Biography

Lou Seriol came together in 1992 and was formed as a trad music band. Since then it has become one of the most well-known and enduring bands of the new traditional Occitan music scene. From its acoustic beginnings to its current line up the common thread has always been that of trad innovation strictly in the Occitan language. Accordion, flutes, vocals alongside the rhythms of the Occitan ballad revisited and distorted while merging ancient sounds with today’s pop and rock; an intense and engaging mix of pachanga, reggae and punk influences. Traditional songs like Au pont de Mirabel become historical ballads while new ones like Laiseme find their way as classics within the portfolio of new Occitan composition. Innovating not to forget, innovating to feel alive and let a throbbing culture and its music live in the hearts of band members, arranging it into a thousand codes but faithful to the popular spirit from which it stems. Our essence is partying (or celebrating) while keeping a keen eye on our own land, conveying global issues with local ones without ever forgetting the feel and rediscovery of a language and tradition that continue to live in music and in the text of the songs written for an audience not always aware of the Occitan reality, but, above all, for that Occitan audience who speaks in the Occitan language. 25 years on stage have seen great collaborations and encounters with, among others band’s of whom have enrichened the nuances of the Seriol sound.