Top Image: Photo by Clara Delaporte

In a Parisian bedroom arching above Pigalle’s pebbled boulevards leaks the scuzzy guitar feed of young musician Paul Nouvet.

Having bought his first guitar (a fender CD-60) at thirteen, Nouvet immersed himself in the craft, nailing the basics before probing left-field sounds that matched his distinctive sonic vision. The shift from bedroom jams to stage dives came by means of encouragement from a certain Peter Doherty. Having attended one of the Libertines-frontman’s acoustic gigs at the age of seventeen, Nouvet was pulled on stage with a guitar thrust towards him. Instinctively, the Paris-based musician went solo and performed a self-penned track. In that moment he won over the entire audience, including Mr Doherty himself.

From that night onwards, a friendship evolved between the two musicians and Nouvet honed his songwriting métier under astute guidance from one of the best in the business. And it shows. Off-kilter rhythms form the backbone of his idiosyncratic aesthetic – distorted, experimental and minimalist (à la Jamie Hince/Alan Vega) –, providing a rugged backdrop for the musician’s cutting vocals. Recording predominantly in his Parisian flat-come-studio, Nouvet’s sound is crafted with guile, embracing a palpable DIY aesthetic that pulls you forward, pulls you under.

And just as you think you’ve begun to grasp his output, the young musician throws a curveball, such as Brouhaha, for instance, a hip hop-slash-poetry mash-up narrative layered over stark drums and a repetitive guitar riff. And that’s the joy of Nouvet, he leaves you on your toes, guessing all the way. Unpredictability incites excitement. Nobody wants to be able to second guess a musician’s next move, where’s the fun in that?

I want a dog now from Pålly on Vimeo.

Alex James Taylor: Tell us a bit about your background…
Paul Nouvet: My name is Paul Nouvet. I was born and raised in Paris but I’ve got Norwegian origins, part of my family live in Nesodden, south of Oslo. As for myself, I have a small studio in Pigalle, the Parisian neighbourhood with a lot of venues, guitar stores and sex-shops.

AJT: And how did you first get introduced to music?
PN: I have been introduced to music thanks to my Norwegian family. When I went there as a kid, they would pull out acoustic guitars after dinner and sing. I was mesmerised by their performance, I wanted to be a part of it. That’s when I bought my first guitar, a cheap Fender CD-60. I took lessons for three years and then kept on covering songs I liked. What I immediately enjoyed was the fact that playing put me out of time and space. I would just be into chords and melodies for hours, my mind being muted, feeling the sounds. It became an addiction very quickly and soon I would naturally start to sing, very shyly, and write my own songs. It was very private for a long time. I’ve piled up notebooks for years before showing it to anyone.

AJT: So when did you decide to let others hear your music?
PN: I haven’t really decided it. It happened, maybe too soon. When I was seventeen years old I went to Peter Doherty’s acoustic gig at the Bus Palladium. I was really into his songwriting. There weren’t many people in the venue so I managed to get front row. At the end of the show I shouted out, “Give me your guitar!” All I wanted was his Gibson J-45, but instead he stretched out his hand, grabbed my arm and pulled me on-stage. His roady, Kenny, put the guitar around my neck and I ended up alone in front of the crowd. I had to do something so I instinctively played one of my own song. Surprisingly the public applauded, Peter went back on stage and asked me to wait for him. It was the start of an intense friendship. The following year I literally lived with him. We spent afternoons making music, he brought me everywhere with him, I borrowed his clothes, he gave me his jewels, I looked like a mini Peter.

AJT: That’s crazy.
PN: One day he asked me to play support at one of his gigs. It was my first real gig and there were thousands of people. I was shaking with my guitar in my hand. I guess it was a test, and it went pretty well since after that gig I started to open for him in Paris, even for his two other bands, The Libertines and Babyshambles.

After that crazy year I started to get my own gigs, with far less people obviously. That allowed me to start fresh, develop my own style and mature as a musician. Today, four years after, I’ve seen a lot of other bands performing, I’ve listened to different music, from Post-punk through Jazz and I am out there as Paul Nouvet, writing and recording songs my way, D.I.Y.

AJT: What sort of sound are you trying to achieve now then?
PN: Basically I try to fill the mix with only one guitar, my voice and a drum machine. I am aiming for maximum energy and attitude.

AJT: And what equipment do you use?
PN: Well as for the guitar, I use a line selector from Boss to be able to use to amps. One bass amp, with the nano POG from electro Harmonix, and a guitar amp, with a Soundblox that I use more as an equaliser than a distortion, a Space-Echo, and a small Booster for riffs and stuff. Then I have a small pad, the SPD-SX, saving the drum patterns I pre-wrote at home. On stage I just trigger the beat with a foot switch. And as for the vocals, I would say there’s no definite sound to it. It’s always on the move, growing bigger, deeper… I sing differently everyday.

AJT: Which musicians do you look up to?
PN: It’s hard for me to answer that one especially because it is not only music that I look up too. But for the experimental, un-compromised art spirit, I like the whole New York scene from the late 60’s-70’s; The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, or even later with bands like James Chance and the Contortions, the Lounge Lizards, Sonic Youth…but I couldn’t mention all of them as there are way too many!

But if we are talking about contemporary musicians then I would cite PJ Harvey, Devendra Banhart, John Dwyer, Archy Marshall, Jamie Hince, Anna Calvi, David Byrne, Andy Gills as being very inspiring… I’ve lost track of it to be honest, I’ve absorbed it all and it feeds out somewhere in my songs.

AJT: What do you tend to get up to in your spare time?
PN: I am reading a lot. I love the transition between the 19th and 20th century. I think it is the best era in french literature. Otherwise I read everything that comes my way, from architecture books to Japanese poetry. I enjoy cinema too, Orson Welles, Hitchcock, Tarentino, Jim Jarmush, Larry Clark, Wes Anderson.

AJT: So tell me a bit about playing live, that seems to be when you are most enthused.
PN: I couldn’t cope without performing now, it’s exhilarating. I love this feeling of throwing yourself into your own songs, as much as in the crowd. I don’t know how many concerts I’ve played so far, not many compared to the musicians I’ve mentioned above, but I will catch up soon!

AJT: Where do you tend to record your music?
PN: If I am travelling I record anywhere I am at the moment, which is pushing me to adapt my sound to the place I’m in. I’ve improved a lot by doing that. However, my favourite place to record remains my studio in Pigalle, I’ve got all my stuff there and it’s really isolating me, in my own universe. I would say it’s the most comfortable for the moment.

AJT: What are your future plans, music-wise?
PN: I am currently recording an EP by myself and I would like to do everything DIY. I wrote the songs, I am performing them, recording them, making the artwork, the websites, booking my own tour in the places I really want to play, team up with musicians I really dig.

The fact that there is really no money behind my music brings me so much freedom. It’s pushing my creativity further and further. Sometimes I feel like there’s no end to it, perhaps I’m gonna die from this creation but for now, I’m just living for it.

Follow Pally Nouvet on Facebook, Bandcamp and Soundcloud