A Conversation with The Lost Bayou Ramblers’ Louis Michot – HuffPost 9.24.14
Mike Ragogna: Louis, The Lost Bayou Ramblers are a Grammy-nominated band that seems to be carrying the flag for cajun music as it explores the genre further with Western swing and rockabilly. Let’s first play some catch-up, how did the band come together?
Louis Michot: After playing blues and rock’n’roll on our own, and paying guitar and standup-bass in the family band for many years, my brother Andre and I picked up the accordion and fiddle in 1998, and decided to play a gig in September of 1999. We never rehearsed, just called our musician friends to join us in downtown Lafayette, and a buddy of mine gave me the name Lost Bayou Ramblers while having a beer before the show. We just took it from there, and started playing clubs in Lafayette and New Orleans, and did our first tour to New York and Brooklyn in 2002.
MR: “The Bathtub” was associated with the Oscar-niominated film Beasts of the Southern Wild. What’s the story behind that?
LM: Benh Zeitlin had been a fan of ours for years, coming to our shows at random places in the Bywater, Nola, and insisted that our music and voice by the base of the score. The movie blew me away when I first saw it, and it hits me deeper every time I see it. It is truly an amazing film that tells a side of the Louisiana story that is rarely touched upon.
MR: Over the albums, how would you say the band’s music evolved?
LM: We started as bare bones acoustic, playing real old raw cajun music, and have slowly just added more drums, amps, and sounds. It’s a natural progression that becomes more and more pleasing to us musically, and the change and evolution is what keeps us going. We’ll always be a Cajun band. The beauty of Cajun music is that it has such a complex history, and has always shared influence as an American music, with all the other American music forms around it. We’re just continuing the art.
MR: You’ve been referred to as “punk” in addition to your strong Cajun affiliation. Would that be accurate?
LM: I think we started being referred to as Punk because of our intense rhythmic energy, I always want more rhythm, the heavier and harder, the better. The funny thing is I never listened to Punk music until people started calling us Punk, so I went and bought a Ramones album two years ago, and I really like it, so yes, I think it can be accurate, even though we don’t play “punk” songs, only Cajun French songs.
MR: What’s the band’s creative process usually like, picking the traditional cajun material, writing new songs and then recording?
LM: We create alot of material on stage, funky old traditional songs that we’ve never played until we try them live, which keeps it very interesting. I write original songs when the inspiration hits, so when we go into the studio, I’m usually full of material, and we take it from there, and always end up with something much greater than the original idea. Part of the beauty of creating in the studio is our producer, Korey Richey. He knows what it’s like to be a young cajun from the country, in a world of endless musical possibilities.
MR: You have a pretty impressive fan base that includes artists like Dr. John, Scarlett Johansson and Violent Femmes’ Gordon Gano, those last three having appeared on your last project, Mammoth Waltz. What is it about the music that’s resonating?
LM: It’s an American music that shows the complexity of American history and culture, and obviously that of Louisiana, which has fought the monocultural movement of Americanisation for centuries. Cajun/Creole culture has been great at evolving as a modern American people, while still holding on to what makes us unique and connected to the land we live on, even as it sinks into the sea. We’re stubborn but smart, there’s a lot to learn from this, and a cause that anyone can connect with.
MR: Which brings us to your new live album that will feature songs from Mammoth and beyond. What’s the live experience like for both you onstage and your fans that are attending? What’s the scene like and what are you guys feeling when you play it all live?
LM: We love playing music, we love the movement, the rhythm, and mainly the reaction from the fans. Once we start moving and throwing down dance rhythms and wild cajun melody lines, the crowd immediately reacts and starts moving with us. We just keep feeding eachother, and taking the music higher and further, its like we all get into a dance-transe together, then we finally end the song, take a sip of beer, and start on the next song. We do play pretty intense though, so we try and throw in some fiddle-accordion-triangle breakdowns, or whatever it takes to bring a dynamic show, because we can be known to just pound out rhythms for hours without stop.
MR: What advice do you have for new artists?
LM: Get shows, play them, and be humble. Treat every musician fair, and don’t take any shows for granted. We’re lucky to be able to make money playing music, and it’s easy to lose sight of the beauty looking to be something bigger than what you are.
MR: What’s next for the The Lost Bayou Ramblers?
LM: We started a new studio album in Montreal last year, and are still working on it, looking to have it out next summer. We’ll also be doing some touring performing theBeasts of the Southern Wild score, accompanied by an orchestra, to the screening of the movie, an amazing experience.
MR: Any favorite cajun songs you still haven’t gotten to that might appear on a future album or at least at a live venue?
LM: “Si j’aurais des Ailes,” I was just playing it last night for my sons, another cajun beauty.