Betty Argo comes visiting from France

French band Betty Argo will perform on World Music Day, along with India’s Soulmate.

French band Betty Argo will perform on World Music Day, along with India’s Soulmate.

Who are they?
A four-member French band named Betty Argo.

Why should you care?
It is a modern Indie-pop band influenced by 70’s reggae, rock and a little bit of jazz. Getting inspiration from their daily lives, their songs are about the relation between time, reality and dreams. This genre of music is popularly growing in Europe among the youth.

How long have they been around?
Since 2009. It began as an acoustic-duet with Lena and Arnaud (lead guitarist) and then became a four-member band when Sam (bass guitar) and Jeremie (drums) joined.

Why this name?
In the 1950’s, there was a lady called Betty Argo in a small Swedish village. She used to help sad people by taking them around in her sledge. When she died in 2008, the band heard of this strange story, found it quite moving and adopted the name. Also, the band has a Swedish link through lead vocalist Lena.

What makes them click?
Betty Argo is more than a musical experience, as they are all close friends. This comes through in all their songs and performances. The band creates their own musical sound and pens down their own compositions.

Their take on Indian music?
Though they have not had a chance to listen to many Indian artistes, they cherish their recent performance with a Rajasthani musician who played the tabla for them. They listen mostly to Indian classical music. “But since we’ve got here, we’ve had a chance to hear a bit of bollywood music, in which we specially liked the high tune of the female voice contrasting with the lower voice of the men,” says Lena. The Indian experience “It’s been great so far and above our expectations. The country is beautiful, and is so different from one place to another. Regarding the shows, we didn’t know what to expect at first because what we do is completely different from Indian music. But the audience was quite receptive,” says Lena.

How to reach them?
Facebook is the best and fastest way for fans to connect to Betty Argo.

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More on the band
The band has recently come out with an Extended Play (EP) of six songs and they will be recording their first album in August in Brussel’s oldest studio. Lena says that her favourite song from their EP is ‘70 Blocks’ and recommends it as a ‘must lis

Catch them live
What: Fete de la Musique
Where: Florian, Third Floor MGF Mall, Saket
When: June 25
Entry Fee: Free
Time: 9pm onwards
Nearest Metro Station: Saket on the Yellow Line