INTERVIEW - Recent Interview with French Dogs by Rob Bartlett for ’In the Frame’...
Not many DJ’s can say their inspiration was a 30-yard Jim Dobbin screamer against Oldham: in fact you’d find it a rarity.
Therefore, it was time for me to delve deep into the musical mind of "French Dogs", the social movement embracing nightlife within Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
I met with creative duo Jack Johnson and Chris Mills to discuss music, libido and cultural gate keeping... To put it plainly, French Dogs is the hottest, alternative Indie/Electro night in Cleethorpes. It’s a DJ set with a bit of a difference.
Instead of being bound by the limitations of expected playlists, French Dogs is an institution in the making. It’s a social movement, fixated upon revolutionising the way an audience might think about music. Well, I suppose anything beats a night in of ball-scratching and a Pot Noodle.
It all started as a laugh – a term coined as a result of two dogs pissing about on the living room floor, and an eagerly awaited Babyshambles album. The boys then began to explain how a shoddy night out in Cleethorpes provided 10% inspiration and 90% getting rat-arsed.
"We were at a DJ night last summer, and to be honest, we didn’t like it. These people were doing it for themselves, rather than the audience. We just thought we could do better than that" Jack said.
Chris added: "It was an easy step, I mean at first it was a bit of a joke, but we have a pretty strong choice of music – we want to give people the music they want to hear. We’re not pretentious or stupid; we just play good music that people want."
Song selection is a key part of French Dogs: whereas other DJ sets seem regimented and samey, the boys pride themselves on their song mixes. The set also lacks microphones, so the music flows rather than being interrupted by the overly arrogant rants of professional DJ’s. A little risky, you might think, but it’s this bit of ingenious that has attracted an alarmingly rising fan-base.
"We were shocked by the reaction of our first night – at first, only friends really knew what we were about. The amount of random people that turned up at our first night was pretty amazing." Chris said.
"There was lots of positive feedback; people said it was about time there was a decent indie night out here and that we were it. The best perk was simply getting a lot of sound people in one room for one night – people loved it, and that was great" Jack added.
Probably most impressed was the venue, Willys Bar in Cleethorpes. French Dogs first night quadrupled the expected takings, leaving the big-wigs pretty chuffed. If that was the start, what more was there to come?
Plenty, as it turns out.
French Dogs have many projects in the pipeline, and at the time of print, will have hosted a second night at Willys. Even changing names is in the frame, to move away from the jokey-theme of frolicking dogs.
A new website is also being constructed, helping to look at making French Dogs a brand.
"We’re moving from strength to strength, and eventually we want to take French Dogs to presenting nights, as well as keeping the original DJ set. Something I want to get in to with French Dogs is to present nights that feature bringing live bands to Grimsby and Cleethorpes and to help local bands get gigs, stuff like that" Jack explained.
"We’re also looking at holding two nights in the summer, maybe at a bigger venue. We’ve even discussed the thought of doing podcasts and, eventually, a radio show" Chris added.
So, French Dogs in five years time? Celebrity girlfriends, space-walking and reclaiming the Pier apparently. Well, hopefully.
"We want to be the biggest fish in this pond, then to take our fish to a different pond" Chris put it, a little ironically (Grimsby is a fish-town, mostly).
During this interview, it was obvious to note that Chris and Jack were two completely different personalities, which is why they both work well together – in some ways, it’s like a marriage. Asked about preparation, the boys admitted their opposites:
"There is a lot of difference – I’m one of those people who can’t enjoy themselves unless they know what is happening" Chris said.
"Whereas I’m someone who likes a drink before I do anything and I like to mix it up between being slightly organised and a little bit off the cuff, a bit more spontaneous" Jack said.
However, one thing they did agree on was the most difficult thing to achieve next: coping with the pressure to better their successful, yet almost disaster, opening night.
"We were supporting (Grimsby based band) The Brightlights, and everything almost went tits up. We got there and realised that we didn’t have the right equipment. Fortunately, the band did and helped us out, and we had a really great night." Jack said.
"But now the pressure is on to exceed the expectations on the second night. It’s like a difficult second album. We want to blow people out of the water" Chris added.
It’s not all about exceeding expectations, though. French Dogs is there to bring people together, to help the area become recognisable for the right reasons, and to embrace new fans to their regime.
"French Dogs is like an opera. It attracts a better class of people; sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it has laughs. But at the end, everyone comes out fulfilled."
Carmen must be shitting in its boots.
I've posted , I've not posted in the live-chat yet, and I've not been spotted yet.