French experimental band Meule to kick off Asia tour in Seoul, Busan, Daegu
French experimental band Meule / Courtesy of Julien Poulain
Somewhere between the mechanical and the human, between the precise and the chaotic, are the French experimental trio Meule. With a giant modular synthesizer, two drum kits sharing a single bass drum and a frantic wall of genre-smashing sound, their live shows have become an absolute must-see. They plan to bring their eccentric mix of krautrock, garage rock and psychedelia to Korea this weekend with live shows in Seoul, Daegu and Busan.
Meule are made up of guitarist, vocalist and modular synth player Valentin, and drummers and vocalists Dorris and Marine. The trio already developed a fan base in Korea after their surprising performance at DMZ Peace Train Music Festival in 2024 became the most talked about of the weekend.
It was a night that left an impression on both the audience and the band. “We found the circle pit really inviting,” Valentin told The Korea Times. "That's one of the main reasons we wanted to come back."
This time, they are arriving with new music, new collaborations and a live show that has grown since the band’s first visit here.
Their origins were accidental. Meule came together in 2019, born out of a shared admiration for King Gizzard and Battles. "We wanted to try and create our own kind of art rock," Valentin said. "I was experimenting with modular synths at the time, and that gave us the illusion that we were more musicians than we actually were."
Their self-titled first album, released in 2021, was never intended to see the light of day. "It was really just a demo," he explained. "But local promoters liked it, and suddenly we were being invited to play live, which was never really the plan."
The band's name contains multitudes, or meule-titudes as it were. In French, "meule" can refer to a millstone, a haystack, a wheel of cheese or even slang for a moped.
"We kept discovering new meanings depending on the region," Valentin said. "But what drew us to the word immediately was its sound. We wanted something short and striking. And the image of something large and circular that turns — that described exactly what we wanted to do musically."
Their diverse influences are bound together by an obsession with groove and trance-like patterns. "Our sound relies a lot on repetition," Marine said. "There's something very mechanical in the patterns, but also something very organic because of the two drum kits. We like to create a tension between very precise electronic sequences and happy accidents. We want to create surprise."
The dual-drum setup is the band's most immediately striking feature, but its origins were entirely practical. "From the second rehearsal, we were sharing the same bass drum," Dorris recalled. "It saved space in the studio and created a unique setup that we liked.”
What began as a convenience quickly became a philosophy. "We think of it as a drum kit with eight limbs," he added. "The visual impact live is immense. But musically, sharing an instrument forces a real symbiosis. You feel the other person's vibrations through the kit. It's an incredibly powerful sensation."
The interplay between Dorris and Marine is at the heart of what makes Meule endlessly compelling live. "Sometimes we play the same pattern on both kits, which amplifies the dynamics," Dorris said. "Other times we create polyrhythms that take the listener into a kind of hypnotic vortex. When you listen back, you sometimes can't tell who's doing what. We find that really joyful. It's almost limitless."
Almost. The electronic side of the band, driven by Valentin's modular synthesizer, provides a fixed tempo that the drummers navigate around. "The electronic writing imposes an immovable sense of time," he said. "The drums have to follow that pulse, but they can also oscillate around it. That's the richness and beauty of rhythms played by human beings."
This conflict between the synthetic and the organic is something the band members describe as a big part of their identity. "On stage, my interpretation is never the same twice," Valentin said. "We can automate certain elements when we want, then take control of others. We let ourselves be pulled in one direction or the other, and we like sharing that with the audience."
A KEXP session, recorded at the legendary Les Transmusicales festival in Rennes, was a big moment for Meule, bringing the band to a new, far-reaching audience. “When people say a career in music isn’t built on talent alone,” Dorris said, when asked about the impact that working with KEXP had on them, “this is what they mean.”
It was in preparation for the event that Meule acquired their now-iconic transparent drum kit. “We were booked to perform at a French festival that KEXP were partnering with, Valentin said. “About 10 days before the festival, KEXP called us and asked if we could play in their studio. We were really nervous, maybe even more so than for the 4,000-person festival. We got our transparent drum kit to give the performance a little extra edge. But the KEXP were super welcoming.”
Of all the audiences they have played to, two countries stand out. In Tunisia, a seated crowd in a Tunis neighborhood got out of their seats the moment Meule invited them to. "Everyone stood up with such energy and fervor," Dorris said, “it’s like they had been waiting for permission."
Korea produced a similar excitement for them. "There was a real joy in listening and living that shared moment," Valentin said. "The energy was contagious — the more we received, the more we gave, and the more we gave, the more we received.”
This time around, Meule are going to be seeing more of the country, with tour dates in Seoul, Busan and Daegu confirmed.
They are also set to collaborate with Korean artists Haepaary and Wah Wah Wah. "We've started exchanging with Haepaary with the aim of creating tracks together," Valentin said. "And we're going to intertwine our guitar sounds with Wah Wah Wah."
For a band that has always seen collaboration as essential, the prospect of cross-cultural creative exchange is genuinely thrilling. Meule will be playing Busan’s Ovantgarde on June 12, Daegu’s Communes on June 13 and finally, two shows at Seoul’s Senggi Studio on June 14 and 15, before heading to several other Asian countries.
For attendees at the upcoming shows, the members of Meule promised something special. "Expect the same dose of energy, and a journey that is more intense every time," Marine said. "We're also going to film live videos at the concerts, so we can go back to France and show everyone just how incredible the Korean audience is."
He paused, then added: "We can't wait to meet you. Come in numbers."
Follow @meulelegroupe on Instagram for more information.
Jamie Finn is chief editor of Debaser Magazine.