It is with three nominations in its bag that the group Feu! Chatterton will address the 37th edition of the Victoires de la Musique this Friday. The quintet is in the running for the trophy for male artist, album (Clay Palace) and Song of the Year (new world). The thirty-something Parisians had previously been named in 2016, in the “stage revelation” category, then in 2019 among the “best rock albums” for The Birdcatcherbut the rules of the ceremony having since changed, they were not drawing any plans on the comet this year.
“We said to ourselves that we had little chance of being named and that the reduction of categories was going to benefit mainly the big variety artists”, confides the singer Arthur Teboul. Stage beasts, they imagined eventually being selected among the best concerts – however, the voters preferred Ben Mazué, Hervé and Woodkid to them in this area.
In the end, they made it into the top three categories. Fire! Chatterton greeted these three nominations with “joy and surprise”. “It is a source of pride to see that collective music can be represented in France today when the individual is greatly exalted”, slips Arthur Teboul who was not sure that a group could be considered as a “ male artist.
“Touring is the pulse of our success”
“We are faced with people who have a reputation, radio passages, a commercial impact much larger than ours. We don’t have the same media influence as Clara Luciani, Orelsan or Julien Doré, continues drummer Raphaël de Pressigny. So we take these nominations for recognition of the quality of what we do. »
To hear them, one would almost think that they imagine themselves to be intruders in the table of Victories. However, their place at the head table could not be more legitimate. Fire! Chatterton comes to the ceremony armed with an album, clay palace, gold record and a legion of sold-out concerts. “Touring is the pulse of our success. We had already made some beautiful ones previously but, here, we feel that it is different, affirms the guitarist Clément Doumic. The Zénith filled up very quickly, the Olympia in three days…”
“After ten years of practice, our audience is growing, supports Arthur Teboul. It’s a very nice dynamic that allows us to confirm, for those who don’t see us on TV or hear us on the radio, the fact that there is music a little outside of these channels and which is popular. »
“Our texts are full of puns, reflections, anguish…”
Like his name crossed by an exclamation mark – it is the combination of the expression “Fire! » and a tribute to the English poet Thomas Chatterton – the group values its uniqueness. Revealed on the stages of festivals (Le Printemps de Bourges, the Francofolies de La Rochelle…), the quintet gradually imposed its paw of intellectual dandies and injected a certain nonchalance into its dark and tortured tunes. “We think a lot and, generally, our texts are full of puns, reflections, anxieties…”, summarizes Arthur Teboul.
The combination hits the mark. In 2014, the year of the release of his first eponymous EP, Feu! Chatterton received the Felix-Leclerc Prize, encouraging the creation of young artists. Each of his subsequent releases – the EP Bic Medium in 2015, the albums here the day and The bird catcher in 2015 and 2018 – cemented its building a little more.
clay palace, released in March 2021, marks an important milestone for the group. “We are really proud of this record. The result is in line with our ambitions. We did something as we wanted, with new clarity, describes Arthur Teboul. It’s very pleasant to think that there is an alignment between the emotions that we feel and the public that receives them. And three Victoires de la Musique like so many ellipsis would be a perfect punctuation in the writing of this ongoing success.