By car, it is better to take your troubles patiently, especially when bad weather impedes traffic. On the evening of November 28, snowfall immobilized hundreds of motorists on the A89 motorway near Thiers, in the Puy-de-Dôme. Some were determined not to feel sorry for themselves. On board a tour bus, David and Jérôme Henry, Gregory Boutinon, Alexy Sertillange and Jennifer Russeil - four musicians and a journalist - took up a challenge: that of making a video clip from their vehicle using on-board resources. These "castaways of Poitou" remained stranded for nearly seven hours on the motorway, helpless. Over the phone, David Henry begins the story of the journey in a hoarse voice, which, it seems, has left him after-effects.
"I'm turning to chamomile and honey!"
he jokes.
"We had to give up our Netflix series to meet the challenge"
The five friends were returning from Evian. David Henry performed the day before at a concert alongside Marghe, winner of The Voice 2021, with whom he forms the duo MADA. The event was organized by the Ici La Terre agency, with whom the pianist is used to working.
“Our GPS made us take another route,” he
explains
. We faced a meteorological exception over ten kilometers. Near Thiers, heavy snowfall fell and instantly froze. We could not anticipate despite the forecasts ”
. Trapped, the musician talks with the agency team.
“They took another route, where things were going well. They comforted us, they said to us “We hope that it will be okay,take the opportunity to lay a song for us!
”
”
.
David takes the proposal literally.
"We had to give up our Netflix series to meet the challenge
.
"
It took four hours - between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. - to write this song, record the vocals and the instruments.
“We did absolutely everything.
Each wrote a verse and respected what the other wrote
”.
Named
Storm of Joy - Snowstorm
, the track was recorded in one shot
.
The linear lyrics, punctuated by choruses, relate with humor this chaotic evening:
"In the truck we are stuck / Snowstorm / On the highway it snowed / Storm of joy"
.
The troupe decides to push the project even further: to produce a clip for this song.
“We wanted the challenge to be tough,”
adds David Henry. In the middle of the night and in minus three degrees, it is difficult to shoot images outside. The majority of the clip is therefore shot on the bus. Cell phones, almost empty of their battery, are used as additional lighting.
“The atmosphere is like that of the
Bohemian Rhapsody
music video
, it made us laugh. We realized that by writing this song a little schoolboy, we brought out our culture ”
. Jennifer Russeil, editor for
France 3 Poitou-Charentes
, was responsible for bringing the clip to life.
Second degree and heady instrumentation make you forget the tour bus parked on the side of the highway.
"There is a real call from people to see this smiling breath"
As soon as it is finished, the video is sent to the Puy-de-Dôme prefecture, before being published on Facebook and Youtube.
“We didn't know how long we were going to be stranded, so we thought it might be nice that other motorists in the same situation could change their minds”
. To date, the clip has counted nearly 295,000 views. The excitement quickly turned into success, as David Henry testifies:
“For 48 hours, my phone has not stopped ringing. Our song passes
the news channels.
The radios tell us that this song sounds like a “winter hit”, the one we sing on the ski slopes. We were even contacted by RTL Belgium for a live broadcast
”.
This viral buzz could have run out of steam on its own, but the five friends want to use this visibility to break with the oppressive atmosphere of the pandemic.
“There is a real call from people to see this smiling breath.
We respond to a frenzy of waiting, they want to find themselves with something positive.
A lot of people would have liked to have been with us in the truck.
People tell us “At the next road problem, we'll meet you” ”.
The group is about to create a TikTok account, not to follow their road mishaps, but to follow the evolution of this title born of a daily hazard.
