NS: So firstly, it's nice to see that the rest of your band made it to the interview 

WS: Yeah, they left! 

WS: Hey shut up!! (to all his backstage posse making a loud noise in his changing room – posse burst into laughter) 

Posse: Fuck you! We can't talk at the same time? Fuck off!! Boo!! We Wide Shut are null - We prefer the Beatles!

WS: You see? This is what happens when you have some friends! 

Posse: Yeah, this is Rudy, a playboy from the 15th Arrondissement… 

WS: ….I think they can talk for me… 

NS: Hey guys (to the posse), what do you think of the band? What do you think of Wide Shut? 

Posse: They rule the world! They are fantastic! We love them! …mmmm we don’t know…. 

NS: So is this the groupie? 

Posse: Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! 

WS: Wait…I think it's gonna be too hard for them because they like Techtonic, you know, like 70's rock bands…

NS: So what is Wide Shut all about? 

WS: We met on the internet in fact on J-Date! It's a Jewish online Community, and we were gay, so etc…(laughter)…and this here is David in fact one of the guys (applause)

And so we found the name Wide Shut because we liked the sound of it, we also like Stanly Cubrik's "Eyes Wide Shut". Just the name 'Wide Shut' is strange and I think it sounds good with our music. I don’t know why, it’s just a feeling. It's really hard to pronounce Wide Shut, every time I say it, it sounds like White Shirt or White Trash err White-I-donno-know…nobody understands, they have to read it to understand what it is. 

NS: What would you say is your music's biggest influence? 

WD: Uuuuummmmm…in France we don’t really have this kind of sound I think (I am very sorry for my English because I am drunk and I don’t speak very good English…. ) 

NS: But would say the 80's and 90's and all that culture really influence your style? 

WD: Yeah, yeah yeah!! It’s definitely a part of our culture because we are all almost like 30 and this is what we listened to when we were young. 

NS: You guys are essentially a Paris based group but you sing in English, why? 

WD: I think that French sound doesn’t work very well with rock-n-roll and I don’t know why. I guess it's just a question of feeling, and I never listened to rock French bands. All my life I listened to The Pixies, Nirvana…  

NS: Would you guys be happy making it in the US? Going beyond France? 

WS: Yeah! We actually did a tour in New York this summer – we had 5 gigs it was pretty cool. 

NS: Where did you play? 

WS: Misshapes, Hiro Ballroom, Happy Ending and Ruff Club. It was pretty cool, but very  stressing because we know that people from New York are used to going to a lot of different concerts and I think they know more about music than French people. 

NS: Would you say the American audience enjoyed you? Enjoyed your music? 

WD: Well I guess it was pretty good! 

NS: Yeah? You got a good response? 

WD: Yes it was a good response. I don’t want to say "yeah they loved us!" - because that would sound really pretentious.  

NS: Now Rudy…. 

WD: Yes??? 

NS: I could have sworn I saw your parents in the crowd tonight? 

WS: Yes….they were there – they are so proud of me! (huge blush) 

NS: You've got a really nice following – I saw the crowd reacting very well to your music, I love that! – do you feel that on stage? 

WS: Yes we do and tonight was pretty packed so it was really good. And when you like something, you want to share it with everybody and if they like it and like you, it’s just the biggest joy you can have.  

NS: Is there anything you would like to tell the readers out there in French? 

WS: Is it for an American audience?  

NS: Yeah! 

WS: Je vous attends bientot aux Etats Unis ou on va bientot venir vous voir. Et voila! Et vous demanderez la traduction au traducteur! (I am looking forward to seeing you in the US where we are going to see you soon. That's it! And for a translation, make sure to ask a translator!) 

NS: Great! Thanks very, very much Rudy! Good luck guys - you guys rock in more ways than one! Big fan over here!! 
 
 

Rudy (guitar/ vocals)

David (guitar)

Damien (bass and backing vocals)

Thomas (drums) 

www.myspace.com/wideshut