Laurent Moitrot transforms personal memories, rock’n’roll and a sharp sense of humour into songs that refuse to hide from darker subjects. The High Life revisits “Le Blues du H.L.M.”, a song written during one of the most difficult periods of his life, but now told from a different perspective one where pain gives way to humour, distance and hope.

By Sandra Pinto

With a musical journey spanning almost five decades, Moitrot speaks about the making of The High Life, his French songwriting roots, his love of punk and classic rock, working with James Mastro, and why he still wakes up dreaming about guitars.

“The High Life” was born from a much darker song, “Le Blues du H.L.M.”. What happened in your life when you originally wrote the French version, and what made you want to revisit that story years later?
At the time I first wrote « H.L.M. » my personnal life was a disaster. My marriage was breaking up. My mood was very dark. Another song from that era is the one called « sois sage oh ma douleur » from my 2025 « Donne-moi du temps » record. Very dark and hopeless. The only thing that kept me afloat at the time was playing with my band. Yet I always thought it was too good a song to be thrown away just like that. That’s why in 2024 I decided to record it properly and sent the demo to James Mastro.

The two songs share the same musical foundation but tell the story from very different emotional perspectives. What changed inside you between writing “Le Blues du H.L.M.” and creating “The High Life”?
After we recorded the « Donne-moi du temps » mini album James Mastro who liked the groove of the song said « you should write an English version of HLM ». It took me a couple of months to get around it and give it a try. While trying to translate the lyrics from French it soon occured to me some of them would not translate well. I also noticed that when I wrote the French lyrics to James Mastro’s song « My god ». Let’s call that a «cultural gap ». We have no problem in France with what I'd call « crude lyrics », or dark lyrics but they don’t translate well in English. I realized I needed a more positive and balanced approach plus, as I already said, my personnal life is now completely different.

The title “The High Life” came from a tongue-in-cheek expression suggested by your friend Andrew Field. How did those three words completely change the meaning of the song?
My good friend Andrew Field, who is an accomplished writer himself is – how to describe him ? – my « English teacher. » The guy I send my English lyrics to so that he can correct them and tell me what is « proper English » or not. Let’s say he’s my « proof reader ». But he’s not just that. The first version was called « The Social Housing Blues ». Andrew then told me about « living the High Life », a tongue-in-cheek way of talking about life in the « social housing » in the Manchester (UK) area. He's also pushed me to write the fourth verse, the one that said « hope is not lost ». He also suggested the name « Nigel » for the neighbourhood bully, thinking of a very controversial contemporary English political man. That’s how the English lyrics ended up being « tongue in cheek ». Let’s say « British humour ».

You introduced characters such as Curtiss, Mary and Nigel into the English version. Where did these characters come from, and did you recognise parts of yourself or people you have known in them?
These characters are in the French lyrics only they are anonymous. We all have a neighbour like Curtiss, the solitary man. Remember, I am also part of the song. I am the narrator. I am the man Mary sees when her husband is at work. These are people I met. Curtiss is half the neighbour I had in the 2000's and half the guy you read about in the news who shot at kids who were playing football in the street and were « too noisy for him ». We all know people like them.

There is humour, sadness and ultimately hope in “The High Life”. Is humour a way for you to deal with difficult or painful subjects? 
Definitely yes. Always has been. Laugh about it before you have to cry about it is my motto. The song is set in an H.L.M., a form of social housing strongly associated with large apartment blocks in France.

What does that setting represent to you beyond the physical place?
I’d say it is a symbol of what our societies do with people and their problems. Hide them away.
Pretend all is fine when all is not. Then people have to find their own way of solving their problems or trying to. We often talk about the « Potemkine villages » in French. Everything looks nice from the outside but if you look closely …

You have said that the English version gave you enough distance to tell the story differently. Does writing in English allow you to express certain emotions more freely than writing in French?
Back in the day writing in English was a way for me to hide away. My first album is full of that. Songs that are almost autobiographical but people around me don’t understand what I am singing about. Not sure my first wife would like the song « time of my life » were she to understand the lyrics. I am now – better late than never – able to write in French and let everybody here know what I have in mind. The song « Que puis-je faire » on my mini album was first written in english just because of that. A letter to my then wife saying «what can I do to help you ». That’s the demo I sent to James Mastro. I wrote the French lyrics after Mastro agreed to produce the songs.

Your music brings together French songwriting traditions with blues and rock influences. How do you see your own identity as a songwriter between those two worlds?
We have a problem in France with rock music. Not sure why. This my attempt at trying to solve the problem. Rock music with French lyrics that are not just « baby baby I love you » or should I say « chérie chérie je t’aime ».

You have mentioned artists such as Jacques Dutronc, Jacques Higelin and Jean Leloup, while your musical roots reach towards the Rolling Stones, Dr. Feelgood, Fleetwood Mac and Mott the Hoople. How do these very different traditions meet inside your songwriting?
Rock music and blues is what comes to me naturally. French singers such as Higelin or even George Brassens (he definitely is not a rock singer!) are the ones who show me the way to write « clever lyrics » or should I say, try to.

You discovered the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St. as a teenager and it changed your relationship with music. What did that album unlock in you?
I started playing the piano at age 7. The day I bought « Exile » in 72, I was 14 at the time, is the day I said « I want to play the guitar ». First song on the album is « Rock Off ». I said « I want to do that ». Kept on playing the piano until age 18 but it was not « my instrument». The guitar was.

You have been performing since 1976. Nearly five decades later, what has changed most about the way you approach songwriting, performing and being on stage?
Long story that. I started as the guitar player hidden in the dark, stage left and ended up as the frontman because singers were always an issue. It took me decades to understand that on stage you have to act. Let people know you mean it. People never remember the brilliant guitar player but they always remember the funny bass player who made them laugh because of his attitude on stage even if he was not that good (yes this is a true story!).

You spent many years balancing music with a career as a mathematics teacher. Did that other life influence the way you approached music, or did music become the place where you could escape from that structured world?
I’d say « neither – nor ». I loved my job as a teacher. I loved pupils (well … most of them). Only music is a part of me. I often say music is so important to me it cost me a marriage.

Your debut album, Little Monsters Most Of Them Blue.s, was produced by Laurent Thibault, a founding member of Magma and former director of Château d’Hérouville. What did working with someone with such a remarkable musical history mean to you?
Another long story. Laurent Thibault is a close friend and has been that for 24 years. He taught me how to record. We played together in various cover bands but the most important lesson is about recording. The utmost importance of timing and phrasing. Each time I record stuff in my home studio I have the feeling that he’s right here behind me and I hope what I recorded « passes the Thibault test » which it sometimess does. Recording with him as I did with my first album could be stressful at times but it was worth it.

You later created the Dr. Feelgood tribute project “Hands Up!”. What is it about Dr. Feelgood’s raw energy and attitude that continues to speak to you?
Soon after I discovered rock music in the mid 70’s , punk rock appeared on the scene and I just fell for it. Always remember that : I am a punk rocker at heart.

You recorded “The High Life” with James Mastro, Ray Ketchem and musicians including Paul Page and Doug Yowell. What did this New Jersey recording experience bring to your music that you might not have found elsewhere?
I worked with very good French musicians on my first album but it was a blues album. These American musicians just knew what I wanted without me asking. That’s the main difference. After all the music I love comes from the USA. They just know how to play it. Better than French guys.

James Mastro has worked with artists such as Ian Hunter, Patti Smith and John Cale. What did you learn from his approach as a producer?
On the first day I walked into the studio I almost refused to play the guitar. Too much pressure for me. When I told that to James he laughed and pointed at the room around us saying « pressure? What pressure ? Do you see any pressure here ? ». That sums it up. He made me feel at home.

You have described the six-track Donne-moi du temps EP as “the album I’ve dreamt of making all my life”. What made that particular record so important to you?
Being finally able to make my « coming out ». I am French, I love rock music and I want to sing it it French.

“The High Life” seems to suggest that even difficult stories can be retold from another perspective. Has music always been a way for you to make sense of your own experiences?
Definitely yes and the older I get the more I am able to make sense of what happened to me and write songs about it.

After almost 50 years of performing, what still makes you pick up the guitar and want to write another song?
I can’t help it. Even now I dream of it. I wake up in the morning and tell the wife « hey guess what I did last night ? » and it always is about music and guitars. In my dreams I have played with them all. The Stones, Springsteen, Ian Hunter, you name them. You
might not believe it but two nights ago I dreamed I was in New York and ended up playinng with James Mastro. Guess it’s time to plan a new recording session with him and the lads eh ? I’ve already written and demoed a dozen new songs. Looks like I am living the high life too, literally and metaphorically.

Finally, if someone listens to “The High Life” without knowing the story behind it, what do you hope they take away from Curtiss, Mary, Nigel and the world they inhabit?
The guy who made the video got it. Look at the end of the video. Nigel the bully smiles at a little boy and gives him his balloon back. That’s it. There is always hope. Things can get better no matter how low you feel.

Bandcamp here