It’s been a mere two months since their first ever gig at the Hunter S Thompson, but Dundee band Corde Du Roi have exploded on to the city’s music scene.
In a debut performance to remember, the four-piece combined prog rock, ska, jazz and soul sounds to get the whole pub basement well and truly thundering on a Thursday night when they supported fellow Dundee outfit Craig Weir And The Cabalistic Cavalry back in October.
And now the fearsome fabric-themed foursome are something of a fixture at the Perth Road watering hole, with their energetic, vibrant tracks earning them a fast fanbase.
We grabbed Corde Du Roi after some studio time ahead of their gig supporting Peal this Saturday at – you guessed it – the Hunter S Thompson, to find out what’s going on with the band behind the seams…
Three words, some French: Corde Du Roi
Rebecca: Hi folks! Tell me first – who are Corde Du Roi?
Dan: Well, I’m Dan Richardson, the frontman.
Hal: I’m Hal Willows, the guitarist.
Elliot: Elliot Giles, drummer.
Lexi: And I’m Lexi Campbell, bassist.
Dan: And we’re Corde Du Roi!
Very smooth! Tell me the band origin story?
D: Well I’ve played music all my life. I’m piano-orientated originally, and I came to Dundee when I was 18 and wanted to make a band. I knew Hal from back home and met these guys in Dundee.
We’ve been going strong ever since.
Biggest musical influences?
D: I personally would have to say Madness. I love Madness, I love The Clash. The ska movement, I just really really love.
H: I’m a big (Red Hot) Chilli Peppers fan, and I love Led Zeppelin. And as I’ve got older, I like to look for samples in hip hop, figure out what sounds good in there and try to play it on guitar.
E: And I reckon we’ve got Beatles influences as well.
Describe your sound in three words.
E: Fun! Colourful! Joyous.
You guys are masterful at catchy rhythms and hooks. How does a Corde Du Roi song come into existence?
D: Process-wise, I write the songs on piano. When we first started the band, me and Lexi would arrange them together.
So it’s initially melody, chords and vocals, and then we bring in the rhythm section and get the groove right.
And then Hal does fancy stuff and ties in with Lexi, and that relationship helps build the song and bind it all together.
L: I think recently our process has changed, too. Before, Dan would come with the sketch of the song… and then we’d all come together to add the colour.
But recently we’ve been writing a lot more collaboratively. Hal’s contributed the bare bones of a couple of the newer songs.
You’ve describe the music in terms of colours a couple of times. What colours are CDR songs?
D: Beautiful, vibrant colours! Neon pink, yellow, bright blue… I think the ‘colourful’ thing comes from the energy in the songs. They’re high-tempo, high-energy, there’s lots of big powerful sounds.
And people I’ve spoken to have said we sound a lot bigger than a four-piece band, which I think is down to how the songs are composed.
What’s a favourite line or moment from one of your songs?
H: What’s the one where you scream?
D: Oh yeah, there’s a song called Cocaine Tuesdays where, before we go into the main riff, I go: “OH, SHUCKS!”
H: We did a live recording at the studio round the corner (Strait Up Studios) and we were building it up, and Dan goes: “OOSH!” so it’s become a bit of a staple of the song.
What’s been your most memorable on-stage moment so far?
E: The first gig, at the end. Having people chanting and enjoying it. It was so much fun.
D: It was crazy! That was with Craig Weir and the Cabalistic Cavalry, another local band. Craig got us on board for that gig and it was wild.
It was at the Hunter S Thompson and the place was packed out. We got a really good crowd – the reception was amazing for our first gig, and for us, that was really special.
At the end, people were chanting our name, and it was really nice.
You’re all from different places – Northampton, London, Aberdeenshire – but you met in Dundee. Do you consider yourselves a Dundee band?
D: The music scene in Dundee, I think, is underappreciated. There are so many amazing artists and bands here that we’ve been privileged to meet, so it’s a great music scene to be involved in.
So the city’s definitely had a big impact on us. We are trying to branch out – we played a gig in Glasgow recently – but Dundee is the hub that we want to make our hometown.
L: Especially in an era of streaming music from all corners of the world.
It’s easy to see why bands from smaller cities tend to gravitate towards larger cultural hubs, but there something to be said, right now at least, for giving back to the place that we’re starting in.
What are some of your band traditions?
H: Oh, that’s hard…
E: I drink tea at the gigs?
L: Swiftly replaced with Disaronno!
E: They’re roughly the same tone! I mean really, we should probably wear corduroy…
D: Well, my flat-cap was my grandpa’s – he was a Dundonian guy, and he died from Covid in May last year, so it’s a little tribute to him that I wear it every time that I play. That’s my sentimental thing.
I feel like we need to start a proper tradition, with all of us. We’ll come up with one and next time, we’ll tell you what it is.
Why is the band called Corde Du Roi?
L: It was me being pretentious, I think! I dunno, I thought the word ‘corduroy’ was cool, but there’s already a band called Corduroy.
But then there’s this story that goes along with the word ‘corduroy’, that says it’s ‘the cloth of the king’ (‘du roi’ means ‘of the king’ in French), but that’s actually a false etymology.
So I just thought that was kind of funny, that the whole story was not real.
And finally, when you’ve ‘made it’, how will you know?
H: When I can move here (to the city centre).
L: Or when we don’t have to pay for rehearsal time.
E: Or when we can use our own kit at all the gigs…
H: Or have someone to set up my guitar before I go on…
L: Or having someone other than me stress out about loading times and soundchecks and equipment… that’d be nice!
D: I’d love to play a big gig in the Caird Hall. I think if we get to that stage, putting on a big show there would be really, really cool.
Corde Du Roi are supporting Peal, along with School of Paris, at the Hunter S Thompson on December 4 2021. Tickets are available here.
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