Ich fühl mich so 50/50

"Que de bonnes nouvelles!" Eddy tells me on the phone. Since we finally got the demo recorded, things are apparently beginning to move a little quicker. Some music industry bigwig wants to listen to our music, and has made noises about looking for a new singer in Eddy's style, to provide vocals on a track that some big French songwriter has written. All sounds remarkably vague to me, it'll probably end up like that tabloid splash a few years back about "top premiership star caught having affair!!" Rumours about who it might be went on for days until it turned out to be, er, Garry Flitcroft. Those of you not familiar with dependable but decidedly average Blackburn Rovers midfielders have the right to ask "who?" at this point.

Secondly, there's an appointment at Radio Courtoisie on Thursday. It's a Paris FM radio station, "plutôt intello", according to Eddy. He's been invited to discuss the music and said he'd mention his fabulous English pianist. That would be Timber, in case you're wondering. And then one of the tracks will be played for the entire capital to hear. Which, for me, is a step up from getting my previous musical project, Q-biq Xpression, and their pioneering album Really Bad Music, on pilot radio in Hull.

Sauf que.

Radio Courtoisie. Suffice to say I've never listened to it. Odd name for a radio station. I found their website. "La Radio Libre du Pays Réel et du Francophonie". Weird tag line. Shifting in seat uncomfortably, a little further sniffing around the internet and suspicions are confirmed: it's a strongly catholic and right-leaning station, borderline nationalist. Last year it received an official warning from the CSA (French broadcasting watchdog) for "inciting hatred or violence for reasons of sex, custom, religion, or nationality." They tend to invite right-wing politicians on for debates, including Le Pen and his National Front colleagues.

I guess when you're an unsigned artist you have to grab every opportunity to make it big. But I'm totally against this. Yes, so our music has, in essence, nothing to do with their political output. But it's like being championed by the Daily Mail, or le Figaro, albeit obviously on a smaller scale... the day we get invited to le Figaro I will also refuse. Principles? Perhaps. Artistic integrity? Maybe. You can make mistakes at the very beginning of your career which have repercussions over everything you do afterwards. People are so willing to give you a label and put you in a box. I do it myself. Even if Radio Courtoisie is holding out the tempting olive branch of free publicity, it just seems hypocritical to sell out to them now, when you're unknown and desperate, if you would never do it later on.