Gabriel Louis Bernard Malenfant’s French accent rolls off his tongue like the metaphors he uses to describe the sound of his band Radio Radio.
“The first album is like a sports car, and the second is more like a sailboat.”
Radio Radio, an Acadian hip-hop trio, are playing in Fredericton at the Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne on Saturday. The video for the band’s new single “Cargue dans ma chaise” was released Friday at 11 a.m. at the 11th second – precisely 11/11/11/11/11.
Radio Radio layers French and English and mix in electro and funk to produce their sound.
“I think it’s part of the novelty, and part of our history. It’s how my grandmother talks. It’s part of the Acadian way,” Malenfant said about the use of both languages.
Malenfant is from Moncton. His bandmates Alexandre Arthur Bilodeau and Jacques Alphonse Doucet are both from Nova Scotia.
“We share good vibes. Happiness is the highest commodity in the world, and it will never go out of style.”
Radio Radio got their break in 2008 with the release of their first album, Cliché Hot, under Bonsound Records.
The band began to take over Quebec, and Cliché Hot soon became slang in the province’s indie music scene. The term is used to describe anything that’s stylish, from fashion to home decor.
“It’s cool that we’re sharing and the fact that people are catching onto it means it’s sharing the aura and good vibes.”
Cliché Hot was released when the band was a foursome. Timothée Richard started a family and wanted off the road.
“We don’t have kids so it helps us out, but it was kind of like a snake losing its skin,” Malenfant said of Richard’s departure.
Malenfant said he, Doucet and Bilodeau don’t mind being on the road. That helps, he said, when Radio Radio travels as far as France and New York.
He said everyone in the group is passionate about what they do. When the road does get long, there’s always a way to make it more bearable.
“Jacques and I are stubborn and we have debates. The strength of the brain versus the strength of the heart.”
Malenfant said Radio Radio’s music is inspired by everything from nature to cooking and fashion. He looks up to eccentric artists like Devandra Banhart and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
“Psychedelic stuff and united music,” he said. “We’re all one.”
Radio Radio plays this Saturday, Nov. 19, at 9 p.m. at the Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne, 715 Priestman St. The show is for ages 19 and older. Tickets are $10.
