You'd be hard-pressed to miss PM LeGrand when he takes the stage at The Fringe. With his signature cowboy attire and guitar in hand, this French-born musician has become an esteemed fixture in Bristol's music scene, bringing a blend of folk sensibilities and creative flair to our beloved pub's intimate performances.
In this conversation, PM sits down to discuss his musical origins, the creative process behind his songwriting, and how a chance move from London led him to call Bristol's village life home.
Jonny: So firstly, what's your go-to drink at The Fringe when you come here to perform?
PM: When I come here to perform, water, water.
Jonny: How about when you're not performing then?
PM: I like a bit of beer or a lager, I usually go for an Amstel if I'm at The Fringe. Classic village vibe.
Jonny: How did you get into music?
PM: Well, I started on the couch, we went on a trip with school, I was 16, and I was listening to one of these MP3 players with a USB stick. I was listening to the Eagles and the guitar, and I was like, I'd love to do that one day. So I came back home and I'm like, mum, dad, maybe I'd like a guitar. That's the story, it started like that. Then I sold my surf board, and bought my guitar.
Jonny: So you went from a surfer to a guitarist...
PM: It's not the same, yeah. It's not as creative.
Jonny: So what was your journey to Bristol? What brought you and your music here?
PM: I went to London for music first, and then I started working as a voiceover engineer in studios. I stayed four years in the same studio, and I was sick of London, so I moved to Bristol with my friend Jeff. We were like, Dublin, Bristol, Dublin, Bristol, Dublin, Bristol, Bristol, okay, let's go! And that's how we ended up here. We ended in the village because the cheapest flat we found was here. And it was really nice, and the location was like, wow. I met Sylvie not long after, the famous Sylvie from The Fringe. And Steve and the whole gang! So yeah, that's the story. That's my way here.
Jonny: Do you have any standout memories from playing, or just being, at The Fringe?
PM: Actually, there's one time, at this time we had a band called The Hangover Club, and we're playing that song, "Ride", it's called. So we did a music video here. I remember being in the little booth on the side with the red, weird walls with sunglasses and a fur coat and being like, "yeah, they ride"! I think that's my peak. I haven't done better here. Feeling like a rock star. Yeah, that was great.
Jonny: So you usually wear, when you come on stage, you wear a cowboy hat... I feel like you've got a very distinct style. How did you choose that style?
PM: I don't know, I think, I just love clothes, and putting them together is very creative as well. And I've always been a bit of a freak as a kid, I was always dressing up in Peter Pan or cowboy or whatever you want. So maybe I'm still that kid dressing up as a cowboy, that's the way I would describe it, I just love it.
Jonny: What's your favourite song to cover when you're performing?
PM: Oh, it's always changing, it moves, but at the moment I really like, "Girl from the North Country" by Bob Dylan. It's beautiful. At the moment that's the one that takes me. But they all got their moments; all songs have their place on the podium at some point. When it's new, you just enjoy it a lot more, and then it becomes a routine.
And the way I see covers as well, I'm trying to... But this one, I am trying to stick to what Bob Dylan does. But most of them, I just jam with them a lot. And I don't really know... I start the song and I don't really know where I'm going. Sometimes I just start like completely bluesy and then it goes out... So yeah, I'll just make them move and make them change if it's boring. With my own songs, I'm trying to stick to a nice structure. My own originals.
Jonny: What's your process when you are creating a song or when you're songwriting?
PM: Well, I think there's different ways to approach a song. And sometimes it comes to you as a bit of guitar first, and then you find a melody, or like mumble words and boom, a sentence comes out. And then around these words that just came out of you by accident, you just make a story or make them make sense of it. Or sometimes I really wanna talk about some things or I've got some thoughts. And I try to put that in a song. Different process, yeah.
Most of the time, the best response is when it happens to you and you're not really, you're not prepared. And it's just you're with your cup of coffee at 9 in the morning and... Oh, well, that's good. And then it just comes out of you, and it is done in five minutes.
Jonny: Yeah, exactly. It's inspiration, and you're like; This is it. This is magic.
PM: That's it, yeah. Sometimes you drag songs with you for months and months and months and don't find them attractive anymore. Yeah, it's a funny one.
Jonny: Looking to the future, have you got any new releases coming out? Any new singles in the works?
PM: Actually, yeah, I don't have the date exactly, but in September I'm gonna release a new song called "Sweet Traveller". And I really wanted like a live take of me playing the guitar and singing at the same time with just a condenser in front of me. So very simple setup to record it. And I've done that with the Dusk Brothers. Recorded it with them and then mixed it with Stu Jackson from Massive Attack. So he made it sound good and gold. And I did a little video, I don't know if you saw on my socials. I'm on the sofa and there's lamps everywhere around me on the stage. So that's for a little video that's gonna come out with it.
Jonny: When you go on stage and perform, do you have any rituals or any routines that you do before you start performing?
PM: I don't know, I think I'll go to my guitars and I make sure they are ready to rock and they're, like, perfect. So it's kind of my mental support. Like I need to know they are ready to work, ready to fire. So maybe that's maybe a bit my routine, yeah. I never really realised to be honest.
All in all, I think there's something quite refreshing about an artist who found his home by following the most analogue path of all: moving to where the rent was cheap and the company was good. The village gained a troubadour, and The Fringe gained another reason to keep the music playing late into the evening.
The full interview, with an exclusive performance of PM singing “Her”, can be listened to below. Enjoy!