How did you come together as a band?

Jinte and me met while busking on the street in the town where we grewup.We each had three songs which we looped constantly.

We figured that if we would join forces, we had six songs and we could sing harmonies.

We met Patricia, Simon and Christophe at the conservatory in Ghent.

After that we waited five years to release our first album, which we spent trying out every possible style you can imagine. Our ragga period was an interesting one.

How would you describe your style of music?

The French call it pop noir, an American called it slacker heroin pop or something once.

Welike pop songs and such a structure to work with, but like to add some melancholia ormystical touch you can’t learn froma book.

The arrangements are mostly groovy but always very minimal What inspired your latest album Rats?

Welistened a lot to the older songwriters and their classic albums they made during the 60s – Dylan, Reed, Gainsbourg, Cohen.

That was a huge difference with Applause, back then we were listening to more contemporary stuff. Our environment influenced this album as well because we chose not to record in studio but at places where we come: bedrooms, basements, a subway station, the parc – a lot of field recordings, we think you can really hear that atmosphere in the record.

What are your standout tracks and why?

It’s hard to choose stand-out tracks. It’s a collection of songs that really needs one another to shine. All the songs have a certain function on the albumthat completes the puzzle.

It’s really hard to pick singles on this one.

Any Suggestion is a special one because we wrote the whole instrumental part when we were thirteen. It was probably the first piece of music we ever wrote, and we didn’t find a right place for it until now.

Are you looking forward to playing the UK?

Yes, we love it. We toured theUKwith Deus and Local Natives and always loved it.

Needless to say that the UK has such a rich pop culture.

Every city you play gave birth to a band you’re crazy about, which is kind of a cool and challenging experience on tour.

What’s been your most interesting live experience so far?

In South Africa we played a festival where the stage was built over a small lake.

During our concert the stage broke down and we lost some of our backline in the water.

We could fish the bass guitar out of the water and for some miraculous reason it sounded completely different and way better after the incident.

We recorded our two records with it and still use it every show. You can try this at home in your bathtub!

● Balthazar play The Louisiana in Bristol on May 14. See ents24.com for ticket details.