Back in September 2024, the Anglo-French melodic rock group Lazarus Heights released their album, “Papillon.”
Dick Grisdale, a singer-songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist, is joined by bassist Simon Pearson, drummer Jeff Gautier, and Paul Mouradian on keyboards and BVs. According to the press release, it’s a big-sounding rock album featuring two covers, notably Jacques Brel’s “Next,” with an Alex Harvey twist, and ten incredibly unique songs. The album culminates with the self-titled song “Lazarus Heights,” which serves as a crucial declaration of the band’s core values. Before seasoned rock drummer Jeff Gautier joined Lazarus Heights in 2020, the band, which was founded in 2007 by Dick Grisdale, gradually gained recognition in the Dordogne region of South West France.
This interview sees us talk to Dick Grisdale about the band and their music, along with a few thoughts about the changing face of the music business today.
We started with the review of the album by our very own Anna-Louise, who commented on the album that her favourite three tracks were “The Pleasure,” “Dry Martini,” and “Fall for You.” She especially commented on the touch of the East on those songs; we wondered where that influence came from.
Dick: Those touches probably came from Led Zeppelin. I do listen to Eastern music, but I’m not super versed in it; it was just the riffs that came out like that.
The drumming of Jeff Gautier was another high point of the album; his drumming really provides the beat to the tracks as a whole.
Dick: I let everybody have their own way, how they approach things in the studio, unless I really dislike something. But everyone can contribute, and I value those contributions. I will come in with a skeleton of a song, a few chords and lyrics and most of the time I will have a demo ready. That demo will be something I have recorded, and maybe that is a template, but its never strict; people can take it however they choose. Jeff is very good; he is powerful but he can be technically delicate as well and we put some tabla drums on “The Pleasure” demo, albeit using a drum machine, but then Jeff took that into the studio.
The guys are based in France, and their core support is largely in France, but 80% of their song material is in English. How does that work out for a French support base? As Gene Simmons told us, commercial success in music tends to require English as the main medium.
Dick: The French are open to songs in English; they are used to it and it’s not a problem. I don’t write in French; the French songs that we do are covers. I write in English because I am very picky about the lyrics; if I wrote in French, it would descend into banality. I like interesting lyrics with plenty of word play and I am not really up to that in French.
There is a lot of imagery in all the songs on “Papillon.” If we were choosing one song to talk about from the album, then the number one for us was “Dry Martini.” Anna-Louise wrote about it: “Dry Martini” opens up like a Bond theme tune. A very heavy instrumental with a nod toward a more swampy vibe. It’s a big production number, loads of different sounds and little funky inserts. It’s also a song where the guys are clearly having a blast, enjoying the event that they have made the track.
We asked if Dick could talk to us about that one a bit.
Dick: I don’t usually like explaining lyrics too much, as I prefer people to make their own opinions about them, which may not be what I intended but I welcome it. However, “Dry Martini” relates to when I was younger and I used to go up to Soho sometimes to check in on the Italian restaurants or the football at West Ham. It’s basically just snapshots of Soho, the images that connect to a walk-through. The chorus took on another meaning, but you can find your way through it. People make their interpretations when they listen. It’s happened a lot with this album with the reviews and they write things that I had never thought about. Then, when I do consider it, I feel they may well be spot on.
At present, the album is available on CD. We notice it is not up yet on the big streaming stations, such as Spotify, etc. Any plans to do so?
Dick: Not yet. But it will be. It is also going to go up on Bandcamp so people can download it. The problem is Spotify has no income—a bloody joke. I think last time I earned 4 euros or something like that.
Back in the day, the album was a cohesive whole; you played one song and in your head you already knew the next one to come. Does Dick feel that the way younger people are now streaming and jumping in and out of albums will eventually erode the album as a concept?
Dick: I hope not. It annoys me that if I place an album on Spotify, they stick all these extra tracks when it ends. Me, I want an album to end when it ends. I don’t want the remixes and demos after it finishes; I just want the album. With Spotify, it never ends. I don’t like what is happening really; I am more old-school. I suppose I am a bit stuck in my ways, and my ways are back where I started to get into music in the early seventies. I started with Bowie and “Starman,” with Roxy Music and T-Rex. That was my starting point; I had T-Rex with ‘Life’s a Gas,” (Mark had commented on how this was an absolute favourite of his) on the B-side of “Jeepster,” and the “Electric Warrior” album was great. That was the very first album that I bought myself. That is where I come from musically. Live, we do a cover of The Doors, and we do “LA Woman” as a crowd pleaser. If we are playing in a bigger French venue, then people love that, and we do a great version of it.
Digging back to the guitar playing, we did think the guitar work looked back a bit toward some of the older blues men?
Dick: I was a big fan of Led Zeppelin when younger, but go back from them and you find yourself at Robert Johnson and all the great blues players. I don’t listen to the old Delta Blues players much; I listen in small doses. But even our name, Lazarus Heights, the Lazarus part, there are some of the older blues songs that have Lazarus in the lyrics and that’s what brought it to my attention.
They were fascinating characters, of course. We did a piece on Lead Belly; what a character! The guy was in prison for murder at one stage and got a pardon as the governor loved his playing!
Dick: They had often short and very busy lives—a very different world. They all stole from each other as well; there was no copywriting in those days. Remember, everything is influenced by something before it; there is very little that is wholly original. I think of some of my songs and I will write very often ‘in the style of.’ There is a song, “Fall for You,” and that is my Morrissey song, as I can imagine him doing it. There are others like that that draw on other songs.
And what is on the horizon for the band moving forward?
Dick: We have the album out, and I want to do as many gigs as possible to promote it. I want to do gigs, as that is what I enjoy the most. We have a big show on the 7th of December at a nice venue. Maybe the interest in the album may help with getting on the festivals next year. But the reviews are positive and all is well.
And the last album Dick listened to from beginning to end, and did he enjoy it?
Dick: It was an album by Neil Finn, it was his last album and I enjoyed it very much. I am a big fan of Crowded House too.
As a finishing point, to keep us improving the magazine, we really do need your support, and if you can go to the ‘Support Us’ button and buy us a coffee, it helps us feel appreciated and keep improving the magazine (Christmas on the way, LOL).
By Benny (the Ball) Benson
and
Mark C Chambers
