In this candid interview, French rising star Lucie Sue confesses everything. From launching a successful crowdfunding campaign from her second LP Battle Station to performing at Hellfest, Lucie Sue speaks openly about the financial pressures of independent music, the support of family and friends, and the discipline she gained from her classical training at the Lyon National Conservatory. With a spirit that blends classical roots and fearless experimentation (that lies in both hard rock, punk and metal), she describes collaborating with Steel Panther’s Satchel, dreams of global touring, and the determination that drives her toward rock-star status.
Welcome to Lucie Sue
So Lucie, welcome to Femme Metal Webzine. Firstly, I want to thank you for joining me today. And secondly, I wanted to ask you—how are you, and how is this video treating you with the whole promotion that you are doing for your new album?
Well, thank you for welcoming me. I’m very happy to be with you. The last month—the last eight months—have been totally crazy because I’ve been working a lot. Apart from my job, I launched an album. I released an album, and it was crazy because I had to release a video clip for every single. And I released one single per month. So it was like a huge marathon. It was amazing, but I did it, and now I feel confident because I did the best I could, surrounded by super supportive companies and people who helped me.
So I think we’re going to make it, but we have to keep on working all the time and make people aware that we are here. Next step would be maybe to find a lot of dates to tour and play every—yeah.
Lucie Sue producing Battle Station
Yeah, and you know, about Battle Station —what can you tell me about the production? I know you started really early. I was curious to know when you start to be sure you have the right amount of material to go record it.
First I wrote the lyrics and composed the songs. Then I went to my brother’s studio, who lives in Paris, and he recorded us. So my drummer and my guitarist are playing on this album. We recorded all together and we did some arrangements.
About the writing—I don’t know—I was sitting on my couch, and I have many ways to compose. Sometimes I just play chords and find that it’s very interesting. Or sometimes I hear a word that’s cool, and that’s the way I write. It’s totally random. About the number of songs: I actually had more songs, but some of them were not that good, so I keep them for the future and I will rework them. But yeah, these 13 songs have nothing in common, but I think they are good together.
The crowdfunding campaign for Lucie Sue
You also did a crowdfunding campaign—how did that go?
I did a crowdfunding campaign and it wasn’t enough. I discovered that you have to ask extra grants from parents, family… you know, promoted correctly. Furthermore, I still could have done much better, but you have to think about paying something like between €30,000 and €40,000.
That’s why I did crowdfunding—I had like €7,000, which is amazing. I had friends who gave me money. My parents gave me money that I will pay back later. That’s it—I have a lot of pressure, so I have no choice: I have to become a superstar and play everywhere in the world just to pay back my parents.
The hardships of business
Whoa. Well, I think— at the end of the day it’s an investment. You’re asking people to invest in you without knowing if… Now we are not talking business here because we are talking about family—trust. It’s still a big investment.
I had to ask—I’m 47 and I still need to ask money from my parents. I feel so sad about that, but it’s like that and I will give them back one day when I’ll be able to. That’s the moment and the general mood. I don’t know about Italy, but in France it’s terrible to find new jobs or clients.
Feeling guilty
I escaped Italy for that reason. Likewise, I’ve been in the Netherlands about nine years, but I was still without a job—so I do understand the situation. When it gets critical, you need to ask for help. However, you feel guilty about it.
But it’s gonna change because I’m going to be a rock star: we’ll have a private jet, daily touring with a chef, lots of food and stuff like that. I’m looking forward to that—it’s the full moon, so I have to ask to make it happen [laughs].
Lucie Sue: artistic director and conservatory
I also know that you are an artistic director and were an alumnus of the Lyon National Conservatory. How do those two parts coexist—artistic direction and conservatory training?
Lucy: At the end of the day, I’m just a creative person. It can be creative with music and with artistic direction. The conservatory was very strict. I was so young that I didn’t realize it was competitive—how to learn to play the instrument, understand composition and solfège. It’s so hard, but I was young and into it. I didn’t realize how strict it was, but I’m super happy I did it because now I have music in my blood. I’ve been educated with it; I lived with the music. Not only that, but I’m born into it—it’s in me. The rest is about creativity, and I have a very creative mind. That’s why I’m able to create all the graphics for my album, my T-shirts, and the video clips. I did everything because it’s all in my mind and I didn’t have money to pay somebody else. I did it all by myself because it’s all linked, and it’s me.
“Music is part of my DNA”
Which is the most important lesson you got from your period at the conservatory?
Lucy: It’s not exactly a lesson, but music is part of my DNA. Once you have that foundation, you’re able to compose whatever you want. The conservatory is so strict it doesn’t allow experiments. Now that I’m older, I allow myself to do things outside the books. I’m thinking about bands like Mr. Bungle or Faith No More, Alice in Chains—they do music that’s different. You cannot do that at the conservatory.
Lucie Sue & Satchel
I checked your videos: “Ride the Wired Wild Tiger,” “Battle Station,” “Reckless,” “Bachat Bouloud” “Hush”—great pieces of art. How did you manage to shoot the video with Satchel and to work with him?
Lucy: Actually, I know them because I wanted to be part of the band when Lexi Fox left. I entered the competition to be their new bassist. I ended up in the final but they chose somebody else. Furthermore, I stayed in contact though. I cried for a week, but then I told myself it’s not a problem: you will do your own music and kick ass—and that’s what I did. I told Satchel one day that we would do something together.
Lucie Sue & Satchel part #2
Not only that, but I sent him the song and asked if he wanted to play on it, and he said yes—the song is amazing. One day I received the solo, and I was like, oh my God. It took time because he’s always playing worldwide, but he took the time, and he did it for free. I know a lot of people who ask celebrities to play on albums—they often pay them—but he didn’t. He supported me because he’s kind and it was amazing.
For the video, I didn’t want to bother him with a shoot because he’d be super busy, but I tried to integrate him. He went to the desert near his house and shot himself playing in the middle of nowhere with wigs and tight pants and everything—it was so cool. He gave me amazing footage and I’m so lucky he did that.
It’s not common that an artist waives their fee. Most of the time guest appearances are market-driven.
He knows I’m a composer and I have no money, and he’s composing all the songs for Steel Panther. He knows I greatly appreciate him, so it’s not an excuse—he could have asked for money, but he didn’t.
Lucie Sue playing Hellfest
You played Hellfest this year—how was it?
It was huge and super hot because it was in June. The stage was five times the size of the stages where we usually play. I had to run, and I was out of breath—super stressed—but I did it. The crowd was amazing, and the feedback was great. I was very happy to do that.
Planning for a tour
Are you planning to do any tours?
Yes, we want to. We are negotiating with bigger bands to open for them because we are too small to tour by ourselves. We need to find a big band to allow us to open without asking for a lot of money. When you open for a big band they sometimes ask you to pay for the tour bus—that’s a lot of money for small things.
We need to find a solution. I have the best agency in France helping us—Rage Tour—and I have an international booker too. He’s working on options but nothing is signed yet so I can’t say anything for the moment.
Final closing for Lucie Sue
I hope you enjoyed it. I wish you lots of success.
Thank you. We’re going to kick ass—that’s the goal. Thank you again—because it’s thanks to you if all this is happening—you are doing our promotion. I’m here to work for our common mission, so I’m very happy you asked me to do this.