Almost unknown in the United States, 16HP is more successful in France, where their dark rock music, crossbred with country, appealed to Nick Cave's fans. For the release of their beautiful new album, Secret South, we've met 16HP's singer David Eugene Edwards.

You allegedly had problems with your label A&M…
DEE: After we released our 2nd album, our label had inner problems: they didn't make money, the situation was awkward because they were about to be bought by Universal. And when they were bought, we were left high and dry, along with 200 other bands. Which was somehow a good thing for us, because the record company didn't do anything for 16HP whatsoever. We knew we wouldn't go far with them anyway, because we don't sell many albums and TVs and radios don't play our songs. They did what they could do.

Is this the reason why you produced your new album?
No, we had already decided so. We wanted the album to sound exactly like we wanted. We believed in ourselves, and it worked. Producers always add their personal brands to the records they produce. They often have strong personalities. They have their own perception of your music.

What are the differences between this album and the other 2?
The songs are fresher. I had written most of the songs from the first 2 albums before the band started. Secret South is more the result of a cooperation, mostly between Jean Yves and myself. It gives our music a different turn. It reflects the band in itself, not just the way someone else perceives us.

Your manager lives in London, and you say you spend most of your time in Europe…
The European audience had a quicker reaction to our previous albums. Journalists were more interested in us. The United States are so wide that it takes a while to make it there. So we focused more on Europe, where we're becoming more and more successful. Here, like many jazz or country musicians, we sound pretty exotic. In the U.S., people may be under the impression that it's nothing new.

Yet country's big in the U.S., isn't it?
Yeah, but it's far more commercial than the kind of country that is successful here. In the U.S.A., it's a recipe devised to make money, backed up by radios. Genuine country bands sometimes get a better response in Europe than in the U.S.

Do you play country music?
No. I'd describe our music as "traditional AND modern". It is country insofar as it is rooted in American, Hungarian, French traditions, etc, at the same time. It is influenced by folk, in the folkloric meaning of the word. On the other hand, some songs, based on guitars, sound rather modern. And we play traditional instruments in a modern way.

Is your album, entitled Secret South, representative of Southern U.S.' music?
No. But some aspects of our music stem from Southern states' history and culture, and indeed, my love for that land influences the way I write.

There is the same dramatic side about 16HP as in Nick Cave's work…
Pictures play a great part in our way of writing. Whenever I write lyrics or music for a song, I see a picture or a movie. It's highly visional. I "see" songs more than I hear them.

The fact that you are a "renowned" Christian and mention God in interviews makes 16HP appear as a Christian band, whereas the other members don't share your views. How do you handle this?
We don't claim to be a Christian band. The media spreads this idea. But admittedly, religion is a recurrent theme in the lyrics.

Without any hint at racism, would you say that you play "white music"?
Yeah, even if rock or bluegrass owe a lot to black slaves' music in plantations. The American white man is very good at taking whatever he's interested in and leaving the rest. Unconsciously, there are necessarily elements of blues in that music. But on the whole, our music is "white".

Are you labeled as a mainstream or an alternative band?
More alternative than alternative music itself! Our music cannot be included in any category: neither really rock nor really country. But now, the alternative scene is a market, in the same way as the other trends, with its own record shops and radios. In such a way that any band that plays something different from alternative music cannot belong to that category anymore! But actually, we couldn't care less.

Translation by Magali.