Disconnected talk about their album "White Colossus"
Pic by Olivier Gobert / Adjust Production[/caption] Can you tell us more about « White Colossus » album ? Adrian: My reflection about the album started when I came back from my music school, five years ago. It was a long process to create our musical universe, our identity because our music has many different textures, but it all came naturally and I think that’s the best way to create. It also took me a long time to find the right people to work with.It is always very hard to find a line-up with the same ambitions as yours, the right musical skills to play your music. It is also a hard task to find the right people who are motivated enough to dedicate theirselves for non-stop touring. I had many and many issues in this process but patience and determination were my best friends. After a ton of hard work, the album is finally here, and I’m very proud of it! Ivan: Talking about the themes developed in the album, there is but a main one. All the songs are talking about Disconnection in its various forms. Each song relates a certain way of being disconnected. (from the rest of the society, from your own self, etc.) Between the release of the album "White Colossus" and the recent release of Melted Space's new album, isn't it too difficult to manage in your planning? Adrian: It’s not, because since the release of the Melted Space’s last album « Darknening Light » , we haven't been very busy. We’ll see after this summer, fingers crossed for the future tour dates but if things become complicated, my priority now is Disconnected. « White Colossus » is the first album released with my compositions, so that’s a blessing to be finally able to express myself through my music. On my last releases with Melted Space, I couldn't entirely express myself, except on the lead parts, because that’s not my favorite style of music even if I took a lot of pleasure recording the last albums. Working with those guys is always a blast! With Disconnected that’s a different feeling because it’s personal and it obviously became my priority now. I will use everything in my power and so will the guys to expand the band as much as possible by touring and spreading these following words: WE ARE DISCONNECTED [caption id="attachment_13429" align="aligncenter" width="500"]
Artwork Designed by Flôw R Yân Chrômâ[/caption] You have been through several recording studios, can you share this adventure with us? Adrian: I produced the album, and it was a short process because I planned everything way before. We started recording drums in a studio in Paris in early November 2017 and we had the mastering in mid-January. In between this time the guitars and bass were re-amped and the vocals were recorded in late November. December was dedicated to the mix with our sound engineer François-Maxime Boutault (who worked with Behemoth, Dagoba, Loudblast). He understood the music because he is involved in the project for many years now and it was a real pleasure to work with him. Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Sepultura, Yes) made the mastering in his studio in Los Angeles, and it only took a few days to have the final version. What is the writing and composition process within the group? Adrian: I come up with all the instrumental demo versions of the tracks (with all the arrangements). The writing session of a song could come with a single guitar riff, a drums pattern or just a melody in my head. I start with the idea, and I built all the structures around it. When the idea is good to me, I feel inspired and generally I write the entire song in one breath. After this I send all the material to Ivan, and he can start working on the vocals. Ivan: On my part when I receive Adrian's material, I react in a very instinctive way. Normally in the first minutes of discovering it I got ideas running through my mind and I start to record these ideas. I can say we have pretty much the same approach about writing music. It's very much about what you feel in the moment. And I have to say that until now everything that my bro wrote inspired me.
Where does the inspiration come from? Adrian: I have a lot of musical inspirations in many different kinds of music. I think you can feel it through the album. My main influence is Alter Bridge, not necessarily in the music, but rather by their approach of music. The melody is the most important thing for them, and I love that idea. I grew up listening to Dream Theater too. John Petrucci is one of my favorite guitar player of all time. The technical side of our music is probably inspired by their early two thousand period. In my opinion at this period of time, they were close to perfection. Muse is also a big inspiration to me. They've got such a strong musical personality as well as such a particular universe. It’s very deep, and their sound is evolving on each album, they do not stay in a box and they push the envelope each time they release something new... Ivan: I'm inspired, my a riff, a colour off sound, an ambiance. I just react to music, like a chemical product would react being in contact with another chemical product, and sometimes, as you can imagine, it's explosive! ahah You chose "Living incomplete" for the video clip, was it your favorite song or was it a "tactical" choice? Adrian: That’s the song which gives a global idea of what we do. All the elements we propose in the album are actually in this song. So it was the best compromise to introduce the band, and the first riff is fuckin’ catchy!! Actually my favorite song of the album is Wounded Heart, but it’s not the easier song to listen to, I mean that’s the most progressive song of the entire album. You need several listening to get completely in the mood of the song. [embed] Since its release, how has this first album been received? Adrian: Awesome, a lot of people understand our universe and we are so thankful for that. We’re blessed to see each day more and more people who follow us and send us kind messages about our music. For a debut album it’s the best that could be expected! How were the first tour dates? And do you have any more coming soon? Adrian: The first gigs were just awesome. We were amazed by the crowd's reaction!! They just got nuts during the entire show! It was a blessing for us to feel their excitement, especially on our first gigs. We had an entire week in the venue to prepare the show with our sound and lights engineer. So we benefit the best conditions to make a perfect gig. And we’re actually working hard to get on tour as soon as possible in Europe. So if you’re interested in booking us: write to us through plan one! Ivan: If I may add some, we just perform (the 5th of May) in Paris at La Boule Noire (which is a pretty famous little club), and we had a blast. The place was packed, we had a good sweat and the crowd's reaction was just awesome! Like Adrian I just can't wait to hit the road again and visit a lot of countries! Man we are locked and loaded!!! [caption id="attachment_13433" align="aligncenter" width="618"]
Pic take on "Disconnected - Live, Paris - Duke TV Teaser" by Duke TV[/caption] How's it going on stage with all those voices? Ivan: Actually it's going great! I'm the only one singing on stage and it's true that we though beforehand that it could sound a bit empty because on the album I did a lot of backing vocals. But finally our live performances are so energetic that, until now at least, we never felt that something was missing. We had no feedback from the audience saying that there was something missing. We already have samples of ambient guitars, keyboards and strings, we thought adding voices on top of that would be too much. We call it live for a reason, it doesn't have to be exactly the album. To me only one thing counts: entertaining the crowd, having a great time with them! We just give everything we've got each time, and so far it worked amazingly well! On which stage/festival would you dream to play? And with which artists? Adrian: There are a lot of awesome stages in Europe; it’s hard to choose one, but the mainstage at the Hellfest in France (at home) will be freakin' huge. But one of my big dream will be on support tour with bands like Alter Bridge or even Dream Theater!! Ivan: Playing the Hellfest, Wacken, Graspop, all these names are a dream for every musicians. But to be honest I just want to go on stage as much as possible. There are a ton of great little and middle ranked fest that we would be happy to be a part of! The big thing we'll come naturally in its due time! Opening for Alter Bridge or Tremonti would be a blast as well for me! They are one of my main influences as well. At the moment I'd really like to open for Sons Of Apollo as well. I know they will tour in Europe this summer and for the rest of 2018, so Mike if you hear about us, give us a shot, we'll be a fantastic opening act!!! Any last word for your fans? Adrian: I hope you’ll like our music and by spreading the word, you will use the best way to support our band. See you on the road. And a big thanks to the Distrolution team for this interview. Ivan: Guys, we are relentless!!! Each time you'll come to watch us on stage I can guaranty you that you'll have a good time!!! This is only the beginning, let's spread the word! WE ARE DISCONNECTED!!!!! Thanks for the exposure Distrolution! Once again, on behalf of the Distrolution team, a big thank you for this interview. Cheers.
Leave a comment
Log in to post comments