Previous Posts in Interviews
- Portugal. The Man – BYT. The Interview
- Funny as Fuck: The Second City
- Will Eastman Interviews Bluebrain
- Mercenaries to the dream: A BYT interview with Hockey
- Bluebrain Interviews Will Eastman
- Pushing Things FORWARD….an in-depth interview with 88’s David Fogel
- BYT Interview: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
- BYT Interview: YACHT
- BYT Interview: STS9
- Geologist Interviews Tanya Tagaq
- BYT Interview: Small Black
- BYT Interview (+Giveaway): Mayer Hawthorne
- Interview & Tour Photos: Free Energy
- A Walk In The Park with John Davis of Title Tracks
- Interview: Long Walks On The Beach
- Inside the Artist Studio: Mia Feuer’s Suspended Landscape
- Gina Welch: An Atheist Jew Undercover In Evangelical America.
- A BYT Interview: Clare and the Reasons
- BYT Interview: Insideout
- Funny as Fuck: Dave Hill
- BYT Interview: Maggie Horn
- Check It: Sickboy’s Gleemix
- BYT Interview: Wild Beasts
- BYT Interview: Surfer Blood
- A Couple of Questions with: The Clientele
- BYT Interview: Fredrik
- BYT Interview: Mission of Burma
- The Art of Being Glamorous with: Leslie Hall
- BYT Interview: The Dig
- BYT Interview: Franz Nicolay
- Soundtrack of Our Lives: A BYT Interview
- BYT Interview: Tegan and Sara
- BYT Interview: Tortoise
- Phantogram: A BYT Interview
- Funny As Fuck: Andy Kindler vs. Ben Kronberg
- “Socks In Odd Places” We Were Promised Jetpacks – A BYT Interview
- Who Can Love You Like Me? Snowbody.
- BYT Interview: Outputmessage
- BYT interviews Paul DeVeaux, Writer/ Producer of Adams Morgan: The Movie.
- Funny As Fuck: Interviewing Louis CK in a Snow Castle
- Inside The Artist’s Studio: Matt Sesow and Dana Ellyn
- Jackass Journalism: Morgan Spurlock @ the Corcoran
- BYT Interviews Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields
- That’s So Sundance: Part 7
- BYT Interview: Of Montreal and James Husband’s Jamey Huggins
- BYT Interview: Thievery Corporation
- BYT Interview: Elaine Showalter (yeah, Michael Showalter’s mom)
- Funny As Fuck: Todd Barry
- That’s So Sundance Part 5: Live from Greenland
- BYT Interview: Amanda Blank
BYT Interview: The Teenagers
May 7, 2008 by Libby
Remember when you went abroad for a semester in college (the middle-class hajj) and hooked up with that sleazy European national??? Well he’s in town tonight.
THE TEENAGERS, a Parisian trio, based in London, are finally on their first American tour. Thank god, we’ve been waiting forever. If you haven’t yet, listen to the jams on their album, Reality Check, and the slew of remixes they’ve released. These fun nuggets are so awesome that they’ll make your ears feel like they’re dripping in chrome.

Between securing a liquor license for the relaunch party and the band’s sound check, BYT and the Teenagers were able arrange a quick interview with lead singer Quentin Delafon. Note: We didn’t go all-the-way but got to 1st base… maybe. To compensate for such a brief and superficial exchange and to prove that I’m not a tease I will supplement the interview with awesome music videos from the Teenagers, photos of Claudia Schiffer (Quentin loves her), and clips from the movie that had the most influence on me as a preteen, Wayne’s World (Wayne and Garth love Claudia too).
The Teenagers “Homecoming”
Wayne’s World
Claudia

BYT: You just played Coachella! What’d you think about that huge music festival?
Quentin: It was really really warm, we don’t have the skin for that temperature as we’re from France. We saw a lot of cool acts, like Prince, but we were drunk a lot so we don’t remember everything. Prince was really cool. Everyone said the sound was shit but they were all having a really good time
BYT: How has the rest of your state-side tour been?
Quentin: Yeah, we have just most recently been to Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, and Coachella. It’s nice, the people in America really understand our point.
BYT: So how have your American fans been like compared to your European fans?
Quentin: I always get this question. I think the Americans enjoy it more. I think the American fans are more enthusiastic. Like our song “Homecoming” it’s really a tribute to American youth, it’s not anti-American at all. (For reasons why people might accuse them of being anti-American read the lyrics of “homecoming” that poke fun at a transatlantic “romance”)
The Teenagers “Love No”
Wayne’s World
Claudia

BYT: You guys have had a lot of success with your remixes… is it possible that you’ve produced a bad one?
Quentin: Well yes, but you’re not going to hear them, people wouldn’t put them out. So you’ll never hear them. We sent one to Simian Mobile Disco and they said no. I think it was because it was too good, it was much better than the initial song. That may be me being a bit too cocky but… actually later they said, ‘we want’.
BYT: Have you had any terrible remixes of your songs?
Quentin: Oh yeah, some of them are really bad! Yeah, there is one that I really hate but will not say. But we have a really good remix of our song “Make it Happen” coming out I don’t remember who did it.
BYT: How have your digital sales of your album “Reality Check” been?
Quentin: Really well! Surprisingly America has been a really good market for us.
The Teenagers “Starlett Johansson”
Wayne’s World
Claudia

BYT: What can we expect from your live show?
Quentin: It should be cool we have played together a much longer time so it should be better. Now we have more fun and have more energy on stage. I have special moves now and depending on how I’m feeling I change the moves.
BYT: None of you are drummers. How do you deal with this in your live show?!
Quentin: We have a girl drummer and her name is Antonia. We also have a girl called Rebecca playing the second guitar and she plays some keyboards as well. So it’s like a Robert Palmer video.
Robert Palmer “Addicted to Love”
BYT: So they’re hot babes?
Quentin: Yeah, totally.
BYT: So when you guys eventually have an unlimited tour budget a la U2, how will your live show change?
Quentin: I would have like really cool stage props, maybe recreate a teenager’s bedroom. You know with like, a big bed with unicorn sheets and posters to recreate the atmosphere of a teenage bedroom. That would be cool. But no dancers cause they would steal my thunder.
BYT: Yeah, fuck the dancers. What would the posters be?
Quentin: Claudia Schiffer, you know the model from the nineties? I used to have a lot of pictures of her when I was a teenager.
DON’T MISS THE TEENAGERS TONIGHT AT BLACK CAT W/ WILL EASTMAN (WI’s favorite son)/ TEAM ROBESPIERRE
More Wayne’s World
The high-waistedness of Claudia’s bikini in that last pic is horrible. Horrible.
Sweet interview though.
May 7, 2008 at 10:01 amBetween the teenagers and team robespierre I find the latter more interesting and energetic. They deserve a little DC hype, too. Curious as to how the show will be tonight.
Apropos underhyped band… wtf happened last night at 9.30?? Shy Child and Midnight Juggernauts are playing and nobody shows up??? You guys missed a really good show.
May 7, 2008 at 10:07 amNihilistic Pleasure-
don’t worry, we’re doing something with Team Robespierre. AND we tried to go see midnight juggernauts!!! Things just don’t always work out. Write a review in comments! We’re on the same page.
I am not good in describing music and events. Sorry, can’t help here. All I can say is that the turn out (like 35 people, counting in 9.30 staff and band members) for two bands that produce fairly decent and danceable (!) music was akward. I mean, I’m used to that most band I like don’t really attract crowds but I would have expected that these two bands were more at DC’s taste level. They get much more attention in other cities. It was just very surprising, that’s all.
May 7, 2008 at 10:35 amThis band sucks. Worst concert I have ever been to in my life. No effort. No musical skills. Boring.
May 7, 2008 at 11:01 amChristina – you will love my record/packaging review then…
May 7, 2008 at 11:13 amclaudia schifferbrains’ favorite artist is hannah montana. that is all.
May 7, 2008 at 2:34 pmall this interview is making me feel is wish that I was in a Parisian trio currently residing in London. Can we somehow make that happen?
May 7, 2008 at 7:14 pm
















I KNEW The Teenagers were going to be front & center on this site today. I can’t believe all the attention they are getting.
May 7, 2008 at 9:09 am