Last week the Lost Bayou Ramblers teamed up with The Wordless Music Orchestra for a live score of the award winning film Beast of The Southern Wild. The combination of a both a full Orchestra and a Cajun band, conducted by Ryan McAdams, made the perfect soundscape for this beautifully compelling film. The band’s next appearance will be at Mid City Masquerade along with Sweet Crude, Tank and The Bangas, Young Buffalo, and Blind Texas Marlin for an unforgettable Halloween extravaganza.

Tank and The Bangas Pack The Blue Nile in Homecoming Celebration

Live For Live NOLA had the pleasure of sitting down with band leader, Louis Michot, as they performed an exclusive acoustic set at Vital Sounds Recording Studio in New Orleans. Check out footage of the show below, and a full Q&A with Michot thereafter.

L4LNOLA: Hey Louis, it’s great to be here in the studio with you today. Let’s start with the idea behind The Lost Bayou Ramblers.

Louis Michot: It actually just came very naturally. Andre and I of course grew up playing Cajun music in our family band and we played the rhythm instruments – guitar, bass and triangle. Eventually we were like, you know, coming on our late teens we decided to pick up the accordion and fiddle for ourselves. We didn’t even mean to start the band; we just started playing. A friend asked us if we would go play at a café he was working at. We accepted, and we got the name The Lost Bayou Ramblers on the way to the café – our friend named us! So it all happened accidentally and we kept playing from that moment onward.

It was really a natural thing where, when you grow up with something so close, you don’t realize how special it is until you get to the age where you can really appreciate it. So when we did get to that age on our own, and learned to truly appreciate the beauty of it and how lucky we were to be a part of it, we just automatically wanted to continue to learn it in depth. Before we were playing a hundred songs a day and didn’t know the name of any of them, you know?

L4LNOLA: Tell us about your 2012 album, Mammoth Waltz.

LM: Mammoth Waltz is the first time we approached a full studio record in the sense that before, we would go in the studio, play the songs we play, and that would be that. With Mammoth Waltz we spent a lot more time just experimenting and writing in the studio. We spent a good year and half on it. Over that time we encountered a bunch of amazing people that accepted our invitation to be a part of the record. Dr. John, Gordon Gano, Scarlett had spent a lot of time at Docs side so there was a connection there. And it was just a great process that allowed us to open our music up as much as we can, because we spent so much time playing and so much time on the road, it’s hard to get any “creative time” in when you’re constantly performing. It’s just a chance to take a break from performing and really embrace the creative side of the studio. 

L4LNOLA: Would you say it’s an even split between trying to keep the culture alive and just being musicians? 

LM: Yeah, I would say in our music, we are just musicians and we love playing all music. We happen to be a Cajun band, which involves a certain aesthetic, certain poetry, certain rhythm. The Cajun-French lyrics are a lyrical poetry that fits the music. So we’re not opposed to sing in English or opposed to explore other musical things. We just embrace where we’re from and we bring it where we want.

L4LNOLA: Are your dance skills comparable to your musicianship skills?

LM: (Laughing) I can get along with the dance floor for sure. I don’t get much of a chance to dance, but I do have to take my wife out dancing at least once a month or she’ll get upset with me. I used to jump off the stage during our shows and dance with her, but haven’t been able to do that much now. But I love to dance and want more opportunities to do so.

L4LNOLA: Lost Bayou Ramblers’ music has some unique punk and psychedelic elements. When starting the band, were those things that you all had envisioned mixing in?

LM: Oh no, definitely not. But it’s funny because we never had an intention, you know we barely even meant to start a band, and at that time we had other bands going on. They were more rock and psychedelic bands so in a sense it’s all just been a natural step. It started as two completely different worlds, which were just inherently brought together. We’re twenty-first century Americans, who come from a more rooted culture that goes back hundreds of years, so yeah, that’s who we are but also both of those things. So we don’t discriminate either way.

L4LNOLA: There is a lot of confusion about what Cajun culture is, even here in New Orleans. Can you explain it from your perspective? 

LM: Yeah, what is really known today as Cajun culture comes from an overall French background, or the mix of all cultures that really adopted French as their main language of culture as opposed to English like the rest of the states. We are French creole plus Acadian plus Spanish, Irish, Scottish, Jewish, whatever and it’s all Cajun because they all adopted the same culture. The Cajun refers to the Acadians who were kicked out of Nova Scotia by the British in the 1700s and mass exodus, what do you call it, expulsion. So when they came down to Louisiana, Acadian turned into Cajun and just became the term for a French speaking Louisiana person. So it’s like anywhere else in America except it happened through the language, which they tried to eradicate a hundred years ago. Through the language the culture has survived and the identity has survived. As most cultures in America were forced to give up their culture to adopt American culture, somehow we’ve managed to hold onto enough of it here in Louisiana and I guess that’s what we would call Cajun today.

L4LNOLA: What was it like playing with Arcade Fire? They definitely present a different environment for the group, right?

LM: Yeah, those were some of the biggest shows we’ve done and it was just amazing to be a part of such a huge show, especially where they bring everything. You know, everything that’s there – they brought it with a bunch of giant trucks. Their music and their tones are just so surreal. Their show is something that really inspired us to be a part of and to see. It’s funny because they actually chose us to open in two markets, Houston and Austin, which are two towns that we have a draw in. So it was a great fit. And they’re from The Woodlands, where we performed with them and sang “Deep in the Heart of Texas.” Everyone thought it was so funny that they were playing that, but it turned out their grandpa, Alvino Rey, wrote that song. So their Texas roots are much deeper than anyone would imagine. Cajun culture comes all the back to Houston so it’s not so much of a stretch that we did open for Arcade Fire, because really they’re some Texas boys living in French Canada- so lots of connections there and a lot of inspiration.

L4LNOLA: Given the French influence, do you have a fan base in Canada?

LM: Yeah, we’ve played a lot in Canada. In almost every province we’ve played, I mean, there’s a great connection between Eastern Canada and Louisiana because they’re the two French strongholds of America. Quebec is militant about it and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are fully bilingual. We’ve definitely played a lot in these locations. It’s a great connection. It’s funny, there are actually a lot of huge parallels that you would expect from a place just like South Louisiana where it is a bilingual community and there is an identity struggle. The thing about Eastern Canada is that it’s got the same struggles as Southern Louisiana where you come from one language and culture that doesn’t necessarily translate to North American culture. Eastern Canada is a great example for South Louisiana to show how to continue French culture.

L4LNOLA: What are the challenges of being a band for 16 years and sticking together? 

LM: I can’t talk a little bit about it; I can talk a lot about it (laughter). I guess the reason we’ve been able to stay together for so long is first of all, Andre and I learned from our family band. We learned how to run a musical band and a musical business in our own way. The fact that we’re family helps. We also learned how to approach playing with other musicians. I think a lot of the times the way we learned ourselves and the way our friends learned to play is by taking your friends, even if they don’t know how to play an instrument, and making them learn it. You throw them onstage with it and eventually they learn it. So it’s not much going for the perfect musician, it’s more about going for the right personality and the person you’ll get along with and can travel with. Hey, if they can do an amazing job on the drums or on the bass, even better. You know, it comes from a real familiar friendship place and that’s the way to keep it going. Enjoy the people you do it with and count yourself lucky to do it everyday because there’s nothing guaranteed in music or in art for that matter. You do it because you love it, and if you don’t have some big expectations for doing it you might as well go into banking or something. It’s something that feeds you for how much you give in to it. You never know how much that’s going to be, but if you can survive off of it then consider yourself lucky, and you can do it again tomorrow.

 

Be sure to bring your paintbrushes and masquerade attire Lost Bayou Ramblers’ performance at the inaugural Mid City Masquerade! Tickets and more information can be found on the official website.

Mid City Masquerade: NOLA’s New and Unique Halloween Celebration