In the next episode, we got a little scoop. Thanks to our friend from France Rocks, the dear Michele Amar, I got to interview Nicola (yes, no S, it’s not a typo) Sirkis, Indochine’s singer. If you’re French, from a French-speaking country, or if you just lived in France for a few years, you know whom I’m talking about.

The band is celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year. I never considered myself an Indochine specialist. I liked the band, probably bought a couple of albums when I was in my 20’s, but that’s about it. So to get ready for the interview, I went back to most of their titles, listened to most of their songs again. And what a shock, I knew them all! I could sing most of them, and it brought back so many memories. It was crazy.

It felt like a rush from the past, everything came back. Dancing on 3ème Sexe with my “New Wave” teenager friends (well, dancing may be a bit of an overstatement, we were just moving everything but our legs. Ah, the 8o’s…), talking about the politics of The Tzars with my history teacher (Mr. Arneuve, history and geography teacher at Lycée Edgar Quinet, great guy, wonder what happened to him…) or being so happy that my hero Bob Morane was talked about in a hit song (L’Aventurier). Before that, I thought I was the only geek in the world who read all the Henri Vernes’s Bob Morane series of books… I felt less alone after this song.

I told Nicola about that and about another little thing that happened before the interview. At a dinner with friends (less than 10, outside, social distancing, of course), I told them I was going to talk to Nicola. My friends, they’re mostly all in the business, can’t impress them by telling about interviews with Brad Pitt, Charlize Theron or JJ Abrams. Yeah, tough crowd…

But the simple mention of the name Indochine and hop, they all tell stories about the time they saw the band on stage, or the girlfriend and/or boyfriend they kissed for the first time on one of their song, or how another song helped them to go through tough times… It’s crazy how the simplest things unite us all.

If we are French or come from a French-speaking country, it’s not just a question of common language. We have the same roots; we have the same references, the same culture (or pop-culture). We’re part of the same world. Our lives had the same soundtrack. And there were a lot of Indochine’s songs in it. 

To watch this interview with Indochine’s Nicola Sirkis as the band celebrates its 40^th anniversary, and learn more about French culture in America, tune in to Rendez-vous d’Amérique on TV5MONDE USA. Click here for more information.

Exploring cultural diversity entwined with the bright lights of major cities and the safety of one’s own home, Rendez-vous d'Amérique invites you on a journey to discover Francophone culture in America. Your host on this cultural experience is Didier Allouch - reporter, cinephile, and a familiar face on the red carpet. Click here to learn how you can subscribe to TV5MONDE USA and never miss an episode!