What do you get when you mix boyish good looks, irresistible French accents, that certain “je ne sais quoi,” with undeniably catchy tunes?  You get The Teenagers. French-born, London-bred, MySpace phenomenon turned international pop stars.  (And, by God, I have never seen so many girls throw themselves onstage, swooning over the musicians, like I did at this show!  It’s proof that being a charming foreign dude with an accent, in a band, REALLY does work over here…)


Chief Magazine: Could you introduce yourselves and tell us what you do?

Quentin Delafon: Hi, we are The Teenagers. I’m Quentin and I sing.

Michael Szpiner: Hello, Goldie. I’m Michael and I play the bass.

Dorian Dumont: I’m Dorian and I play guitar.

How did you guys meet and when did you start the band?

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Quentin: Well, we all met in high school and junior high. They’ve known each other for 15 years and I’ve known them for 10 years. So, that’s a lot of years for people who are so young. We started the band in Christmas 2005. I am not a robot. I am a human. So, we started the band in Christmas 2005 when we were all really bored and we all escaped our family dramas.

Michael: [Laughs] Affirmative.

Quentin: No, but it’s true. We escaped the family drama to have fun, and we had frozen pizza and vodka. We had a good time. We did it two years in a row. We made "Fuck Nicole" and that’s when everything started. Six months later, we did "Homecoming" and that’s when people started to get interested in us. So, yeah, but now we spent Christmas with our families. I don’t know what happened. I think they got a hold of us.

Michael: Yeah, they’re fucking greedy about Christmas.

Quentin: No one is religious, though.

Dorian: Yeah, we don’t give a fuck about it.

Quentin: It’s Jesus’ Bar Mitzvah. [Laughs] It’s a moment that you’re supposed to spend with your family, but for some reason, none of us wanted to.

Michael: We would rather have quality time with the three of us.

Quentin: …and with Sarah, as well. [She is] the cheerleader from "Homecoming." She was there for two of the years.

So, Sarah is a real person?

Quentin: Yeah yeah. It’s not a robot. It’s a real woman with a moist vagina. She’s real. [Laughs]

Dorian: Why did you say that about Sarah?  

Quentin: Been there, done that.

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Ah, ok. Anyways, so you guys met in high school. Was this in Paris?

Quentin: Suburb of Paris. I moved to London before I moved to Paris.

The [Bowery Ballroom] show tonight was full of energy. How do you feel about New York?

Quentin: It sounds super lame but we love New York. Apart from San Francisco, it’s the only place [in the USA] where we could live. I really love Brooklyn. It’s super cool. There are only a few cities that European people could live. We went to L.A. and it seemed like everyone wants to melt into the mass. And, we don’t drive so that is a problem. But, in New York, people are super individual and they don’t really care.

Where in Brooklyn did you check out?

Quentin: We walked through Williamsburg, down Bedford. Everyone looked like they were out of a video or something. It was weird. I felt really uncomfortable because everyone was so hot.

I know! It’s kinda ridiculous. So, who are some of your influences?

Quentin: The Strokes are big to us, for sure. We each came to visit New York when we were younger, but I wouldn’t say we got super influenced by New York. We are influenced by American culture overall. We really like it here.

You guys got a lot of recognition and following through MySpace and the Internet. Would you like to speak about this journey?

Quentin: We love MySpace. If we didn’t have MySpace, we wouldn’t be anywhere, because no label would have been interested in us.  

Michael: We are very thankful for MySpace.

Dorian: Yeah, thanks, Tom!

Michael: I think now we are getting out of it more and making our name for ourselves.

Quentin: I think it’s socially acceptable to come out because of MySpace reception now days. Everyone was bitching about Arctic Monkeys or Lily Allen when they came out, but no one was like, “Hey, you’re from MySpace” in a negative way. People were positive about it. We were like, “Yeah!”

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I think it’s a great platform for artists and musicians.

Michael: You don’t have to go through a record label. So it’s perfect. It goes straight to the customer. The people choose what they like.

Exactly. Do you guys have a most memorable show that you’ve played?

[In unison]: Studio B!

Quentin: Studio B on our last tour.

Dorian: Also, Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Quentin:  Even tonight. For Manhattan, people were not too stiff. The first gig we did in Manhattan, at Mercury Lounge, had a lot of A&R. But tonight was a lot of kids and people who actually liked us. There was definitely a good vibe going on. People were dancing all over the place and seemed super happy.

Quentin: For Manhattan, it was really good. But at that Studio B show, everyone was fucked up but I felt like Bono for one second. [Laughs] We met the most fucked up girl on stage. You know how when we pull girls up for "Homecoming?" Well she just stayed after. We had to get her off and she fell down the stairs.

[Laughs]

I love that venue. I always have so much fun at shows there. Okay, here at Chief, we like to end with this question: Was there ever a time you thought you were going to die?

Dorian: I wanted to die one time when I was really young, in high school, and smoked pot.

Quentin: We were smoking joints with three filters lined up in the shape of a triangle. You know this?

No.

Dorian: Well, I smoked this. I came home and I wanted to die.

What about you, Quentin?

Quentin: I had a near death experience recently but I can’t remember it. I think it was bullshit.  [Laughs]

On that note, would you like to say anything else? Would you like to thank anyone?

Quentin: I’d like to say “Thank you, Manhattan!” We love New York. We love Carrie Bradshaw. We love Samantha Jones. We love everyone... and you.

Michael: Thank you, Goldie!

Dorian: Yeah, Goldie! Thanks!


Websites
The Teenagers' website
The Teenager's MySpace

Interview by: Goldie Bledsoe

Images courtesy of: Annie Ly