The French post/prog band Bird Without A Song follow up their 2023 EP A Dance Of Cranes with the live EP Written Memories: Live Session At Treignac Projet. Guitarist Serge Kabeya fills us in on the album.
Jeanetta Briski: How did Bird Without A Song form, and what does the name mean to you?
Serge Kabeya: The band originated from an idea of Hervé (Florentino, bass/keyboards) and I. We wanted to make an instrumental band. We have a renowned jazz drum school in our city where we met our drummer, Mathias (Ayme). We played trio for a year or so. We always wanted to find an extra instrument, such as a guitar or a keyboard. Mathias suggested his friend Florian (Vallez, guitar), and we instantly bonded; his way of playing was a perfect addition.
The name wasn’t meant to be meaningful. We had a hard time finding a name that hadn’t already been taken. We found a verse in a poem, which we changed a bit, et voilà (as we say in French). We thought it was cool to have a name that can have its own acronym (BWAS).
Post-rock, prog, and post-metal are all pretty distinct worlds. How did you land on that intersection, and was it intentional, or did it just happen naturally?
It happened naturally. We all have distinct influences, from jazz to metal. We all contribute by bringing our own flavors in a way that can match what each member is trying to bring to the table.
Your music is largely instrumental. What does that creative freedom feel like compared to working within a more traditional song structure?
It’s really freeing. We don’t try to replace the vocals with some lead parts. From there, there is no direction that isn’t worth exploring, whether it be creating some space with silence, making walls of sound, etc. Making progressive music also feels completely natural in this context: there are no lyrics, so it’s more interesting to see the songs as journeys from one point to another.
How do you approach songwriting as a band? Is it collaborative from the ground up, or does someone usually bring a skeleton to the table?
It often starts with the guitar part. From there, it really is a collaborative effort, and we have no hesitation meddling with what the others are playing.
What is Treignac Projet, and how did the opportunity to record there come about?
Treignac Projet is an organization that sets foot in an old spinning mill. They host artistic events, exhibitions, and residencies from people working in every field of art (cinema, classical arts, dance, etc). Our guitar player, Florian, knows them very well, and he suggested that we could play there. The place really was incredible. We played in two different sets, with opposite vibes: one was very raw, and the other one, which was an actual artistic work recreating a movie set shaped like a bar, was more intimate.
A live session recording is a very deliberate choice. Why capture the music this way rather than in a traditional studio setting?
I think that’s the best setting for our music. It’s always imperfect and, as our drummer Mathias says, it’s a mere reflection of what we are in the instant. Also, we play the same way we write, paying attention to what the others are doing. I think we can see that in the videos our friend Loïc made so brilliantly. We are currently working on our first album, and this experience at Treignac Projet will definitely have an impact on our process for the album.
The title “Written Memories” is interesting. What does that phrase mean within the context of this project?
Like Mathias said, this recording is an image of what we were at the very moment we recorded. We will never play those songs this way. We thought it was nice to burn this memory at least once. Also, most of these songs were written for a very specific occasion: we played a show in a theater a few years ago, with our friend Poisson, who is a graphic artist. He went on stage with us and drew live while we were playing. We wanted to mark these songs more permanently in our journey.
Was there anything about recording at Treignac, specifically the space, the acoustics, the atmosphere, that shaped how the session turned out?
We liked how the place sounded, with a lot of reverbs. But we did not expect it to sound this way in the end. Florian managed all the recordings, and he did an amazing job. We would love to go back there to record our album.
How does performing these songs live change them? Do they breathe differently in a room than they do on a studio record?
I’m not even capable of imagining how they would sound if we traditionally recorded them, in a studio, each and every one of us recording our parts one at a time. Maybe it would sound good; we would have to try. But I think the live component is essential to what we do. And playing them in front of an audience is another thing as well. In some respects, being an instrumental band playing in front of people is quite intimate. We don’t have a message to rely on with some lyrics. We just come out on stage and play what our feelings and emotions made us write and play them the way we feel at that very moment.
How do you want someone to feel when they listen to this record for the first time?
We would want them to want some more. And seriously, as long as our music makes people feel something, we’ll be happy. This type of music calls for introspection. Whatever people might feel when listening to this record, it belongs to them entirely.
(interview published April 5, 2026)
