Maybe you don't deal with that directly?
JYT: No, we sometimes do. Actually, it was our choice. We really wanted to work with a European label in Europe. We think they know what's going on out here better than Americans, and vice versa. We think it's better to work with an American label in the USA.

Yet labels like Matador, for instance, are present in England and also in the USA...
JYT: Well according to our own experience, especially as regards bands like us -because we're not on Top 40- many American labels think they know how to work in Europe, but they actually don't, and vice versa, maybe. (laughing)

On the website, there's a long page taking up all the quotations from the Bible. Why are there so many of them?
David: That's why I say I sing ... things are very personal to me, that's what I sing about ... that's my life, I guess. Everything that I do and that I'm involved in, has got something to do with that in some way. I believe in it, so it effects everything that I do, hopefully.

Well incidentally, religion and country music have always been somewhat linked in American history...
David: Well, it doesn't happen anymore. I think that maybe one time, when country music started in America, the majority considered themselves Christian people. And they all came out of a heavy church background. Just like me, they sing about what their lives entails ...

How do you feel about the "preaching aspect" of it all, which must be quite important in the USA? Don't you mind being associated with that kind of sectarian aspect?
David: Of course it is a problem ... there is no way around it. I don't think it is ever easy to have the faith that I have in the world that I live in. ... for many different reasons ... that's why it is faith.

Especially in the rock scene, I guess... It's not really excepted. It mustn't look too good...
JYT: Yeah, people tend to label you.

Don't you have problems with the Christian groups in the US? Don't they try to use you?
JYT: Oh no, they don't want us!

Or don't they mind you using quotations from the Bible?
David: There are some people in it that really like the music ... and I'm sure others wouldn't want to have it.

Your new album will be released in March. There is a chance to see you touring. Will you go on tour?
JYT: Yeah, we'll play in France in May. We don't now the exact date, but ...

Do you tour a lot?
JYT: Yeah, it's very important for us, but it's also very important for the people who come see us play. Many people listen to the records and don't really understand what's going on. Then they see us live, and they can draw a parallel... they're a bit enlightened.

What's more, the band really excels in playing live... Everybody's impressed with your gigs. Songs follow on from each other quickly, without blanks ...
JYT: We have toured a lot, and we will tour a lot. As I've said, playing live is vital to us, there aren't 2 gigs alike, and there aren't 2 moments alike in the same gig. That's the way our music lives, that's the way we enjoy playing. We enjoy recording, too, but it soon tends to be stiff; when a song's over, it IS over. Whereas on stage, songs evolve constantly, and our musical intentions and desires may change.

Up to improvisation? Maybe not?
JYT: A... controlled improvisation. There is room left for the musicians... the way our songs are structured leaves room for music to assume another shape on stage. That's something intuitive for us. Sometimes, we'll play a song and for some reason it'll be quite stiff, and sometimes, the same song will just go wild. But the song remains the same, it's not real live improvisation like some bands do.

On your previous album, you worked with Bertrand Cantat and Noir Désir on "The Partisan", which attracted quite a bit of attention... from Leonard Cohen ... in English (laughing). How did it come about you played with them, and how come you chose that song? Because Cohen has a bit sunk into oblivion lately, so it was a good idea to bring him back into the limelight.
JYT: Pascal & I have known Bertrand & Noir Désir for a long time, we've always been in touch with them, and 16HP gave us the occasion to spend time in France more often, so we saw them again, and played a few gigs with them, we opened gigs for them 2 or 3 years ago, and David, Bertrand, Sergio [Noir Désir's guitarist], well everybody got along instantly, that was great. And musically, we were very much compared with the Gun Club, in France, the Netherlands, well in all European countries...

Really? I wouldn't have thought of them...
JYT: Well it's a major influence for us, and Noir Désir's been through that too, people stuck the "Gun Club label" on them, so we thought "let's just go right ahead". At first we wanted to cover a Gun Club song, "Fire Spirit". We told him, and he was very enthusiastic about it, and so were we. We only spent a few hours in the studio, and we thought "let's do another song", and David very cleverly mentioned Cohen, because he's another great influence for us all. And Bertrand said it was a good idea. And we did it within a few hours.

But it wasn't released, was it?
JYT: Yeah, it was, on one of the 25 editions of the album! (laughing) Actually, it's funny it turned out as our most successful song.

A kind of hit, yeah. And have you shot videos?
JYT: Yeah, 2 videos for the first album, but not for the second. For the second album, we tried to do a mini-movie, that never reached Europe. I don't even know if it's been finished. And we've just finished a video for "Clogger". It's the first single of the album. We'll see, let's hope it'll be on TV. It's not easy for us -well for any band, actually- to have videos shown on TV.

And in France, there aren't many public channels likely to show them. Is it easier in the USA?
JYT: No, it's even worse! Our first 2 videos were shown on a few channels, here in France, on MTV Europe, 3 times, by chance... In the USA, it's extremely limited... There are some cities, some regions, that have kind of private channels, where they can be shown, but on the national level...

And what about college radios (Aligre fm is the equivalent of a college radio in France)? Is it any better?
JYT: Yeah, it's fine. It's such a vast country that it's really hard to be everywhere at the same time, so we tend to focus on certain regions at certain times.

Where do you live?
JYT: The band is based in Denver, the guitarist lives in Louisiana, and I live in California.

So you don't live in the same area! Isn't it too difficult?
JYT: No, it's alright, we all used to live together for a couple of years, and after a while... We've worked a lot, toured a lot together, but we've got our own lives to lead, apart from music... We've got families, and as soon as we can, we try to live our own lives... It's good for the mind.

Don't you miss France? I guess you spend a long time here...
JYT: Yeah, all my youth.

Isn't it too hard to get used to the American way of life?
JYT: It wasn't easy. It's never easy to leave your country, whoever you are, wherever you come from, you always have to go through a kind of transition... When you don't know what you're doing there, but I've been so lucky to meet David, and music tremendously helped me... Playing, meeting people... So I'm OK, I miss people more than France per se, I miss my family and friends.

And how is it going in England? It must be hard, well it's always hard for any non-English band...
JYT: Yeah, England's hard for everyone! But they haven't heard the last of us... We're interested in England; you have an audience there, for any kind of music, although they're quite difficult to reach. But we hope that this record will do well, even if we already did things that worked in England. Yet, the media's the big problem, it's always been; because of the media, people don't really have the choice, not as much as they should, at least.

David, do you have a message for the Parisians?
David: It's on the record. (laughing)

Zanks