“Les Musicales de Bastia,” taking place from October 5 to 9, will feature rock, chanson, world music, baroque music, contemporary music, and polyphony. Guests will have plenty of choices this year! Victoria Abril will lead them through energetic bossa nova rhythms while mingling with jazz. And if “It’s So Good Like That,” it’s because you’ll also have an appointment with Sinclair, the funky Mr. of French song. You will undoubtedly be “a Happy Man” listening to William Sheller accompanied by the Stevens quartet. Other headliners and talents await you over these four days. In total, about fifteen concerts will offer conviviality, surprises, and new experiences in venues and streets of the island of beauty.
Last Friday, Fnac in Nice gave us a taste of this 18th autumn-flavored festival. On this occasion, locals could enjoy Corsican products while being carried away by the musical rhythms of Nux Vomica.
Nice-Première went to meet this friendly group from Nice. Louis Pastorelli, Vincent Calassi, and Maurice Maubert, three members of Nux Vomica, agreed to answer a few questions.
Nice-Première: On October 8, you will be participating in the 18th festival of “Les Musicales de Bastia”; why did you agree to perform this concert on the beautiful island?
Vincent Calassi: We’ve been there before. What motivates us to do this concert is that the organizer, Raoul, knows us well. He has trusted us and has understood the message we try to convey. We’ve already played in Corsica 5 times and each time, we were warmly welcomed. We only meet kind, friendly, and understanding people. It has always gone well.
Louis Pastorelli: I’m speaking for myself. I’m happy to go to Corsica because there, one can also see what we have lost here. And generally, we’re always very well received. These are people who know how to live and who have a sense of hospitality. It makes me happy to go there, to meet these people, and to know what they think outside of what we encounter on television and in the media. I feel like I’m in the Mediterranean.
N-P: How was Nux Vomica formed?
L.P.: Initially, it was a group involved in guerrilla poster art. In the late 80s, we put up posters around the city as we had no space to exhibit our work. So we formed a group and pasted them in all the galleries. It was from this dynamic that Nux Vomica was born. We had a workshop in St Roch. In St Roch, we created the Carnival, and from the Carnival was born the music.
Nux Vomica was initially more about the idea of doing things rather than a group of people. It was a reflection, a stance concerning where we lived in Nice.
