The Dove & The Wolf

By Serenat Kivilcim

The Dove & The Wolf (link) consists of 2 French gals, Paloma and Lou, raised on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean; one in Paris and the other on the French Caribbean island of Martinique. In 2004, Paloma and Lou started playing together, finally forming this project 8 years later. Six months after creating the band, they released, self-produced, and distributed their first EP that gained lots of attention and praise from the New York Times.

The duo just got back from a 7 week North American tour, including an opening act for their big sister Rachael Yamagata, and they are currently working on their first full length album to be released in 2015. Their music can be described as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young meets a feminine tenor.

Black on the Canvas chatted with the beautiful and talented ladies of the duo about their music, life and more…

INTERVIEW

What’s the story behind the name “The Dove and the Wolf”?

Lou: The name of the band comes from our first names. Paloma is Spanish for ‘dove’ and Lou sounds like ‘loup’, ‘wolf’ in French.

If I’m not mistaken you both are in college. How do you juggle your busy college life with being a full time musician?

Paloma: Last year in April, we were recording songs at our friend Rachael Yamagata’s home studio and one morning over breakfast she offered us a chance to go on tour with her in the fall. Lou had just finished her Bachelor’s in architecture, and I was doing a master’s degree in film, so we left college to become full time musicians. It wasn’t a very hard decision to make!

Lou: Not to mention the fact that school is free in France, so it wasn’t such an irresponsible thing to do.

Your recent release of “The Words You Said” has a magnificent video which is directed by Zack Spiger. How was the experience working with such a talented artist?

Lou: Oh thank you! It was a very unique experience. We were very lucky to be able to work with such a talented crew. Everyone was very excited about the project and there are worse places to be working for 5 days… Ibiza is such a magical island and so full of surprises, it’s really not what you think it is!

Paloma: Also, we are big fans of Zack’s work and we love the fact that he only shoots film. So when he asked us to work together, we were super excited and decided to let him pick the song for the video. It’s amazing to work with someone you really trust on an artistic level.

Who primarily writes the lyrics?

Lou: No one primarily writes the lyrics. We mostly write them together.

Which albums have captured your interest of late?

Paloma: ‘Hey Ho’ by Blake Mills, ‘Sitcom Afterlife’ by Frontier Ruckus and ‘Lost in the dream’ by the War on Drugs

Lou: ‘Brightly Painted One’ by Tiny Ruins, ‘Are We There’ by Sharon Van Etten and ‘Phox’ by Phox

Who would you say are your favorite French artists are right now?

L&P: Véronique Sanson is our favorite!

Do you have any upcoming concerts planned in North America?

Paloma: We’re mostly working on our debut album right now and we will be playing at SXSW in March!

What are your favorite musical destinations in Paris that you would recommend?

Paloma: There is a record store that we really like called Fargo in the 11th.

Lou: There are a lot of really great venues but Le Trianon is probably our favorite, if you ever get a chance to see a show there, you should absolutely go!

As you are both from France, I will assume that you have a taste for fashion. Who is your favorite designer?

L&P: Uniqlo keeps us warm right now and it’s really the only thing that matters! As long as it’s comfortable and black, we love it.



Any last words you would like to add?

L&P: We’re from Paris, France! Our fans (or anyone that happened -was lucky enough- to be at one of our shows) will understand. Et merci!