Doomed Confessionary: Serge Kabeya & Florian Vallez (Bird Without A Song)
Photo by Loïc Vengeon
Bird Without A Song is a four-piece instrumental band based in Limoges, France, that blend post-rock, post-metal, progressive rock, and math-rock. The common thread running through these numerous influences is above all the desire to experiment and create instrumental music that is at once powerful, rich, and contemplative.
Following their debut EP »A Dance Of Cranes« (2023), they released a live EP titled »Written Memories« in April 2026, which includes tracks like »Eaux Troubles«, »A Dance Of Cranes«, »Maestral«, and »Les Derniers Mots de Cassandre«. Bird Without A Song prefer recording live in unique spaces rather than standard studios, capturing their latest release »Written Memories« at Treignac Projet – an artistic organization set inside an old spinning mill.
Bird Without A Song consists of Serge Kabeya (guitar), Hervé Florentino (bass/keyboards), Mathias Aymé (drums), and Florian Vallez (guitar).
Can you please say a few words about your band?
Serge: We play a mix of post-rock and prog-rock. We like making long tracks, without vocals.
We are a four-piece, and sometimes a fifth member joins as an illustration artist, who draws live while we play.
Also, as French people, we are serious about baguettes and croissants.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Serge: We’re used to take our time to write new stuff. The first time we had the opportunity to do a show with some live drawing with our friend Poisson, we did not have enough songs. We wrote faster than we ever did. It was a very interesting exercice, because it forced us to cut to the chase and make radical decisions. In the end, we were very happy with those songs. You can hear some of them on our latest EP »Written Memories«.
What can you be most proud of so far?
Serge: Mostly, the positive feedbacks at the end of our shows. It really keeps us going, knowing some people really like what we do.
What was your biggest regret?
Serge: That’s not really a regret, since I’m sure it will happen one day, but we’ve never play in an outdoor music festival. We would absolutely love to do that.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
Serge: We had an amazing small tour with other french bands last year. It was an incredible experience, sharing the stage each day with the same people. We really bounded and it has a wonderful human experience.
I think our best show was the release party of our latest EP. We played with our friend Poisson who drew live. The audience was amazing, we felt a true connection with everyone that day. We managed the night ourselves with a lot of our friends who were there to help us, so it had an awesome family vibe to it.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
Serge: We were quite sure that our music would speak to some kind of a niche audience. It’s quite the opposite : we’ve seen all kinds of people in our shows, I never thought this kind of music would speak to a large variety of people.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Serge: A lot of stuff. The latest Karnivool, Loathe, Deftones, Blackshape, Brutus. I’m waiting for a moment of peace to enjoy the latest Mastodon as well. I also listen to a lot of indie rock, rap and jazz at the moment.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Florian: A good advice I was given was to learn to enjoy silence, breaks, and go discover some other things. In the end, all of this keeps you going in time, allows you to see things with a fresh perspective.
Serge: I saw a Steve Vai masterclass once, where he said it was important to grant yourself a quality time that allows you to fully immerse yourself in practicing, and to try and mentally picture yourself in some sort of a perfect set of mind that allows you to play flawlessy and effortlessly. I suck at it, but I think it’s a great advice.
What are your guilty pleasures?
Serge: I love ABBA. But I absolutely don’t feel guilty about it!
Can you say something more about the current music scene in Limoges?
Serge: It’s not a great time for small live shows. There are less venues, less people coming, lots of unanswered emails to people organizing shows. It takes dedication to be an underground band these days. But I talk to a lot of other bands, and it’s pretty much the same everywhere, at least in France.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Serge: we don’t have shows planned yet! We’re not searching, as we have many other plans.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Serge: We are writing our first album. We also would like to make a documentary out of the process. We are really bad at promoting ourselves on social medias, it’s not something we really enjoy doing, since we don’t want to share content we don’t find interesting. This is the opportunity to share stuff that we think might interest at least two people somewhere on the planet. I know I’m a huge fan of behind the scenes documentary of band in the studio.
Also, we’ve discussed with a local theater troup, called Sur le Bord. They do some amazing work, especially massive puppets made with reused materials. We might do something with them on one of their future creation. Fingers crossed!
How can people best support your band?
Serge: Come see us at our shows, share our music if you like it. That’s already huge.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Serge: Thank you ! We hope you’ll stick around for what comes next.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well