First the Frenchie Froggy's. Now Fortune. India seems to have become a French musician favourite. The four-member French band touring India played a gig at the Alliance Francaise in the city last week. Besides playing their hearts out at every gig the boys are also in the country to expand their knowledge of Indian music beyond Pandit Ravishankar, Anoushka Shankar, and Punjabi MC.
Since it's inception in 2007, Fortune has made steady progress, first with the launch of an EP, “We also released our first album last year in France and England,” says Lionel, the lead vocalist of the band. The boys classify themselves as an electronic and indie pop band, which according to them stems from their childhood, spent listening to independent rock bands from other countries. “Our songs are in English, but this is not for any other reason except that in French, pop music is not so beautiful… in the sense it is difficult to make the melody sound nice. French music is attached to literature, which makes it difficult to work with. Maybe later we might write in French, but as of now we like what we are doing,” says Vince, the bass guitarist.
The band used to play covers but have now started writing their own songs and composing their own music. “We compose for our band and for other bands as well. Any band can come in and play covers; the challenge lies in coming up with your own compositions,” says Lionel. All the members of the band are full time musicians and are also involved in other projects besides Fortune.
“We named the band Fortune, because it is a word that can be understood in any language. Also it brings a sense of happiness and luck and in general it is a good word to introduce our music,” says Lionel about how they decided on a name for the band.
The band has different influences directing their music; Pierre brings in the hip-hop, Vince is influenced by the Beatles and Stevie Wonder, their drummer, Herve Loos is a hardcore metal fan and Lionel brings in the indie flavour.
“We just want to make good songs, which incorporate all our influences. We want to be happy with our music before we can share it with the world. All we can hope is you'll enjoy our music here in India,” concludes Lionel.
