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Interview with Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! vocalist Bertrand Poncet

They might have one of the strangest band names you have ever heard but don’t let that fool you because the French pop-punk/ metal band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! is no joke. I recently had a chance to speak with vocalist Bertrand Poncet before the bands gig in Richmond as part of the “Fearless Friends Tour”. I had no idea what to expect but I was more than impressed with what I saw and heard. These guys put on a high energy show that had everyone in the crowd furiously moving along…

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They might have one of the strangest band names you have ever heard but don’t let that fool you because the French pop-punk/ metal band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk! is no joke. I recently had a chance to speak with vocalist Bertrand Poncet before the bands gig in Richmond as part of the “Fearless Friends Tour”. I had no idea what to expect but I was more than impressed with what I saw and heard. These guys put on a high energy show that had everyone in the crowd furiously moving along with them. Here is what Poncet had to say about the band and their very unique name.

How is the tour going?
Bertrand: It is awesome. We have already toured the United States but this tour is bigger. Every night we play in front of a lot of people and the crowd is almost always crazy.

Something For Nothing has just been re-released through your label. Now that you have had so long to sit with it are you satisfied with the outcome?
Bertrand: We like it but it is getting very old for us. That is why we are trying to write a new record now.

Check out the song “Captain Blood”

What is your writing process like?
Bertrand: On our previous record we all tried to write together. In my opinion the best way to write songs is to write the melodic lines for my voice first and then write the guitar and all the other stuff. That is the process we are going to try and do on this next release because we want very melodic catchy songs that people will remember. The contrast will be greater this time it will be more melodic and heavier at the same time.

What is the story behind the band name?
Bertrand: Everyone asks us this question. It is actually a quote from the movie, The Goonies. Near the end of the movie when the kids near the pirate boat and the fat kid says the line, “Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!”

When you guys write do you do so with the live setting in mind?
Bertrand: That is not something we thought about for the first one but we are going to do it this for the next one. That is something we really want to try and improve on.

Since you didn’t write with the live setting in mind was it difficult translating the songs to the stage?
Bertrand: Yeah it was at first but after playing them for so long we are used to it now.

Are there any tracks on the disc that are personal favorites?
Bertrand: All of our songs talk about our personal experiences. It is general stuff; for instance two years ago our van was stolen with all of our instruments and stuff in it. It was a very bad experience for us so we wanted to write a song with a lot of hate and anger. We didn’t talk specifically about this incident in the song but we wanted to write about what we felt.

Where were you at when it happened?
Bertrand: In Italy

Did you ever get it back?
Bertrand: No it is gone forever. It happened right before a tour. We did some shows with borrowed gear and it was difficult but actually the shows were amazing and the experience was the best and the worst at the same time.

What is going on after this?
Bertrand: Right after this tour we are going back to France for Christmas. At the end of January we are coming back to the States for a tour with Attack Attack, Sleeping With Sirens and the Ghost Inside. We have a lot of other tours but they are not announced yet.

Have you guys toured around the world?
Bertrand: We have toured Europe, the United States and we even played Russia and we were supposed to tour Japan but that did not happen.

What was Russia like?
Bertrand: Very crazy shows and the people are even funnier when they are drunk on Vodka but really it was the best live experience of our career so far.

Check out the song “In Friends We Trust”

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