Interview с Alcest : DARKSIDE.ru

And I confess that I am one of them. ALCEST is a special band for me for many years already, and when I had the chance to do the interview with the mastermind of ALCEST, multi-instrumentalist Neige, I was extremely excited. I also tried my best to transfer the friendly atmosphere of our dialog to the written version of it. But being a journalist and at the same time a fan is a sort of responsibility. I intended to do the interview as professional as I could, and to pay no attention to the fact how nervous I was. ALCEST is still a sincere and spiritual creation of Neige. The style is different, but the core is there. It is always so wonderful to know that your favorite musician is truly inspired for writing music. I’m sure there will be a lot of people who will understand the true beauty of “Shelter”. We are going to see ALCEST in Russia soon, so we will have the chance to admire this unique band again. I personally cannot wait! And meanwhile German label Prophecy Productions enabled us to talk to the aforementioned creator of the band Stéphane “Neige” Paut, who disclosed some mysteries over the “Shelter” creation...

This is the third time you are going to visit Russia soon and I can honestly say that your Russian fans cannot wait to see ALCEST live again, myself included. And I also can say that I was absolutely mesmerized by the album “Shelter”.

Oh, did you listen to it? OK.

I listen to it over and over again I cannot count how many times. Are you looking forward to the Russian dates?

Yes, sure, as you said we played three times, I think, in Russia, and it’s always

really nice, because the Russian fans are very dedicated to the band just in general. And I think with ALCEST we have a special connection with Russia maybe, because… I don’t know if it’s for all the bands, but every time we come, you know the Russian guys tell us how much they like ALCEST, and it’s always very very nice to hear and very touching. So yeah, I cannot wait to be back and to play the new songs.

We are waiting for them for sure! This is great. In 2011 you played your first concert in Moscow and in 2012 you took part in Astral Fest 3. What were the impressions of the shows? Did you like one more than the others?

Yeah, I think we liked the first one better, because it was like a real ALCEST show. So we were doing a long concert and we were headlining. And the second show was for the festival so you know it’s a bit different. We had less time to play and yeah, it’s a festival, so it’s always a bit different, so I guess we prefer the first one with, you know, like ALCEST fans coming.

Yeah, luckily this time you will be headlining.

Yeah, I think so (laughs).

I have a little fan question. You mentioned in some interviews that you like sometimes going to the merch area to talk to the fans.

Yeah yeah yeah!

Can we expect the same after the Russian concerts?

Yes, sure. You know, we do it every time.

Great!

Every time, because we want to show that we love our fans so much. And I think that’s important for a band to show to

the people that we are just normal persons, you know. We don’t consider ourselves as rock stars, you know, that’s fucking bullshit. And yeah that’s why we like a lot to just speak to the people - and not necessarily about ALCEST. We can speak about anything, about their job, how the country is, because we like to travel and we visited so many places as you can imagine. And we like a lot to be… like to really dive into the culture of a country, and trying the food, and meeting the people, and yeah, that’s something we really like. And we have the chance to do it when we tour with the band, so it’s just perfect, you know. We play the shows, and sometimes we have a bit of time to do tourism. So for example when we played in Moscow we did a lot of tourism, so we walked around the city and stuff like that. And yeah, we like to party with the fans and it’s always very nice.

It is good to know that you had a chance to see our country a bit.

Yeah-yeah!

The new single “Opale” is already out, as well as the new video. And the new album is going to be out soon. As far as I can see the feedback is somehow typical for ALCEST.

Yeah, very divided.

Love or hate (holding my laughter back).

Yeah, yeah. It’s always like this. So, you know every album we do, we make like some changes, so people get very attached to the ALCEST albums. I don’t know why. You know, they have a very special relationship with this music, and some of them don’t like that we change the formula, you know (laughs). So they get a bit like (imitating a panic voice): “Oh

my God, he changed everything, it’s not ALCEST anymore and bla bla bla”… But, you know, I would be pretty insincere if I was doing this music to please people.

Of course.

Because that’s not how I started. I started as a guy who wanted to make music about visions, and about this other world thing, you know that is a part of the ALCEST concept. And I never thought about other people liking this music. For me just a fact of making this song was great. And if some other people liked it, it’s fine, but yeah, I did it for myself first. And I think it’s very important to be sincere and to do exactly what you want to do in a precise moment of your life and not being afraid. Because I think with the distance it’s always the same. For example when we released the “Écailles de Lune”, you know, the second album, people were liking “Souvenirs d'un autre monde”, you know the first one. So they said: “Oh, but they are darker now, they took back the metal side and bla bla bla”. And then, when we released “Les Voyages de L'Âme”, they were saying “but “Écailles de Lune” was better”, you know (laughs).

I’ve read this (laughs).

Yeah, it’s always the case, so yeah.

So, as far as I can see you personally feel OK about the feedback so far.

Yeah, because you know, especially for “Shelter”, because when we did “Les Voyages de L'Âme” records it was already the same formula. So it was metal mix dreamy sounds and shoegazing maybe or whatever they want to call it, but it was a bit the same formula. I was afraid not to do as good as

before in the same register, so yeah, I was a bit anxious. But for “Shelter”, you know since we completely changed the style, it’s not possible to compare “Shelter” to another ALCEST release, I think. And yeah, maybe it’s the first time I make an album that I really take pleasure listening to it, so I think it’s a good sign.

You know, it is my own observation and also the observation of some of my friends, that sometimes fans do not evolve as fast as their favorite band.

Agree.

Or maybe evolve into a different direction. That’s why it may be hard to accept the change of style sometimes.

Completely, yeah.

What do you think about it? Do you consider “Shelter” as evolving?

Yeah, I guess it’s a bit more than evolving. Because it’s a drastic change, you know from the previous release, but yeah, that’s part of the evolution of the band and I don’t think we are going back to the metal in the future, so yeah. It’s like a new step, you know, in a different style of music. But yeah, that’s something I really needed to do, because I’m making metal inspired music since I’m fourteen years old, so like since ages. So I think I needed to change my habits to keep being inspired, you know. Because a lot of bands just repeat the same album over and over and that’s how they can lose inspiration.

Yes, it happened to many bands unfortunately… You always had remarkable album covers. And for example the cover art of “Écailles de Lune” found its place in many tattoos.

Yes, yes…

For “Shelter” you decided to use a different style. How does this cover work together with the music?

Yeah, you know with ALCEST it’s all the time the pictures are going with the music and the music is going with the lyrics and it’s a whole thing. It’s very important, all the visual aspects. I am very very tyrannic when it comes to the visuals. I exactly know what I want to have and yeah, this time we couldn’t have a cover on the style of the previous ones, because it wouldn’t fit at all, you know. So we wanted something very modern, very simple, very sober and also symbolic, so yeah. It’s just a picture of my last holidays in summer, so actually it’s my hands on the cover. And yeah, it’s a friend of mine, Andy Julia from SOROR DOLOROSA, you know this post punk band…

Yeah, sure...

He did the picture. And it’s a great representation for “Shelter”, because it’s very luminous and very bright. And, you know, this album has been inspired a lot by the time I spent by the sea in the south of France. So it was the best context to take this picture. Because I was on the beach and we were just playing around with the camera. And yeah, I tend to like more sober and simple things. At least for this album, you know.

Well, from my side I can say it works, because this also reminds me of my holiday by the sea.

OK, so it’s perfect (laughs).

Yeah. You had several guest appearances in “Shelter”. How was it to work with guests? I remember that you once posted on Facebook that collaborating with Neil Halstead was like a dre

am come true for you…

Yeah, it was… I was just crazy, you know (both laughing), because he is my favorite musician, so yeah, in that case I’m a complete fan boy, like any music fan, so when he was coming to the studio I was like shaking and “oh my god”. (That’s exactly how I was like before this interview. – author’s note). And yeah, it’s just great, because, you know, SLOWDIVE is my favorite band since the moment I discovered them. I had this SLOWDIVE period, when I was listening to SLOWDIVE every day, and only SLOWDIVE and nothing else. So I was very obsessed with this band and yeah. So we tried to contact him for a long time and he didn’t reply and I was like: “Fuck, he is not going to reply”. And then finally our agent wrote to him on Facebook and he replied and I was so excited and like jumping everywhere in my house. (I was jumping the same way, when I learned that I was going to do this interview. – author’s note) And yeah, so he said that he was interested, so he came to the studio and he recorded the vocals. I think it sounds great! I couldn’t expect more. And it doesn’t sound like a SLOWDIVE copycat.

Of course not!

So it’s really good. I think his voice changed over the years. It’s a bit darker and deeper now… I mean, you don’t really recognize his voice in the song, and Winterhalter, you know, the drummer, also said that it almost sounds like Brendan Perry from DEAD CAN DANCE, you know. It’s very like… I don’t know how to describe it… It’s a very wise voice.

It sounds wise for sure. I noticed it.

Yeah, very paternal and wise. So very different

from my voice, that is more like a teenage voice. So it’s good to have a real man voice on the record in a way (laughs).

It works great really. I like this song very much too… In one of your interviews you said that ALCEST was a kind of spiritual quest for you earlier.

Yeah-yeah…

And now you wanted to make a bit more free album.

Exactly.

It somehow can be seen that the spiritual core is still present in ALCEST. Is this right?

Yeah, of course! There is still a lot of the previous concept. It’s just not as clear as before and yeah. There will always be a lot of spirituality in this band. You know, I’m not going to speak about my life and my problems, you know. It’s not this kind of band. It’s always very mystical and spiritual and dreamy. And it’s not like fantasy, it’s real for me. So it’s always a very meaningful project. Even if “Shelter” is a bit more open, it’s a bit more connected to my real life, if I can say, but it also has this very ALCEST-like nostalgia and spirituality. Maybe somehow more than ever, you know. Because it’s a very uplifting record, very airy… It’s light, it’s airy and atmospheric, so yeah. We are not going to make rock-an-roll. We are not this kind of band… Ah, you know, the goal with “Shelter” was how to bring these new influences, but still keeping the very essence of ALCEST, still keeping the same kind of melodies, and same kind of feelings, just doing it in another way. It’s just the shape that is changing, but the core is the same as always, so…

Great! Why do y

ou think people might need a shelter to reunite with what they really are?

Because you know, life, for example my life in Paris… You know, everything is going so fast and sometimes, you know in France for example these days the atmosphere is really bad. There is a lot of tension in the air, and everybody can feel it, so sometimes it’s really good to press “stop”, you know, and to hide in a safe place, or to do things, you really like to do, like watching your favorite movie again for the fiftieth time, you know, or whatever. It’s important to know that… How to say… It’s important not to lose yourself in this big modern jungle, you know. Because I think that everybody has an essence, everybody is here to do something precise. We are not here for nothing. We have something to do, and let’s not forget it in a very stressful and difficult life, we can have these days. You know, because I think we live in a very tough era. That’s what my parents told me also. They said, you know… but then it was not that difficult… I think we really need a safe place to hide, yeah.

Of course… In my opinion “Shelter” is full of light and beauty. And I remember that you wanted to transfer the music of ALCEST into a purer musical dimension several years ago already.

Yeah.

So I guess this fulfills the concept in your head very well.

It’s just done in a different way, but the core of ALCEST will be the same. Just I like to take this example of a stone. It’s like a stone with different facades, you know, different sides. It’s a different perspective every time, but it’s a differen

t perspective of the same stone, so it will never change that much. Even if we decide to do like, I don’t know, an electronic album, it will still have the feeling of ALCEST, so…

I have to say, that the music of ALCEST was also the reason of my own intense spiritual experiences, because I used to meditate to it quite often.

OK! Cool!

So the idea of music being the bridge between two worlds worked perfectly for me.

Oh, really? OK!

Yes. Will you use your childhood esoteric experiences as inspiration in your future creative works?

Yeah, I used it a lot before, especially for the first records, like really trying to reproduce the same melodies, I was hearing during my visions, you know. Trying to… For example the song “Beings of Light” on the last album, it’s something that is directly inspired by these visions and this other world, so yeah. I tried to translate all this into melodies and it was not easy in a way.

I understand. And I have the opinion, that “Shelter” has been composed with much less inner pressure, than some previous albums.

Yeah. Yeah.

What was the difference in the creative processes?

I just thought, “ok, let’s make the album you would like to hear, you know. Even if it was like another band, but still keeping the ALCEST style”. I think everything was composed in a very short period of time, like three or four months, you know, so very very quickly, and it all came so naturally, you know, like an urge. The u

rge to do this album, because I really needed to do a non-metal album, and it’s not like bands that release, you know, their acoustic album. I don’t consider “Shelter” to be the acoustic album of ALCEST. It’s just a different style. We took inspiration from the early nineties’, you know, all this dream pop bands and shoegazing. For example a lot of people compare us to OPETH, but I think it’s completely different, because OPETH is like a progressive band, and they have a lot of acoustic stuff. But ALCEST is not like a progressive band. It’s more like dreamy stuff.

One of my friends said about the new album that it could be easily a soundtrack for some French movie.

Some French movie? OK (laughs)

Yeah (holding the laughter back)

Why French? (both laughing)

I have no idea, but that was his exact quote.

OK.

And I remember that you always wanted to do a movie soundtrack.

Oh yeah, it’s my dream.

For what kind of movie would you like to write music?

Anything! Like any movie, I just want to write a soundtrack for a movie. That’s all what I want.

Great!

Yeah yeah. But yeah, not necessarily for a French movie (laughs).

Sorry (trying to hold the laughter back, feeling a bit guilty).

No no, it’s very funny, because I mean… what is a French movie?

Well, it reminded him a bit of “Amelie”.

Oh yeah, OK. Wow! OK, it’s completely different, but yeah, I can understand. And actually that’s something I had in my head when I composed “Shelter”. To make it sound a bit like a soundtrack, so if your friend told you that it sounds like a soundtrack, it’s fine, even if it’s for a French movie, it’s OK. (both laughing).

OK, thank you very much for your time! I can honestly say that “Shelter” is a great album in my opinion.

Thank you so much!

It sounds beautiful, honest and pure.

Excellent!

And I’m looking forward to see ALCEST on the Russian stage again, as well as the future ALCEST releases of course!

Yeah, and, please, just come to me and say “hello”, and it’s no problem, you know. So take care and yes, see you soon.

Special thanks to Stefan Belda (Prophecy Productions) for arranging this interview.

Interview: Irina “Werewolfa” Yashina

December, 20 2013
11 янв 2014 the End


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Alcest

A shelter from a tough era

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