KING KONG MEUF
(Punk Grrr, Montreuil)
King Kong Meuf is a singer (BeBe), a bass player (Jack), a drummer (Didi) and a guitarist (Sofiane). But above all, it’s a huge straight to your face explosion from Montreuil, with powerful tunes sounding like cries of fury (BB l’Trophé, C Deg, Kass1Tete, F.T.G. (les punks), Privilèges, PanikABord.. .). And honestly, this happy mess does everyone good. On stage, “KKM” have fun, ignore the codes and dust off an aging punk scene, far too masculine, and nostalgic for a so-called “good old days”.
The new scene is ready to fuck shit up, without looking back or apologizing for being there. >>LETS GO!
| Interview by Polka B. | Translation by NinoFutur
Photos : @harshivvv @crade_ @freshashin @aled.jpg @rmonsieurjemy @artof_joy @pascal.de.paris.fotos
You did your first gig very young! Before that, how did you start going to punk shows in Montreuil?
BeBe: For me it was through my parents, particularly my father. Anyway, Montreuil’s small. You quickly know everyone there, because parents hangs out and their children know each other too. We quickly find ourselves in the same concerts because there aren’t many there!
Didi: Personally, I’m not from Montreuil. Since we met, I started going to punk gigs.
Jack: On Wednesdays, I used to go to the jams sessions at La Comédia (old concert hall in Montreuil, ED). Mostlyy for playing. I saw the concert posters there and I went!
After you met each others, what pushed you to form King Kong Meuf? Because there are almost no band as this young active, and even fewer girls!
BeBe: I was fed up about going to the same concerts, seeing the same persons and the same sets each time. Guys who can’t even finish because they’re way too drunk and start throwing up on the drums. It pissed me off. If no one tries to do something else, well, personally, I was fucked! I didn’t know how to do anything in particular, but that doesn’t matter.
Jack: It’s thanks to you! I knew I wanted to do a musical project. It was when I met you that we started talking about this. It hyped me up. We didn’t necessarily want to do something “for girls only”. That wasn’t the main idea. It happened naturally.
Didi: That’s it. We simply make music with friends. That’s what I’ve always done, even before King Kong Meuf.
About this place, La Comedia, what did it brought to you? Knowing that it was a place not known to be a “safe space”, especially for girls?
Jack: We all met there. It was a bit like our meet up point, “for lack of better things”. But we could see that there were a lot of problems there, uncomforting people…
BeBe: It was a bit easy too. It was always open, there were concerts all the time… When we had the opportunity to do our first concert there, we asked ourselves a lot of questions.
We almost said no, and in fact we said… “well yes, exactly”! Of course it was a 15-minute concert… But at least we didn’t shut our mouths about what was happening there!
What was problematic?
Jack: It was like the meeting point for all the old punks of the area. And clearly, being a young girl and hanging out there… it’s complicated. You don’t go unnoticed. Everyone wants to talk to you at some point.
There were some nice people, but for others, when alcohol takes over... it just sucks! It’s better to leave before a certain hour!
BeBe: Real. There were a lot of old chesters… The place’s team protected their actions and everything that was happening there…
We really feel this rage though the lyrics of the song “BB l’Trophée”…
Didi: And it’s especially when you come alone there… When you arrive surrounded by other older people it doesn’t happen.
BeBe: “Oh but you’ve grown up a lot”, “you’re a woman now…”, “Ohh you’re 16? “, “don’t you say hello to uncle? “. And there’s this weird thing, like we should be educated on “real punk”, that kind of thing…
Jack: Even when it looked nice and it was about music, we always ended up getting drinks paid from guys who were really (really) older than us…
Why did you choose King Kong Meuf as your band name?
Didi: We discovered Virgine Despentes with Apocalypse Bébé and King Kong Theory… it was a huge slap in the face. “King Kong Meuf” was basically a song.
And Jack suggested we call ourselves like that. What we have to say is that we are not absolute fans of Despentes. She didn’t just write bangers either!
Jack: It’s a bit of a coincidence. We recognized ourselves in these books, but we will continue to evolve as we want.
You quickly played a series of concerts in 2022… It seems that you quickly found an audience in Paris!
Jack: We were quickly asked for gigs, it’s true. We approached places by our side too.
BeBe: there was the Cirque electrique, l’International, l’ESP’asse, le Murs à Pêche in Montreuil, le Cri du Singe…
You also played in Lille!
BeBe: And it was so cool.
Jack: Weknow people from there. It was at the Lille 3 University occupation.
BeBe: The Parisian middle, you quickly get fed up with it. It’s a kind of sect, with a really hypocritical aspect where everyone hangs out with each other while spitting in each other’s faces. We wanted to discover new people and experience other things.
The show aspect of King Kong Meuf seems important to you. The makeup, the costumes, the attitude, the flaming drum sticks… Why did you integrate these elements into your live performance?
Didi: You have to ask the circus artist there! (Laughs)
BeBe: Come on… (Laughs) Personally, I’ve gone to see a lot of gigs, and I find it sad to just watch people playing their instruments. I didn’t want usto reproduce this. Coming to the fact of performance! A show ! We said to ourselves: “what if we lit the drumsticks on fire?” “.
We also love putting fake blood everywhere too. It ruins everything, we put it on people, we like it! And then it fits with our lyrics, we talk about vomit, and other dirty things…
You have done around thirty concerts yet, but you have very few songs available online. How did it come ?
Didi: The thing is that we were quickly asked for a lot of concerts, and we wanted to play! We weren’t going to answer that we had few songs recorded to be able to do them. Personally I don’t take much pleasure in recording. Above all, we wanted to experience the thing.
Jack: We didn’t know anyone to record us… Let’s just say it wasn’t our priority.
It’s not for everyone to be scheduled so quickly. What do you think this is due to?
BeBe: We ask ourselves the same question. I feel like there was a lot of mouth-to-ear connections. Everything happened quickly. We were motivated, available, and we did not refuse any gig.
From my point of view, the photos of your concerts have circulated quite a bit. The energy that emanates from it is crazy (especially the ones from Harshivvv). Far from Paris, we saw these photos of communion with the public passing by and it really made you want to go to the show, even without ever having seen you live!! Is this something you had thought about beforehand?
Jack: We’re really lucky to know Harshivvv! We are close friends from a long time. She was there at all the concerts. Thanks to her, the communication was done by itself!
BeBe: She knows how to capture the energy in the room. We really like his job. This is our baby-love.
What does the 2-track project « TroP TARD KoNNARD » that you have just released represent for you?
Didi: We had to move to get things out. These two tracks stood out from the others. They looked good together.
Jack: Those were kind of our two “priority” songs.
Waiting for the album!
Jack: So… the album, we’re thinking about it yes! But it takes so long to record…
Didi: We only had “Apocalypse BB” listenable until then! And the song wasn’t very edgy… It’s important to have something cool to listen to!
But on stage you play for an hour! You have a lot of songs actually. For you, is live still a way to test things and see the audience’s reactions?
Jack: We just don’t take the time to record.
Didi: Fast life!
BeBe: And then, we never had this thing of working well before playing live. We always played ourselves directly on stage, and even if it is a carnage, we have learned to make up for it. And that’s so good.
That’s really what you feel in concert. You have a blast on stage, and it’s mostlythe energy that counts.
BeBe: When we watch the videos of our faces when we fuck up songs, we die of laughter. (Laughs)
Didi: Poker face!
What does King Kong Meuf represent in your respective lives? Are you plans for the future?
Jack: It might seem like we’re not planning, but in fact that’s what we’re doing! Next year for example, we would like to tour Chile…
BeBe: For me, when you want something, you make sure you can do it. We like playing together, that’s what keeps us going.
Jack: If one day the band has to stop, it will happen on its own. Having projects in the future is what determines the lifespan of the project.
BeBe: We’re going to do this tour in Chile!
What are your listening to actually? Drop a playlist !
Nathy Peluso – MAFIOSA
EP2F – Mon Flow
Sexy Sushi – Rien a foutre
Jack Uzi – Uzi Drill 10
Amyl and the sniffers – GFY
Trholz – Marie-Madeleine
Jul – Italia
Irracible – Comment ?!
Les Béru – Rebelles
Rita Mitsouko – Mandolino City
Collision – La Guarda Alta
Utopie – Ville Fantôme (The Specials)
Want to add something?
Jack: Yes! We would like to say something. We’re a group of girls who plays punk. So, people say we play “feminist punk”. So, it’s true that we have our own girl’s experience, and that more or less directly, becomes a feminist experience. But it’s not the only thing that represents us.
Didi: Our lyrics are feminist, but we talk about lots of other subjects. It’s annoying to be put straight into the “Punk Grrrl” drawer. It was others who decreed it. Nothing asked. It’s not a problem in itself, but constantly bringing you back to that…
BeBe: For example, the fact that we cover an NTM (famous french rap act ED) song is “supposed” to be a problem... But we do what we want. The term “feminist” is, in some cases, a sale argument. And then, you have to see some interviews… it’s alike: “So what’s it like to be girls…?” Because after all, you are girls! » Didi does the imitation very well… (Laughs)