A musical rendezvous with Betty Argo

A rare combination of strong sounds and onstage theatrics, French band Betty Argo performed to a packed house during the Fete de la Musique. Tanvi Dube caught up with the band and spoke about their music, influences and India.

With a strong and sexy female lead vocalist, ripping guitars, theatrical personas and characteristic French sound, Betty Argo, who performed in the city recently, enthralled the crowd with their foot tapping numbers. Girls were swooning over the handsome boys and the guys shouted out praises in French to the lead vocalist. French are known for their poise and elegance and this band combined these traits with a tinge of aggression in their performance, which gave the audience an adrenalin rush.

Betty Argo came to India to perform at various cities including Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore amongst other cities. When asked about what lead them to come to the Indian sub-continent, Lena Roucaute, lead vocalist and lyricist, replied, "The idea was proposed to us by the director of AF Kathmandu, Elise Tassin, when she saw us perform at a gig in south France. We are very happy that we came here".

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The ever smiling composer and lead guitarist, Arnaud Cabibel was excited about performing in front of the Indian audience and said, "Indian people are very expressive, they dance and shout and it is great."

The ladies at the gig had a great time ogling at the bassist Samuel Strouk. Unlike his band mates, Sam has been to India three times and was highly impressed by the Indian youth. He commented, "In India, it's like a 'rock-explosion'. For example, in Mumbai, there are many rock and hard rock players and they really enjoy new music from west. Also, people here love jazz which maybe because the improvisation and interaction between musicians is similar to the Indian traditional music."

Meanwhile, the seemingly reclusive drummer, Jérémie Pontie kept to himself throughout the conversation but impressed us with his beat-boxing skills when the band was asked to give a demo of their song My Playground.