Published on: 07/22/2022

Hellfest 2022: an unforgettable experience for the band Disconnected!

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The Distrolution / Distrolution Merch team had the chance to participate in the Hellfest Festival from June 19 to 26, 2022. The program included concerts, meetings... and several interviews, which you can find each week in FR version on Distrolution Merch and in EN version on Distrolution! Discover without further delay our interview with Jelly and Flo from the band Disconnected!

Photo: Emmanuel Rousselle

To start, would it be possible for you to introduce yourselves individually, then introduce your band to us?

Jelly: I'm Jelly, I've been the drummer of Disconnected since 2018 and incidentally, a studio sound engineer.

Flo: And I'm Flo, I've been the rhythm guitarist of Disconnected since I think 2018 as well, but a few months earlier.

How was the band formed?

Flo: So originally, it's Adrian who created the band a while ago.

Jelly: Yeah, it's been a while!

Flo: He really spent time looking for the lineup.

Jelly: Yeah, the band has existed since 2013 or 2015, something like that. But it was inactive, actually. The band really came to life, really hatched in 2017 / 2018 with the release of the first album. So it's 2017 / 2018 when the band really emerged.

Flo: Well, first when he found Ivan, he found, really, the singer who fit perfectly. There was the click that really made things move forward!

Thanks for the introductions! Last February, you launched a call for donations on your social media. Who came up with the idea for this crowdfunding, and what have the donations been or will be used for?

Jelly: The idea came from Adrian and Ivan, the two leaders of the band. Why? Well, because we went through two years of this damn pandemic, and for the last 6 months, we haven't done much, it's barely starting up again! We were working on the production of the second album and we simply needed help, needed money for production, promotion, music video releases, Spotify and Deezer playlists, etc. We were really in financial need, we needed help, that's why. It's mainly for the production and promotion of the album! And it was an unexpectedly big success!

Flo: Yeah!

Which is gratifying!

Jelly: That's clear. We've far exceeded the goals, even though it wasn't the first crowdfunding, right?

Flo: We did one at the beginning of the tour!

Jelly: We did one for the tour with Tremonti. We did a second one 2 and a half, three years later. Unexpected, you know! Big success, we're super happy!

Speaking of albums, you released your new album "We Are Disconnected" in April 2022. How long did you work on it?

Flo: Oh well, for a while, since it was supposed to come out much earlier, but there's always this Covid story! (laughs)

Jelly: When did "Unstoppable" come out?

Flo: "Unstoppable" was released during the first...

Jelly: Yeah... 2019!

Flo: Yeah, that's it.

Jelly: In 2019, we released the single "Unstoppable" which was supposed to be on the second album, which eventually isn't, because we changed producers in the meantime. We had difficulties, disagreements with the producer we had at that time. The album producer... the sound engineer, rather, since we produce the album ourselves! Which means that "Unstoppable" ultimately didn't end up on the album because we don't have the same sound, the same production. So in the end, if we take it from start to finish, we made the album in two years, you know. Roughly!

Flo: Yeah, that's right. Because Adrian started composing the album basically after our tour.

Jelly: It dragged on for two years! We should never have taken two years, but with the pandemic, the change of sound engineer and all that, it took two years!

Flo: Yeah, and well, the idea wasn't to release it in the middle of a pandemic when we can't do anything with it, you know?

Jelly: That was also part of it!

Artwork: Chromatorium Music

How do you usually divide the roles within the band? Does everyone have a predefined role or is it truly a team effort?

Flo: Well, it's really Adrian who composes, basically.

Jelly: Yeah! Well, up until now, that's how it's been. Up until now, it's been like that, it's essentially Adrian who composes the music and Ivan who writes the lyrics. But again, this album was made in such a particular context, it's not necessarily Adrian and Ivan's wish, I think. I think it happened this way because of the pandemic and we couldn't see each other, etc. But I think in the future if you (addressing Flo) propose riffs, there's no reason they wouldn't be included, you see?

Flo: Yeah, yeah. Definitely!

Jelly: So I think it's really... We're more and more in a teamwork, but here, the pandemic, once again, meant that Adrian had to write all by himself.

Yes, but it was a very special period.

Flo: Yeah, of course!

Jelly: But Adrian had, for example, ideas for drum parts and when we arrived in the studio, I proposed some things. Well, when they liked it, when it worked, we kept it and otherwise, we modified and stuff. It's still a team effort!

Flo: Yeah, that's it! He really did the compositions and we did more of the arranging, you know!

Jelly: That's it!

Do you have a favorite track on this album?

Flo: I'd say "Primal Rage", because it hits hard and I like that! (Laughs)

Jelly: It's the most violent song.

Flo: Yeah, it's heavy and violent!

Jelly: For me, it would be "Life Will Always Find Its Way". First single, first track. I mixed the album, so I have a slightly different perspective on the album than the rest of the band. I think it's the best song, I think it's the best chorus, I think it's the best produced track... It's my favorite song for all that! I really like the chorus, it's catchy, it's the intro to our concert, every time we play it, it's powerful, it's my favorite song!

Personally, I find this album accessible to everyone because it combines several musical styles. Whether you like rock, metal, or other genres, you'll always find at least one track on this album that you really enjoy. Was this intentional during the composition process?

Jelly: Well, yes. Adrian is the one who composes, but we generally all have the same tastes, otherwise it wouldn't work. And you can hear it on this album, actually. Which is quite different from the first one, even if we're still the same band, it's still quite different from the first one.

Flo: It's that now, we know each other, you know!

Jelly: Now we know each other and even though Adrian wrote it, he wrote much more in the spirit of what happened on tour, the albums we listened to, what we liked together, etc. He wrote much more in that vein, which makes us much more rock and less metal. Even in the sound...

Flo: It's not, not metal, it's... natural, you know!

Jelly: It's not, not metal, it's more yeah, it's more natural, a bit more natural, a bit more rock in spirit. More melodic, more rock, more catchy... more of what we like! We also like brutal and technical stuff, but we also like musical and catchy things, so there you go! That's why after "Primal Rage", which is a rather violent track, and "Your Way to Kill" which is actually a ballad, you see. Life, with big choruses...

We're at Hellfest, let's talk about this experience, which is quite crazy. What's it like to be here?

Flo: Totally!

Jelly: Well, it feels good!

Flo: Yeah, and it was crazy, you know!

Jelly: It was crazy, it feels good. It's the culmination of many months and many years of work! It's the culmination, the reward for everything we've done so far! It's something we wanted to do since... We've been talking about it forever!

Flo: I think we all hoped to play at Hellfest one day.

Jelly: Yeah, yeah, and on the main stage too!

Flo: Yeah, that's it!

Jelly: We're going to do other main stages, we're going to do Rock Fest, we're going to do Wacken... Is it not a Wacken main stage?

Flo: No, it's not the main stage.

Jelly: But we're super happy to do this! But Hellfest...

Flo: It's Hellfest!

Jelly: It's ours, you know!

And how did your concert go?

Jelly: Well, really great!

Flo: Excellent! Honestly, it was huge! It wasn't usual, of course...

Jelly: It wasn't usual!

Flo: It was still really big!

Jelly: Yeah, we felt really small!

Flo: Well, you don't have the same feelings on stage, we were talking about it earlier, you hear the sound but you don't hear the audience!

Jelly: You can't hear the audience, you can't hear...

Flo: And there's not much in there after all... (pointing to his chest)

Jelly: No, there are no sensations, because everything is so big!

Flo: In terms of sound, you know!

Jelly: Yeah, in terms of sound! We don't have any sensations, so it's quite... For me, on the first song, it was... it was very disturbing, because I had no feeling from the audience, I had no feeling of sound and it's very strange!

Flo: No but it's still super cool, don't worry (laughs)!

Jelly: It was very cool, but yeah, it's the first time we've played such a big stage and it's not usual!

Video: Duke Tv

We can't imagine ourselves on the other side...

Flo: Yeah, because in front, there's a lot of sound! But it's true that it was funny, I was thinking to myself "I hear everything perfectly, but something's missing..."

Jelly: There's no feeling! But then we watched the videos, the hundreds of stories of everyone tagging us, and we thought: "Oh yeah, it is! It's cool!". In two years, the same thing at 1 PM!

I wish that for you!

Jelly: Well, why not! In any case, we're working towards it!

You were telling me about upcoming concerts, Wacken etc. Of all the concerts you've done throughout your career, is there one that particularly stood out to you, apart from Hellfest?

Flo: (Laughs) I was going to say, easy question!

Jelly: Hellfest is definitely memorable, but from a personal point of view, the Zenith was an important date when we opened for Judas Priest, because it was the first big show I did, the first big show we did. But I'd say that the last date of the Tremonti tour was really emotionally intense!

Flo: Yes, that's it! That's really it! It's not the one where we played the best, but there was something there!

Jelly: It was very emotionally intense!

Flo: We had just spent a month and a half with the same guys. At the end of the concert, well, during our concert, they came to play a little prank... They came behind the stage, they took Jelly's cymbals, they ran off with them!

Jelly: They started dismantling the drums, they were there on stage, Tremonti was there...

Flo: Something really happened, you know, you see!

Jelly: It was an incredibly emotional date!

Flo: And when Tremonti comes and takes away your cymbals! (Laughter)

Jelly: Oh it's great, it's great! For me! For you, I don't know which date is your favorite! (addressing Flo)

Flo: I feel like saying pretty much the same as you (Laughs). No, really, the Zenith had a bit of a crazy side to it, because again, it was our first big gig like that, there were people everywhere, and it's not like Hellfest where it's as far as the eye can see, at the Zenith you feel like there are just people everywhere! During the tour, there's that one, and I also had a blast in Denmark!

Jelly: Oh yeah, I don't remember!

Flo: In Denmark, I really enjoyed myself, yeah! But there wasn't the emotional side like you say. In Amsterdam, there was something about the overall, you see, about the general atmosphere, not just about the concert!

It's already great to be able to visit several countries. Even though I know you don't particularly have time to sightsee...

Jelly: No!

Flo: We do a bit of traveling! (Laughs)

Jelly: We visit whenever we can but no, it's very complicated, we don't see much. It goes too fast! It goes too fast, we're tired, we have to unload the truck, we have to set up the stage, we have to reload the truck... In reality...

Flo: Yeah, and the dates keep coming, you have to be on time...

Jelly: The dates are coming one after another, yeah...

Flo: Actually, the moments you have are an hour in the afternoon when you've done your sound check. An hour, sometimes two, three... You're going to tour the neighborhood, you know! (Laughter)

Jelly: I used that time to sleep! Free time, I used it to sleep most of the time! It's cool! It's true that in people's minds, a tour is cool and it is! But it's not a non-stop party!

Flo: It's not easy, it's not easy! There's a big contrast between: every night, you do the concerts, you party until late and all. And then, you go back to your tiny... to your little van, you have no shower, no toilet, you eat when you can, what you find... Well, I'm exaggerating a bit but...

Jelly: But we love it! Anyway, if a band doesn't like it, they don't succeed!

Flo: Ah, but for sure! It's impossible!

Jelly: But we love it! Finding ourselves in our crappy little van and showering at highway rest stops... We loved it! We laughed for a month and a half, you know! And I think even at 45-50 years old, we'll still do it! I think...

Flo: Oh but if we have the opportunity, for sure!

Jelly: We loved it! We hope to be on a Dreamliner someday, but there you go! (Laughs)

To wrap up this interview, tell me about your future projects with Disconnected. What's in store for you in the coming months?

Flo: What awaits us...

Jelly: What's in store for us... Well...

Flo: Nothing's set, but...

Jelly: No, nothing's set in stone, but there are lots of things in progress! Now that we've signed with bookers, tour managers... The next step will be to find a label. We have some leads! I was about to say nothing concrete, but yes, concrete things we can't talk about! The next step is a label and more and more concerts. The comeback! We're discussing a tour this winter, I think? A French tour?

Flo: Yeah!

Jelly: There you go! So the next step is label, French tour with Disconnected as headliner, so there again...

Flo: Yeah, combining big opening acts with... Starting to really headline!

Jelly: It's going to be a first big, intense experience for the band! First headlining tour...

Flo: Yes, absolutely!

Jelly: It's going to be intense, it's going to be big, it's going to be full of stress, full of pressure...

It'll be fine!

Jelly: Of course, of course! We have the idea of doing about twenty dates in major cities. So we're going to try to do...

Flo: A little tour, you know!

Jelly: Yeah, that's it!

That was my last question, I'll let you have the final word for our readers! If you have a message to pass on, now's the time!

Jelly: The message is...

Flo: Always pretty much the same, you know... Keep coming! (Laughs)

Jelly: That the best way to support a band you love is to buy CDs, t-shirts, to come see them in concerts... It's the best way to support a band you love, to support the French scene, because it's difficult in France anyway... Well, it's difficult everywhere, but France is a particular context, because we don't have the culture, so there you go! Keep supporting the bands, buy CDs, buy t-shirts, come to concerts. We're always happy to see people, that's the most important thing!