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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 every week in FR version on Distrolution Merch and in EN version on Distrolution !
Discover without further delay our interview with the French band Theraphosa!
Photo: Denis Goria
Hi Theraphosa. To start, would it be possible for you to introduce yourselves individually?
Matthieu: I'm Matthieu, I'm the bassist of the band and I do the backing vocals, and I'm also in charge of writing the lyrics.
Vincent: I'm Vincent, I do guitar and vocals, and I do the compositions for the band.
Martin: I'm Martin, the drummer, and I do arrangement on the compositions.
How was your band formed?
Vincent: It formed a long time ago! Well... A long time ago. What, it was in 2007! It formed a bit... Very naturally, actually! I wanted to form a band. This is my biological brother, I mean (pointing to Matthieu) and he's my brother too, but not biological (pointing to Martin). We were 4 years apart, well, we still are 4 years apart (laughs), and I was... I don't remember at what age...
Matthieu: 17 years old and I was 13!
Vincent: There you go! And I already wanted to form a band for a while. Matthieu was starting to play bass, or I don't remember...
Matthieu: Vincent had been playing guitar for two years, he was looking for a band but couldn't find one, he couldn't find reliable people. So I went to see him and said "Listen, do you want me to play bass?" He said "OK" and I started playing bass. We needed a drummer and I thought of Martin because by chance he told me he had done percussion when he was young. I thought "Well, that'll do" and Martin accepted!
Vincent: Actually, we started like that, very simply. And then, we started playing a little, quietly, among ourselves, in the attic. We started making our compositions. And it progressed to this point! We evolved musically together, over all these years, and that's it!
Martin: And in the first year, we had our first Music Festival! That was our goal!
Vincent: Yeah, it was our first Music Day!
Matthieu: It was a few months after the formation.
Vincent: We formed the band and right after, we did a Music Day performance. It was fun! That was already our goal!
Martin: Because we were really young at that time!
Vincent: It was incredible!
Those are still good memories!
Vincent: Oh yeah, totally! I remember it very well. The first one, I remember it very well!
Let's talk about your album "Transcendence", released in 2020. How long did you work on it?
Vincent: When you say working on it, do you mean recording, or everything?
The whole process!
Matthieu: It's quite difficult to pinpoint the composition process, because Vincent is constantly composing. He's always composing. He might sometimes use pieces he composed years ago for the album. Generally, we start preparing an album, really reworking the tracks let's say, choosing them, learning them, writing the lyrics, choosing the theme and recording etc. Usually, it's a process of about 6 months, right?
Vincent: I trust you!
Matthieu: Between 6 months and a year, to be generous!
Vincent: The recording itself didn't take that long. It took us what, a month I think! "Transcendence" was a month in Paris. But before that, there was work done over several months. But it's true that as he says (pointing to Matthieu), we select the tracks, we learn them, we write the lyrics and that's it!
Photo: Denis Goria
Is it a team effort, or does each person have a more or less predefined role?
Vincent: Now, there are really predefined roles.
Matthieu: Which wasn't entirely the case on "Transcendence". It started to happen on "Transcendence". Vincent takes care of almost 100% of the composition. I now take care of 100% of the lyrics writing, but on "Transcendence", it was 50%. And Martin takes care of a lot of the arrangements, especially for his drum parts. And for the arrangements, we might all discuss again, but generally, it's Vincent and Martin who take care of it.
Vincent: Yeah, we do it together.
Matthieu: It can happen that we compose (pointing to Martin), but it's really anecdotal!
For this album, you worked with Francis Caste. How did your collaboration go?
Vincent: Honestly, it was great!
Matthieu: It was really great!
Vincent: Francis, it matched on all levels, both humanly and musically. So that was perfect! He was recommended to us by our publisher and he had seen well, in this regard, that he was the right person to work with us. Plus, we were super happy with the result. Really, it was perfect. Nothing to say!
I've been following your social media for a while and noticed that you had started a teasing phase (time spent in the studio etc.), until you announced, a few days ago, that a new album was in preparation. Can we talk about this upcoming release and the evolution of your music between Transcendence and this new album?
Vincent: So, I'll talk about the music first and Matthieu will talk more about the text side and the idea behind it, the philosophy behind it! Basically, the music will be a logical continuation of "Transcendence". It's going to be something quite similar, maybe a bit more aggressive at times. A bit more technical too, at times, without going into extreme stuff. But otherwise, it really stays in line with what we did with "Transcendence". And then, for the theme and the texts, I think Matthieu will elaborate.
Matthieu: It's a logical continuation of "Transcendence", it's a deepening of what we've already addressed. In the "Transcendence" album, we addressed transcendence in a fairly general way and here, we're going to specify, we're going to delve deeper into things. The album is called "Inferno" and the support for this album is Dante's Divine Comedy book. The first part of this book is Hell, with the 9 circles. And so each track will represent one of the circles. There will be 10 tracks because we also have the vestibule.
Vincent: We did the introduction if you want... The entrance, you know!
Matthieu: That's it! The ante-hell, we call it the ante-hell in the book and we call it the vestibule.
Vincent: It's also called the vestibule, right!
Matthieu: So, and then we have the 9 circles that represent vices, like lust, gluttony, heresy, betrayal, etc. The goal is to develop these vices on a philosophical level. Because what's very interesting with Dante is that his work goes through hell, purgatory, and then Paradise. It's a spiritual journey towards beatitude. So we're really in a very Catholic context since it was written between 1306 and 1321, so it's in a Catholic world. But transcendence can also touch believers and non-believers, it's a very broad theme. And the vices addressed in this work are timeless, actually. We can approach them differently depending on the era we live in. And so, we tried to approach these vices in relation to our time.
Vincent: And besides, we can approach them from both a believing and non-believing point of view, that's what's good! It's something very universal.
Matthieu: We're going to speak to both, believers and non-believers alike.
Is this an album you composed during the pandemic?
Vincent: No! Well... Yes and no! There are tracks that were composed a few years ago, because this "Inferno" project, I've wanted to do it for years.
Matthieu: Vincent has wanted to do it for a very long time!
Vincent: So I've already started working on...
Martin: The idea!
Vincent: Yeah, the idea and the style of music that goes with it. It's an atmosphere after all! And so I had already prepared some stuff. "This would be good for the Inferno project". And in the end, when we said "Let's do it, let's do this one!", well I took some of these tracks that I reworked and then there are others that were composed from A to Z recently, that's it! So it's a process...
Matthieu: The lyrics are written very shortly before the album release... before the recording, rather! The lyrics weren't prepared in advance.
Is this an album that you once again recorded with Francis Caste, or in your own studio?
Vincent: Well, this is actually the first time we're doing this. We're recording ourselves in our home studio. We've just finished the drum takes. However, we'll have someone else mix it... We won't mix it ourselves, we'll have someone else mix and master it. But here, we're in a recording process that we're doing ourselves. That's it! So that's what will be different. After that, we would have loved to work with Francis, really, nothing tells us we won't do other projects with Francis because it was great. But for this one, it's true that we wanted to try it this way!
Who came up with the idea for this home studio?
Matthieu: I'd say it's Vincent, really! Let's say we've always wanted to have a studio at home, for practical and economic reasons, but...
Vincent: Then after that, you also get a taste for learning a bit how it works. It's true that after being in the studio and seeing the engineers do their job, placing the mics, mixing... Well, I'm there like: "I'd love to try that, I'd like to learn how it works". And so eventually you learn, you learn on your own and at some point you tell yourself "Now, I think I can do it". So there you go!
Martin: And the difference with a studio is that in a studio, it's in a limited time. Whereas here, when you're at home, well it's really... You can take your time.
Vincent: You have time to experiment!
Martin: You do what you want, actually, so it's still a different work method.
I saw that you also started creating acoustic panels!
Vincent: Yeah, oh what a trip! (laughter)
Martin: Yeah! (laughs)
Vincent: We do everything, all by ourselves. Well, we do a lot of things by ourselves. It's a form of pride, in a way. I'm very happy to say "we did this ourselves", because each time, you learn things. Before making the acoustic panels, I went through documentation for weeks! What thickness is needed, the size...
Martin: The glue! (laughs)
Vincent: The glue! How do we do it? The nails, what do we use? It's crazy!
I have a feeling there's an anecdote with the glue! (laughs)
Matthieu: We glued acoustic panels to the ceiling, and the glue doesn't stick! So we stayed like this (hands pressed against the ceiling) for 10-15 minutes! (general laughter)
Vincent: At the end, it was crazy! (laughs)
Martin: Every time we woke up the next day, there were things that had fallen down!
Vincent: We were going crazy, this story drove us nuts!
We can still say that you have a bit of a DIY spirit!
Vincent: Yeah!
Matthieu: Especially Vincent! Especially Vincent!
Vincent: Martin is willing, he helps me every time!
Matthieu: Martin helped the most! I was there from time to time, but Vincent...
Vincent (talking about Martin): He sees I have a saw and he says "Come on, let's cut!" (laughs) It amuses him too! It's also true that financially it's a money pit, if you start wanting to... Because we had inquired a long time ago about making a studio by the book, the price was just out of our reach! So we said "Well, we're going to do it ourselves, as we can, trying to be as professional as possible". We managed quite well, in the end. What made us want to do it ourselves is that first, we were interested in doing it ourselves, the satisfaction as you said of doing it yourself, and also, well the price. We don't have an extensible budget, we do what we can! We prioritize, even if it means putting money... I said to myself "Well, maybe we'll buy microphones to have good quality for the drum, to record the drum, and then the acoustic panels, we'll do them ourselves". That's it! That's how everything gets done actually!
Source: https://www.facebook.com/theraphosamusic
We save money, but there's definitely a big investment of time!
Vincent: Yeah! But it's good, because the whole family is involved. I mean, if I need a tool, I call Grandpa! And that's funny! It's good, in a way it's cool, because everyone is involved. It maintains... It allows us to be in contact with everyone, to always see everyone... That's cool!
Let's talk about it since we're at Hellfest. What's it like to be in such an iconic festival?
Vincent: Honestly, well it's great! First of all, for us, it's kind of an honor anyway, because well... being here, it's... As you say, it's iconic! This festival is still... Now it's good, it's globally recognized. It's true that when we arrived, we were impressed by the logistics, the organization! It's incredible! It's true that being able to be here, talking about our album, it's a huge opportunity. And there's also a huge honor! So we're really very happy! It does something to you, too. It doesn't leave you indifferent! (laughter) There's a little pride. It's in France! Honestly, it's impressive.
Will you have time to see some concerts?
Martin: Yes, we've already seen some!
Vincent: We've seen a few, yes. Quite a few already! After all, we tell ourselves that we're mainly here to do interviews and do what we have to do, what we came for in the first place, that's it! But it's true that we try to see as many concerts as possible whenever we have time to do so.
When you discovered the lineup, was there a particular band you really didn't want to miss?
Vincent: Me, yes! Ghost!
Everyone gives me the same answer! (laughs)
Vincent: I'm a Ghost fan! I saw them recently in Paris, not long ago, they came, but I had to see them again, there! Whenever they come, I see them! So Ghost was my number 1. And tonight, Gojira! That, I need to see Gojira too! That's it! After that, there are other bands that interest me, but mainly yes, if I had to choose only one, it's Ghost!
Martin: I had never seen Ghost, Vincent often talked about them, because he's quite a fan of that band. And I had never seen them in concert. I went to see and it's true that it's very impressive! It's a real show, you know! It's not a concert, it's a show! So yeah, it was really great to watch. And after that, well, I'd really like to see, like Vincent, Gojira!
Vincent: Gojira, yeah!
Matthieu: No, I don't... I'm not really into concerts, so...
Vincent: It's different! (laughs)
There's bound to be a concert you're going to see... Not even?
Matthieu: Well, I saw a few. I watched a bit of Rotting Christ with Vincent, Opeth, a band, I didn't know the name, I don't know the band, so I'll go check them out, because what they were doing was nice. It was the first day, around... What time did we arrive Martin, the band we saw? The guy was in a sweatshirt, short hair, in a sweatshirt!
Vincent: On the main stage!
Martin: Ah, by hand! Well... I don't remember anymore!
Vincent: Yeah... But it was cool!!
Matthieu: After that it was nice! But otherwise no, there's no...
Vincent: But we don't know what it was! (laughs)
Martin: It was Wednesday, in the afternoon. Uh, Friday, in the afternoon!
Matthieu: In reality, I listen to metal, but it's not the style of music I listen to the most! What I'd really like to see live is more Gregorian chants, things like that! I like that!
Speaking of concerts, when can we see you on stage again? Do you have any dates planned soon?
Vincent: That's a good question!
Matthieu: No, for now, no dates... We hope that the release of the album will bring us some! Oh yes, right! We have a festival!
Martin: Festival in Clermont-Ferrand!
Matthieu: Yeah!
Vincent: It's in Clermont?
Matthieu: No, are you sure? Isn't it rather in Savoy or Switzerland?
Vincent: We're not quite sure where it is. It's the New Blood Festival, I think. Next year!
Martin: Who settled in yesterday!
Matthieu: And we're well aware of what's going on! (laughter)
Vincent: You'll forgive us...
If it was yesterday, you're excused!
Vincent: Yeah, apart from what's already planned, we don't really have any dates scheduled for now. But we hope to have as many as possible as soon as possible.
Martin: We had things planned before Covid, but we hope they're just postponed and not canceled. So, we're still waiting to know about confirmations and all that!
Vincent: That's it!
Martin: But we don't know more than that!
That was my last question, thank you for taking the time to answer! I'll let you have the final word for our readers, if you want to promote the future album, now's the time!
Vincent: First, thank you for the interview, it's a pleasure! And for those who will read, we invite them to follow our news a bit, because Inferno is going to be really cool! It's something we wanted to do for a while, and I think it's going to be...
Martin: It's our project, you know!
Vincent: Yeah, it's really a project that was close to our hearts and I think it's going to be cool! So honestly, if they like this kind of thing, musical representations, I mean representing, how to say...
Matthieu: Concepts, let's say!
Vincent: Concepts in music, there's actually a bit of a cinematic aspect to it. So if they really like that, honestly, I invite them to follow! That's it!
