Deleo- The power of the cosmic
Interview conducted on March 18, 2020
by Dan Locke
There are those for whom the planets suddenly align, and when this magic ends up reaching us we call them stars. We have the impression that it is sudden, but who knows what path they’ve taken to get there? They may have had to go through several lives before arriving in this form.There is no doubting this has been the case for Deleo and the band’s songwriter and mastermind Denis Navarro. While Deleo’s singer is young, the music sublime and the production as polished as if it dropped from the heavens, behind it all is Denis, who is no Gen Z newcomer. This native of Montpellier in the south of France grew up with Depeche Mode, the Cure, Joy Division and David Bowie – indie music is in his DNA.
Band Members: Emy Eris, Romain Viguier, Nicolas Gaeremynck, Robin Olivier
Dan Locke: Denis- In the bio, it states you have music in your DNA. Are you related to either Dan Navarro (Lowen and Navarro) or Dave Navarro (Jane’ Addiction and Finger Eleven) and Fats Navarro ( Jazz Trumpet)?
Not at all or I am not aware of it! I will inquire and see the answer again;)
Emy- Tell me about Phact and how long have you been playing the ukulele?
-My cousin made music at the time under the name of Phact and suddenly we made this project together, between to stars, it was a few years ago -I have been making ukulele for about 3 years, I am self-taught and my level is quite low for now.
Emy- Since you play a ukulele, I am going to name some songs with ukulele in them. I would like you to say something about each if you can.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow- Israel Kamakawiwoole
All of Me- John Legend
A Thousand Years- Christina Perri
Banana Pancakes- Jack Johnson
Blank Space- Taylor Swift
Can’t Help Falling in Love- Elvis Presley
Count on Me- Bruno Mars
Here Comes the Sun- The Beatles Ho Hey- The
Lumineers Hey There Delilah-
Plain White T’s Island in the Sun- Weezer
Love Song- Taylor Swift
Perfect- Ed Sheeran
The shape of You- Ed Sheeran
The Judge- Twenty One Pilots
Valerie- Amy Winehouse
If I had to talk about all the titles where there is ukulele I think I would need the day. There are still songs that I particularly like like Can’t help falling in love which is the first title I learned.
The traditional Israel songs Kamakawiwool, somewhere over the rainbow, which is a basic, is probably part of the repertoire of all the ukulele fans and of course The Judge of twenty-one pilots which was my first cover produced and which is a song that I love so much.
How did you get your band’s name?
Deleo is the contraction of Denis and Eléonore of the first singer’s first name when Deleo was, in fact, a duet.
You were developed by James Sanger, who is that?
James Sanger is a star producer of the 2000s, he discovered and launched the group, Keane, with whom he gained several Grammys with the album Somewhere Only We Know, etc… he produced the flagship albums of Dido (Here with me) and has collaborated with Brian Eno for 2 U2 albums. His bio is enormous, he collaborated with a multitude of stars (Annie Lennox, Phil Collins, Brian Ferry, etc…). Check out Discogs;)
You are from French. Why did you master your CD in England?
We have been rocked to British pop and rock from an early age. We write in English and our music sounds Anglo-Saxon… Our producer is English so it was normal to have our first album mastered by Metropolis. We hope to enjoy success in Anglo-Saxon countries.
And how is Brexit going to affect your band with touring?
Don’t know yet!
I saw online, that most of the cd was recorded live?
Not our album. It has been recording in the studio of James Sanger in Normandy.
Any plans to tour?
Work in progress…
How do you see yourselves in five years?
Worldwide touring and living in UK or states
Anything you like to say in closing?
Continue to follow Deleo, our EP is released in May and the first album is released for November!
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