A few days before the second visit of Alcest in our country for the promotion of their 5th full album ''Kodama'', their leader Stéphane Paut or mostly known as Neige, gives us details about the album, talks about the situation that takes place in France after the terrorist attacks, promises a much better performance than the one of 2010 and showcases that people MUST join Sylvaine's gig, which plays 4 days later and has participated in Alcest's albums.
Rock Overdose: First of all congratulations for the latest album ''Kodama''. I know many people that found it one of the best releases of the previous year. What was the response you had for the album so far?
Neige: Thank you so much ! We are very happy with the response of “Kodama”. It seems that people from both the metal and the more indie scenes liked it. I think it’s the best response we’ve got for one of our albums so far.
Rock Overdose: In my opinion, the band every time with every album explores something deeper soundwise and goes further in evolution. How do you see it as the main composer and what's the importance of being acknowledged for your musical approach?
Neige: Evolution is a primordial factor for us when it comes to write new material. We always try to release interesting and challenging records and the more albums you have, the harder it gets obviously. The trick is to find a balance between going forward and also keeping the elements that are defining the personnality of the band.
Rock Overdose: How long did it take you to create ''Kodama''? Did you follow the same process like you did in the previous albums, or did you try something different this time in order to achieve the final result?
Neige: I think it took us 2 years and a half to complete the composition of « Kodama ». I started writing « Kodama » material right after the recording of « Shelter ». This time was quite different, since working on « Shelter » gave us a lot of inspiration to do something more dynamic and rhythmic for this album. I would say that « Kodama » is the most punchy album we have. We’ve worked a lot on the drums and bass, more that usual, and I wanted to come back to the essence of riffing, as opposed to the approach we had on « Shelter », that was interesting too but more atmospheric.
Rock Overdose: I believe that through the evolution of your sound, you have achieved something unique and more bands try to play in the veins of the Alcest style. Did you believe this would happen one day, and how do you feel about the fact that you are mentioned as forefathers of a new sound?
Neige: Of course it’s a very big honor for me when bands come to us and tell us that we inspired them. It’s the most precious compliment that we can possibly get !
Rock Overdose: I know it's sad to ask, but I wonder if the incidents in your country with the terrorist attacks or the strike at Charlie Hebdo magazine, had an impact to your compositions. Which is the situation in France nowadays and how do people try to adapt to the everyday danger they might face?
Neige: We’ve been really affected by these attacks. Me most of all probably, since I live just a few minutes away from Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan. Bataclan is also a venue where we played, so this place is familiar. The music scene in Paris is not that big. We all know someone that has passed away during the attacks. The whole thing was terrible and I guess it had a certain influence on the sound of « Kodama », which is a rather dark album for being Alcest. However, Parisian people have been very brave in the way they faced the events and they kept on living their lives in a normal way shortly after the attacks. I think that’s the best attitude to have.
Rock Overdose: People are curious to know how an Alcest track is born. Also, they want to know if you have a specific plan for each one, for example first recording the guitars, or the vocals and so on, or is it something that comes through thought and different needs of each composition?
Neige: I always start with writing guitar riffs. This is the essence of an Alcest song. In the end, I end up throwing away most of them, to only keep the most inspired riffs. Then I am working on the structure of the song. As you know, the structures in Alcest are quite complex, so I try to get something that seems fluent and natural. Even if the songs are very long, I try to always give them the same feeling of catchiness and « evidence » as if they were pop songs. I actually listen to a lot of pop, so that’s probably why the songwriting is so important to me. In the very end come the vocals and lyrics.
Rock Overdose: The French scene is on an ongoing rise through the years. My favourite bands from your country were the quarter of Agressor, Loudblast, Massacra and Mercyless which all of them added something unique to the extreme scene. After a long time, came bands such as Gojira, Hacride, Dagoba and Eths. How do you see this evolution of bands and are there any more great bands that aren't so known to people, that you'd like to point out to people, in order to check them out?
Neige: Gojira are really big now, that’s for sure. These guys are really good. I don’t listen to a lot of metal, so I can’t really give a lot of recommendations, but we for sure have a lot of good bands in France, mostly electronic. M83, Air or Carpenter Brut for example.
Rock Overdose: It’s been six and a half years since we saw you in Greece, in a great gig with Triptykon and Anaal Nathrakh. Do you have any memories from that night? The most extreme fans that came for the other two bands, were shocked from your performance that night!
Neige: We hated this show ! I think it’s still one of our worst memories on stage haha. It was in the very beginning of our live career, so we were not that experienced, and on top of that the bands were extreme metal bands, so their audience didn’t get what we were doing at all. Now things have changed and people are more open minded and respect us a lot for being different and having brought new influences to the metal sound, but it was not the case some years ago. We’ve been a black sheep for many years.
Rock Overdose: Four days after your gig, we're going to see Catherine from Sylvaine, she has taken part in your albums and you have taken part to hers also. She has talked with the best possible words for you and the band, we'd like a comment from you regarding her course in the music world so far.
Neige: Kathrine is a very close person to me. I think she’s one of the most talented person in the « blackgaze » scene and I am really looking forward to hear what she will do next. I know that Sylvaine will play just a few days after us, but you guys MUST go to her show. They are super dreamy and melancholic on stage and they sound great. Definitely something to see.
Rock Overdose: For the end, we want to thank you for answering our questions and for coming to our country once again. We'd like to know your future plans and if there are any ideas for a possible next album, in order to come out maybe in 2018. Merci!
Neige: Thanks to you for the interview. 2017 will consist mostly of touring until the end of the year. We are looking forward 2018, to be able to work on some new music. Can’t wait to be in Greece though; it will be much better this time, we promise !
Thanks,
Stéphane/Neige
Alcest
For Rock Overdose
Dimitris Aloras
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