VOODOO QUEEN

We prefer to let the song reveal that world by itself.

It captures that mix of heavy fuzz, bluesy roots, and the wild Atlantic atmosphere that naturally finds its way into our music.

We like leaving some space for interpretation, so that people can connect the lyrics to their own experiences and give the songs a meaning of their own.

That balance just comes naturally to us. I think that’s part of our identity.

More than creating pressure, it made us want to keep moving forward, write better songs and see how far we can take the band.

We genuinely enjoy giving our ideas the time and space they need to develop throughout a song.

In that sense, perhaps letting a song unfold at its own pace has become a small act of rebellion.

At some point, we stopped asking ourselves what kind of music we were supposed to make and simply started trusting what came naturally when we played together.

Hearing all those songs together made us realise that, despite their differences, there was a common identity running through them.

We never want to feel trapped by a genre or by what people might expect from us.

We want to keep trying new riffs, new sounds, and finding that spark when we play something together and suddenly feel that there’s something there.

That feeling of discovery is what keeps the whole thing exciting and motivating for us!

In this interview by Fok ‘bs’, Paul Brousseau, Jérémie Truyol and Fabiola Thoreau from the French Female Fronted Fuzz Stoner and Hard Rock outfit Voodoo Queen open the doors to the world behind their debut album ‘Violet Crown’.
They talk about finding their own identity, the balance between raw heaviness and vulnerability, the invisible cages explored in ‘Bright Cage’, their Atlantic surroundings in La Rochelle, the recognition from the Doom Charts and Francis Zégut, and their refusal to rush their music for the sake of short attention spans.
With honesty, freedom and a strong sense of collective creativity running through their answers, Voodoo Queen reveal how four very different musical backgrounds came together to create a sound that is heavy, atmospheric, vulnerable and unmistakably their own.
‘Violet Crown’ feels less like a collection of songs and more like a journey through different emotional landscapes.
At what point did you realize the album needed to be experienced as a whole rather than as individual tracks?
Paul: “The album was always meant to be experienced as a whole. We had around twenty songs to choose from, and we carefully selected the ones that worked best together to create a coherent and immersive EP. In the end, only seven made the final cut.”
Many bands wear their influences proudly, but Voodoo Queen never sounds like a tribute act.
What have you consciously avoided borrowing from your musical heroes in order to protect your own identity?
Paul: “We were very conscious from the beginning that we didn’t want to simply sound like our influences or create something that already existed. The four of us come from very different musical backgrounds, ranging from blues to modern metal, so there was never just one clear direction to follow. The real challenge was to bring all those influences together and turn them into something coherent that still felt like us.”
Jérémie: “And that’s also why it took us so long to release our first album. We had to find our sound and our identity.”
Your music balances raw, fuzzy heaviness with moments of surprising vulnerability.
Do you ever find yourselves fighting between making a song heavier and making it more emotionally honest?
Paul: “Yes, that’s a conversation we’ve had quite often. Heavier songs tend to be easier and more immediate to play live, but the softer, more vulnerable moments often come to us more naturally. The challenge is finding the right balance without forcing either side of the song.”
Fabiola: “I think that balance is also a big part of what makes Voodoo Queen who we are. Sometimes we really want to write those straight-ahead ‘highway’ songs that bring a lot of energy on stage, but we never want to lose our more melodic and vulnerable side. And the interesting thing is, we don’t really have to think about it or force it! That balance just comes naturally to us. I think that’s part of our identity.”
‘Bright Cage‘ deals with invisible prisons rather than physical ones.
Do you think the most difficult cages people face today are the ones they build for themselves?
Jérémie: “Definitely the ones they build themselves, because those cages are often the hardest to recognize. Fear, habits or other people’s expectations can slowly become limits that we accept as normal. I think ‘Bright Cage’ is about becoming aware of those invisible limits and finding the courage to question them.”
Fabiola: “A little bit of psychology! I completely agree with Jérémie. There’s a lot that could be said about this, but for me, ‘Bright Cage’ really captures the cages we can build inside our own minds. Sometimes they aren’t built by other people, but by ourselves… especially when we spend too much time helping others, keeping everything inside, and never really finding a way to let it out. Before we realize it, we can end up alone inside the cages we’ve built ourselves.”
The atmosphere in your songs often feels almost cinematic.
When writing, do you picture scenes, colors or places before the music exists, or does that imagery only appear once the songs are finished?
Paul: “The atmospheric parts usually come from the music first rather than from a specific image or story. We tend to let a riff, a melody or a certain sound create its own mood, and then the imagery comes naturally afterwards. Sometimes a section immediately makes us think of a place, a landscape or even a certain colour, but we rarely start writing with a precise scene in mind. We prefer to let the song reveal that world by itself.”
Your sound has been described as ‘stoner desert rock washed by the Atlantic Ocean‘.
If Voodoo Queen had to invent its own genre name instead of using existing labels, what would you call it and why?
Paul: “We usually call it fuzz blues rock, but since Slomosa came up with ‘tundra rock’, we thought we might claim ‘spindrift rock’ for ourselves. It captures that mix of heavy fuzz, bluesy roots, and the wild Atlantic atmosphere that naturally finds its way into our music.”
Mystery and spirituality seem to flow naturally through your music without becoming overly explicit.
Is it more important for listeners to understand your lyrics, or simply to feel them?
Paul: “As French musicians writing and singing in English, I think it is more important for the listener to feel the lyrics first. Of course, the words have meaning and we care a lot about what they say, but we do not necessarily want everything to be completely explicit. We like leaving some space for interpretation, so that people can connect the lyrics to their own experiences and give the songs a meaning of their own.”
Coming from La Rochelle instead of one of France’s larger music centers, has your hometown shaped your creativity in ways that people outside the band might never notice?
Jérémie: “It’s not something we had ever thought about or tried to put into our music, but maybe there’s some truth to it! Living in La Rochelle and being close to the ocean is part of our everyday life, especially for Paul, who goes surfing regularly. So maybe it influences us in ways we don’t even notice ourselves.”
The Doom Charts recognition and the support from Francis Zégut introduced Voodoo Queen to a much wider audience.
Did that attention increase your confidence, or did it also create new expectations that you now feel challenged by?
Paul: “When we released ‘Violet Crown’, we were quite unsure about how it would be received. Of course, it was our first album, but I imagine there will always be some uncertainty whenever you release something you have worked on for such a long time. So, receiving recognition from the specialised press and appearing in the Doom Charts definitely gave us more confidence. Francis Zégut’s support was also a huge encouragement for us. More than creating pressure, it made us want to keep moving forward, write better songs and see how far we can take the band.”
Your songs breathe naturally, never feeling rushed despite their powerful energy.
In an era dominated by short attention spans, is allowing music to take its time almost an act of rebellion?
Paul: “When we first started writing our own songs, it quickly became clear that three-minute, radio-friendly tracks probably weren’t going to be our thing. We’re completely comfortable with that… We genuinely enjoy giving our ideas the time and space they need to develop throughout a song. It may require a little more patience from the listener, because everything isn’t served up immediately, as it often is in a lot of music today. In that sense, perhaps letting a song unfold at its own pace has become a small act of rebellion.”
Fabiola: “I think it also comes from the way we naturally write together. We often start with a riff and then take the time to develop it when we are together. We’ll often play it instrumentally first, letting the idea grow and take shape before the vocals come in naturally. I think that’s also why some of our songs are quite instrumental… We like to give the main theme time to breathe and develop.”
If someone who had never heard rock music before listened to only one song from ‘Violet Crown‘, which track would you choose to explain who Voodoo Queen truly are, and why that one?
Paul: “‘Free Way Out’ was one of the very first songs we wrote. It is highly atmospheric and almost entirely instrumental, so it captures very clearly who we were at the beginning of the band. However, ‘Bright Cage’ is probably a better reflection of who Voodoo Queen is today, and of the direction we want to take in the future.”
Every young band reaches a moment where it realizes it has found its own voice.
Can you remember the exact rehearsal, recording session or concert when Voodoo Queen stopped feeling like a new band and started feeling like your band?
Paul: “I do not think there was one exact moment. It happened gradually as we wrote more songs and started understanding what worked for the four of us. At some point, we stopped asking ourselves what kind of music we were supposed to make and simply started trusting what came naturally when we played together. Recording ‘Violet Crown’ probably confirmed that feeling. Hearing all those songs together made us realise that, despite their differences, there was a common identity running through them. That was probably when Voodoo Queen really started to feel like our band.”
Imagine you meet yourselves again ten years from now after releasing several more albums.
What do you hope today’s version of Voodoo Queen will still recognize in that future band, no matter how much the music has evolved?
Paul: “Hopefully, we would still recognise the same curiosity and the same freedom in the way we write music. We never want to feel trapped by a genre or by what people might expect from us. Our sound will probably evolve a lot over ten years, and we actually hope it does, but we would like to keep writing songs collectively, following ideas wherever they lead us and always trying to create something that feels honest to the four of us.”
Fabiola: “I completely agree with Paul. We’re a band in the truest sense of the word, all four of us are involved in the songwriting, and that’s something we really want to keep. We want to keep trying new riffs, new sounds, and finding that spark when we play something together and suddenly feel that there’s something there. That feeling of discovery is what keeps the whole thing exciting and motivating for us!”
With ‘Violet Crown’, Voodoo Queen have created more than a collection of seven songs.
The album represents the point where four musicians with different backgrounds found a common identity, while leaving enough space for heaviness, atmosphere, melody and vulnerability to coexist.
Their answers also make one thing particularly clear, Voodoo Queen are not interested in being trapped by expectations, genres or formulas.
Whether they are exploring invisible cages, letting a riff breathe, drawing inspiration from the Atlantic or simply following an idea wherever it leads, their music is built around curiosity and freedom.
And if the future brings new sounds and a very different Voodoo Queen, the one thing they want to preserve is perhaps the most important part of all, the freedom to discover something together.
by Fok ‘bs‘