The greatest thing a new band can do is to be multifaceted- to lay stake in an ever expanding media soundscape by creating an experience so saturated in seemingly opposing genres, that it begs for dissection. That’s what makes Bonne Chère so exciting. Bonne Chère, which comes from a loose translation of the French phrase meaning ‘Good Cheer’, is a jazzy rock band of indeterminable size out of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Their new-wave, ‘The 1975’-esque vibe blended with big band jazz style brass creates an act easily transposable to the top charts but that can still remain unique enough not to be another carbon-copy indie rock group.
The band got their start three months ago, after a quick name and slight personnel change from a previous band called Latin for Beginners. Despite the band’s infancy, Bonne Chère is rapidly climbing the ranks of the Virginia music scene. Recently, I caught up with them before their gig in Newport News as openers for Joywave.
Sat inside the local Taste Unlimited, an hour away from where they went to high school, the only signs of nervousness that could be felt in these eight boys were their legs shaking discordantly underneath the table. The band’s frontman, Cameron Smith, whose onstage persona is one of textbook indie rock charisma and charm is seated at the end of the table. He’s a couple minutes deep into explaining their band’s ritual of chugging cans of Red Bull before they go onstage.
“None of us particularly like it,” he says, “but every single time we don’t do it we go onstage and just suck.” The rest of the band agrees. Today of all days is not the time to risk superstition.
“It’s worse now though," Trumpet player and fan-favorite Sam Cosenza says, "because before it was only four people in the band. Now that it’s like eight it’s starting to become an expensive tradition.”
Down at the stage, with their equipment stacked on top of Joywave’s obviously more expensive set up, it is a physical representation of the beauty of independent music. It shows, however briefly, a “standing on the shoulders of giants” idea that is often lost in mainstream media; of success being a collaborative venture with more popular groups creating opportunities for smaller ones.
Cameron Smith is no stranger to the collaborative nature of music. Having been in multiple bands prior to this, he sees Bonne Chère as a more refined version of all of his previous projects.
“The difference really is just our focus and importance we give to the band. We want to just push forward as best we can, but still keep the same communal atmosphere the band attempts to create.”
You can see Bonne Chère perform August 5th when they headline at the NorVa, at any of their other performance dates listed at www.bonnechere.tk , or stream their music free from Spotify.
