Credit: Found On Internet

The name Phoebe Killdeer suggests an action hero to rival Lara Croft. And on stage she’s that and more, much more than a member of Nouvelle Vague. At her recent showcase concert at France’s Trans Musicales Festival, it was an accomplishment just to worm a way in and stand up. The numbers squeezing in cocked a snoop at fire regulations and the performance didn’t disappoint. In stark contrast to Nouvelle Vague, Phoebe Killdeer & The Short Straws are like a PJ Harvey with more rockabilly references and less tortured souls.

Phoebe Killdeer remembers the steamy excitement of it all with Music Towers: “The gig at Rennes was enjoyable in a mad sense, and very relieving! It was the last gig this year for us and we were very excited about playing, it was very important for us. We’ve played maybe a dozen shows now.”

Her band is made up of Cedric Le Roux (guitar), Raphael Seguinier (drums) and Alex King (bass). Phoebe explains how the project works, “Actually most of the songs on the album were written before joining Nouvelle Vague. I wrote all of them except ‘Jack’ which was co-written with Carlos Mejuto from Carlos & The Bandidos, a fantastic rockabilly singer. And the music, well, I would come up with the backbone of the song, and took it as far as my capabilities as a musician took me. I would put down a rough guitar, a few keys and some percussion rhythms and Marc Collin would help me make it sound how it sounds now on the album.” It should be noted that Marc Collin is not only one of the two Nouvelle Vague producers but also records as Avril for F Communications and the equally excellent Volga Select for Output.

Phoebe, who is currently based in Paris, grew up in France with her Australian parents and sister Chloe. She recalls how she got into music: “I’ve always been a music lover, always listened to a lot of music and wanted to learn an instrument or somehow be involved in music. I suppose it was about ten years ago when I started writing lyrics. I started out doing some spoken word at jam sessions in London. I needed work and Chloe got me a job as a sound engineer that I enjoyed for the next 7 years. I kept going to jam sessions where I would meet up with producers with whom I’d try out composing in various genres of music, until I decided to try producing myself. I’d put down a few ideas and Chloe (Phoebe’s manager) would send them out and that's how I got into Nouvelle Vague and finalising my solo project.