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When did you start making music and what was the contributor factor that made you to do so?
Adrien: I was thirteen and my godfather gave me his guitar for my birthday. At school, there were friends that had a shitty nu metal band and I wanted to do the same.
Nicolas: I began to play music when I was 7 years old in a music school. I’ve played piano during 6 years and learning theory at the same time. At this time, it was like I was in school for me and when I was 13, I started to understand that music is so much more and I discovered music that I really loved. And then, the band who changed my life and gave me the desire to play guitar was SUM 41.
How hard was it for you to create, record and release your first material?
Adrien: It has been a very long process with a lot of difficulties (we recorded two times the album) but for the first ep it was simple, we knew a friend who was ok to help us.
Nicolas: I think everybody as an instrument which can inspired him. For example, it’s really hard for me to create music with a piano, and it’s really simple with my guitar. For the first recording and release, I can remember that I was really nervous but so proud to do this! It’s the same feeling than to play for the first time in front of people for a live show. The first minutes are stressful and then it’s a really nice feeling! To me, I can say that it’s a need to play shows but it’s a greater need to record music.
What is the main art form that influenced you in creating? Was it only music or did movies and other forms of art influenced your creative process?
Adrien: Mostly music, but I see a lot of movies, japanese animation mangas and I love videogames so I think that matters in the creative process.
Nicolas: For the music, I am only inspired by other bands that I listen or see in live shows. But for the lyrics, it is more influenced by videogames, movies or series.
What are the steps that an idea takes before becoming a fully fledge song? And how does that idea affects the way you build an album from the ground up?
Adrien: For the songs, the most of the time we find a guitar riff, we jam on it and we make a song from it. There is no particular guideline in the whole composition, we create a lot of songs and take the best of them to put on a record.
Nicolas: Like said Adrien, it’s 99% a guitar riff and a jam from it with the band. All bands have their process I think but for us, it’s what works better. It’s really more creative to play immediately what comes to you in your head (when it comes, that’s not always the case…). All songs we thought too much to build have never been finished and are not our better stuff. For an album, we try to have something coherent but also different stuff. I am really bored when I listen an album where all the songs seems to be the same!
What do you consider the most important traits that a song and an album must have before you consider it to be completed?
Adrien: I think, it’s personal for all the guys, if we are happy of the songs, we decide to record. For a song, it has to be natural, we never comeback on the composition when we are proud of it.
Nicolas: When we work on new stuff, I am able to record it and to have an idea of how it really sounds for someone who will listening to it. When you have all the elements without working hard on the sound and that your head begin to move, I consider that the job is done!
What are the actual steps that you take when you are creating? Do you need to enter or go to a certain setting in order to get creative?
Adrien: Like I said, i think it’s very natural, we jam on a riff sometimes it take one rehearsal sometimes it’s more longer like 2 or 3 rehearsals. It happens that we begin jamming and never finish the song because we are not enough satisfied or that we forget the idea.
Nicolas: There is not a way to create music for us. Sometimes, we want to create and nothing good comes. And sometimes, we are only playing existing songs and between two songs, there is something which comes, we jam on it and it can become an entire song! I think you can’t control the fact to be creative. The only condition is finally to be playing together in the same place and see what’s happening!
Except art are there any other external or internal factors that influence you when you create, if so what are they?
Adrien: I will say, politics and everyday people that you meet or see in the street at a show a party etc etc
Nicolas: I am very influenced by my state of mind at the moment. I mean that I can’t play something smooth and relax if I am angry! I just let things come like I fell them at the moment and sometimes the blend can be great for us.
What is your main motivation to create and be creative?
Adrien: It’s like a vital needs, if we are not creating new material we can start to be depressive!
Nicolas: When you are playing music and when you do that for a good reason: I mean not if you are creating music just to show at the others how strong you are… You know that you have to create, to record and to play live shows. It takes a lot of time and energy, recording and live shows makes you really anxious and stressful. But for me I really need to feel this and to do all these things. I don’t know if life has a meaning, but I can say that the mine will not if I wasn’t making music!
How long does it take to go from a song to an album from scratch to the fully recorded version?
Adrien: Too much time! Seriously, 3 years seems a good measure for creating everything from a to z.
Nicolas: I would say that it depends of a lot of things: the number of meeting per week, if you will pay to record your stuff and go in a professional studio and if you have labels to support you project. I think that 2 or 3 years from the real beginning to the end of the recorded product, mixed and mastered is a good average. And you have to add the time it takes for the physical release if you want to have more than a digital version.
Do you take multiple takes of the songs before settling on the final version or do you go with the flow and just do one take?
Adrien: We make pre-prod, we listen if everything is ok and if we have no new idea, we choose a direction for the sound and then we record a second time with more concentration so it takes a lot of time.
Nicolas: When we are ready, we record the entire album a first time to have an idea of the sound and of the groove of the songs. It’s a good way to know if there is something strange, some parts to take care about or to change. If all is right, we can work on additional stuff (overdubs, backing vocals, effects to add). Then, we can grab to the next step with the recording of definitive stuff paying attention to all the work and things we notice at the first recording version. It takes a lot of time but I think all bands should do that if they can because it helps a lot to have a better album to produce!
During live shows what do you like to do more, experiment and improvise on the basis of the existing album and songs or you are more likely to recreate the recorded material as faithfully as possible?
Adrien: the recorded material as faithfully as possible without any doubt, but it’s not the case for everyone!
Nicolas: I like to play things like they are on the recording. I don’t know if we could experiment with this kind of music. But I like to know what to play and when before to be on the stage. I feel better with this way to do!
What are the main ingredients that makes a live show special for you?
Adrien: If the crowd is receptive and smiling, slamming, listening or any other kind of interactions and also the bands we play with. For example the next month we play with Shirokuma and State Faults, we are so happy to share a gig with these guys that inspired us so much!
Nicolas: To play with good sound conditions with people listening to us is always a very special show! Most of the time, we are playing in small places, where the sound is always difficult to control and in France, it’s difficult to find good places to play our kind of music. So, when we can have a real stage with a real sound system and an interested audience, it’s always a magic moment!
Do new ideas appear during live performances? If so how to do you proceed in order to materialize them?
Adrien: Not really, but it happens that bands we play with influences us, I mean, when we saw a creative light show it give us ideas too.
Nicolas: Personally, I’ve never had new ideas of songs during the live shows. I try to play the best I can and I don’t think about new stuff when I’m playing in front of an audience.
What is the perfect time of day and weather that makes you creative?
Adrien : I love two opposites : 23am in winter with snow outside or 14 pm in june when the sun burns your skin!
Nicolas: Probably not the morning! I play when I have the time to, so I don’t really take care about it. But I can say that I like to play when the sun is shining and I think I play more during the summer.
What are your future plans and what advice do you have for people that want to get into creating music?
Adrien: Just do it, don’t think it’s too difficult or impossible, everyone can do the same and much better things than us. Also, be patient and have respect for music, your friends and people in general.
Nicolas: For the band, we are going to play as much as we can and probably begin to work on a third album quickly. For people who wants to get into creative music: be really patient and very motivated. It take a lot of time, a lot of energy and it’s hard to find serious people to play with. Listen to the rights persons and don’t pay attention to haters who are most of time only jealous of what you are able to do! Believe in you and work, work and work again until you don’t have what you want. Life is short so do what you want and what you like before it’s too late : it’s better to live with remorse than regrets!
