HamaSaari
This heart-on-sleeve French quartet wants to put the danger back into modern prog
“Musically, our biggest collective influence is Karnivool.”
“The fun thing about this project is that we never know what’s next,” says Jordan Jupin, guitarist/vocalist of colourful French outfit HamaSaari. Born from the ashes of their previous band, Shuffle, HamaSaari was founded upon one key change. By unshackling themselves from the rigidity of modern music making, they could fall in love with the art of jamming once more.
“We wanted to start a new project with a clear artistic approach,” he underscores. “We wanted something really organic; to play without click, even in the studio.”
As a result, the band is now less planning, more playing. They hinge on in-the-room jam sessions and spontaneity. As Jordan says, “We exchange words with our instruments. It's all about jamming, because we don't make music sat in front of computers.
“We jam and record in my living room,” he adds. “We play, drink beers and play again. It's important to by totally free of limits.”
That freedom is encapsulated on second album, 'Pictures', which finds their love of everyone from Pink Floyd to Black Peaks intermingling effortlessly. The drums and bass were recorded live together, and they only allowed themselves three takes per track to retain the original energy of the song.
“When we recorded, Élie [Chéron, drummer] didn't really have parts,” Jordan explains. “It was like being in a jazz band; you don't know which tempo we're going to play in. We have to adapt in the moment, and we really like that.”
That decision imbues their music with a more traditional rock n’ roll spirit, into which they weave influences are diverse as folk, post-rock, and hardcore. They’re tempos ebb and flow and blemishes are left in.
“We prefer to have mistakes than to be really precise,” second guitarist Axel Vaumoron expands. “It means we can focus on the essence of what we want to say.”
Lyrically, Lupin pulls from the band’s post-jam conversations, charting politics, religion and philosophy, with, 'Pictures' benefitting from a more “poetic” approach than 2023’s excellent debut LP, 'Ineffable'.
“Each song is inspired by true stories,” he says. “But it’s important that people can go deep on the lyrics and find their own stories.”
Away from individualistic influences, there are two unifying bands whose fingerprints are all over the HamaSaari sound.
“Porcupine Tree’s 'Fear of a Blank Planet' left a big impression on all of us,” says Vaumoron. “But musically, our biggest collective influence is Karnivool. Everything they do is crazy complex, but the whole sound isn't. We like these bands because they are driven by emotion, and even my parents can enjoy them. Even if we could play like Animals As Leaders, I don't think we would. We really need something emotional to hold on to.”
“We've had our periods of showing off, but now we really like dynamics, the duality of light with dark.” Jordan returns. “Its emotion and dynamics, not techniques, that excites us.”
They’ll make their UK debut at Prog For Peart in July, following a tour of mainland Europe.
- Phil Weller
PROG FILE
LINE-UP: Jordan Jupin (guitars/vocals), Axel Vaumoron (guitars), Jonathan Jupin (bass), Élie Chéron (drums)
SOUNDS LIKE: A folkier Pink Floyd with a more menacing edge that shows itself only when the time is right
CURRENT RELEASE: 'Pictures' is out now and is self-released
WEBSITE: https://hamasaari.com/ Progressive, Post & Art Rock - Le Mans / Nantes Sound Exploration - HamaSaari