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INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
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1. Hello ! Finally here I am with this interview that was scheduled since some time, but I passed your CD for more than 3 months to a friend of mine who’s a GODFLESH fan, and it was almost impossible to put my hands on it again ! lol Do an introduction to KILL THE THRILL since most of my webzine’s readers certainly don’t know your band !
KILL THE THRILL
exists since 1989 and passed through several line up changes, we
have played with bands like Killing Joke, Einstuerzende Neubauten,
Young Gods, La Muerte, Neurosis, Grötus, Treponem Pal, Big
chief, Coroner, Zeni geva, and a lot of others. Our first
album "DIG ", was produced by David Weber (Treponem Pal,
Young Gods) in 1993 as well as the " PIT " MCD; we were
then 3 musicians (bass – guitar – guitar/vocals – samplers/ drum
machine), we have toured a bit everywhere in Europe and took part
in several festivals. We were also in numerous compilations.
In
1996 our second album " LOW " was recorded and produced
by Nicolas, vocalist and guitarist of KTT. After the departure
of our first guitarist, we remained a two musicans’ band (bass/guitar-
vocals/samplers) but we collaborated with the musician called Erik
M for some sounds and effects.
We have toured in France and
in the foreign countries until 1997 when a new guitarist joined
the band. Then, we left our swiss label NOISE Products and we recorded
our third album « 203 barriers » as a trio in New York
(December 1999). It was recorded for the label SEASON OF MIST and
we left the artistic leading to Michael Gira (ex Swans) but the
mix was then also done by Nicolas.
2. As a band’s name, you’ve chosen KILL THE THRILL that draws a parallel with the castration and the inhibitions of the instincts. Where does this name comes from ?
Literary kill the thrill means to kill the emotion. More than a parallel with the castration it’s certainly a paradox in itself, because we love as much to submerge ourselves in an universe of sensations and emotions that’s both physical and full of sounds as the fact of theatralizing this universe, it's a bit the same than killing it whenever it escapes from you, it's then the moment during which we let us be the most free, we can call it exorcism, a therapy, a carthasis, it's not important, but the essential is the absolute pleasure we get from this.
3. Which bands would you quote as influences for KILL THE THRILL? Of course you’ll quote GODFLESH and maybe PITCH SHIFTER , but are there other bands that have strongly marked your music?
As we aren’t very young ( ! !) I’ll say all the important bands since the punk movement, new-wave, industrial, hard-core, metal or post-rock etc…. We have always listened to and appreciated the most inovative bands, the ones that are strongly emotional or bizarre sounding into different styles. It goes Big Black to Killing Joke, My Bloody Valentine, the Swans, Godflesh, The Young Gods, Cop Shoot Cop, Fœtus, Pain Killer, Einstuerzende Neubauten, Sonic Youth, Strapping Young Lads, Metal Urbain, Neurosis, Rapeman and a phenomenous quantity of other ones. All these musical waves have brought us something to several degrees because it were all expressing a given state of mind under various musical styles, but also a given idea of the underground movement, an unconventional and emotional way of seeing life. This being said, at the level of the influences for our compositions we’d be neared of Killing Joke, Godflesh and The Swans.
4.How would you qualify your style of music?
Well, taking in consideration all these “musical stickers” being in use nowadays I’d simply say we play some Rock. But the one peoples use the more often we haven’t got anything against is Indus metal. But we have nothing strictly metal or strictly industrial, it’s maybe because of the quite cold and heavy moods we express…
5. What motivates you to play this kind of music?
Music has always
been a reason to meet and reach ourselves, to forge our identities
through the time and to please us. Finally, it’s more a question
of long time relationships between some individuals. There are no
differences between the artistic, the philosophical side or the
personal side, it’s a big whole.
As a whole, we aren’t different
in our daily lives, our image on stage is the reflection of what
we are. We aren’t cultivating any marketing aspect, and it’s maybe
a negative point nowadays!!
To be able to play our music is by
far the most enjoyable moments we are able to live for now. It works
a bit like a protection, even if we often miss some other things.
I’d
also say it would be hard for us to play another kind of music since
this style is what fit the best to our identities for now. I’ve
got the feeling the inner aspect of our music haven’t changed since
our beginnings.
6. Is there a link between the title of your CD: "203 barriers" and the mental barriers/ conditionings afflicted by our life in society? If it’s not the case, what would this title link to?
203 barriers was at the origin a text written by Nicolas, somekind of an introspective poem, and we choose to use a sentence of that poem as the title of our album. Its sense is very strong for Nicolas, I think in the deepness these barriers could be the frustrations he felt at this time… Even if we know the text in its whole, this sentence have nevertheless a quite mysterious sense both for Fred and I. But it has in fact became a key sentence for us since the moment we began to interpret it with our own sensibilities. The artwork of the cover also fits well this idea of barrier or sky lines… somekind of an abyss… it could repeat itself infinitely.
7. It seems to me there isn’t a very active scene for the metal and powerfull depressive musics, or at least I know only few of the bands in this style since I’m more active in the extreme metal scene that’s more aggressive. Can you give us some infos on this scene/ kind of music? Which bands would you advise us to listen to?
To be honnest
I don’t know if a scene for this kind of music exists in France,
compared to other countries like Germany for exemple. But I can
guarantee it becomes very difficult to do some tours in France while
the ‘Rock” style (in a very large meaning) has never been has promoted
on big medias as today, with all the good and negative repercussions
it leads to. All the more it’s an important paradox the biggest
part of the bands have got so much problems playing live in France
when you take in consideration all money and promotional services
put by the medias and the musical market… it should work to help
the band and only the contrary happens.
As a lot of other bands,
I can see the diffusion is supported in a big part by isolated associations
(that have no financial support from the state), these are the last
ones to risk itselves, to try not to work too much in a financial
way of viewing things and to give the most importance to the notion
of pleasure. It’s unfortunately a vicious circle as it’s more in
a survival way of working. I use this opportunity to salute them
for their work.
On the other hand, it’s certain we’re dying to
play everywhere, but as we are a part of the “Risked category”,
to book a coherent tour is synonym to a colossal work. The easiest
solution is to play with a big headline, but most of the times you’ve
got to pay an incredibly expensice amount of money to be able to
do so… there’s actually an incredible hole between the artistic
side and the market or the industry of music.
8. What’s your opinion on Pitch Shifter’s first albums? It was strongly GODFLESH influences, Justin Broadrick was even furious at this time as he thought they were stealing the ideas and personality of GODFLESH!
I’m a fan of their first albums, and especiall” « desensitized », of course we can feel the GODFLESH influence, but Pitch Shifter have got nevertheless it’s originality, and a different energy. Godflesh is more minimalist, more raw than Pitch Shifter.
9. Are you interested in the industrial music that includes few metal influences with bands like SKINNY PUPPY that are very dislocated in their structures and that use some totally glacial parts with almost no riffs or melodies (pasting some samples most of the time)?
We have listened to a good amount of Industrial music since the very beginning of the 80”s, mostly the old Einstuerzende Neubauten releases, at this time what they were able to realise with raw materials was incredible. We could put them into any musical wave. They were maybe the first punks to experiment on concrete music into a totally new and incredibly aggressive way.
10. Does the members of KILL THE THRILL feel nearer of the metal scene or of Indus/ Dark gothic/ electro cold wave ones?
I’d like to
tell you we feel near of THE scene :- ) )!!
But as these two
scenes have feed itselves from each others, we have got some affinities
with both ones.
11. I’ve heard some words from bands that were on SEASONS OF MIST before. They complained about the promotional work done by the label. Are you satisfied wih their work, takeing in fact KILL THE THRILL is a bit different from their other bands.
We were at the end of our deal with Noise Product, Alban who’s at the head of the label were pushing us to find a deal with another one that would be a bit bigger, the Seasons of mist’s offer was the declic. Even if it’s true Seasons of Mist is more metal oriented, I think Kill the thrill has got its place here, we aren’t integrists of a purely metal, noisy or new wave style. We are simply at the crossroad of all this, and this is maybe what seduced them. At the level of the promotion, I think they work rather well, and in anyway we didn’t have to complain. We had some excellent reviews in a lot of countries.
12. Is your music an envy or a needing?
Both, the envy and the need can’t be dissociated.
13. In the case of a life without external oppression neither internal sufferance, would your music have a sence?
Yes, this one goes with the previous question, because playing music is a pleasure all of the band’s members abolutely needs, might we be serious or not. In fact, we doesn’t feel especially oppressed.
14. What’s your opinion about the two last MORGOTH albums: “Odium" and "Feel sorry for the fanatics"? There are on these two ones a distress and some gothic metal touches (with arpeggios) that aren’t so far from the emotions you express. But one should rather speak about KILLING JOKE in your case (as the band is also an influence for Morgoth…)
Killing Joke is a very big band, we had the opportunity to play a gig with them some years ago, and it was totally great, somekind of a big mass! They are a part of the cult bands that have influenced a good amount of formations. Geordie Walker is one of my fave guitarists, might it be in Killing Joke or in other projects. We’d really like to be a part of a Killing Joke tribute!!
15. Do you know the "Ocean Machine" album that was recorded by Devin Townsend? You have got an emotional side comparable to a 10 meters high wave one can take right in it’s head during a storm, but also some vocals that could make thing about Ocean machine!
I have listened to some other Townsend albums and it was a bit too much “Hard rock” for me, but some peoples told me some very good words about Ocean machine, and I heard there were similitudes between this album and our music.
16. You must be a lot into THE YOUNG GODS!
The first time we heard this band, it was a big smash in our face, it was also the case for a good amount of peoples! At this time nobody in Europe sounded like them, all the more Frantz Treichler has got a very beautifull way of singing in French. On stage they’re very charismatic and full of energy! Their live sound is incredibly precise and it’s very loud!
17. Your music was also used during theatre act of Joris Lacoste entitled "Comment cela est-il arrivé?" Was it some extracts from your CD or did you compose/ work back some tracks especially for this opportunity? Are you searching for this kind of quite different experiences?
In fact we
were on stage and we played some of our tracks, some other ones
were written especially for the theatre piece. Nicolas had also
been singing in Capelle, it was a very beautiful experience that
lasted two months… All the more we were also actors so we never
left the stage from the beginning to the end of the thing.
We’re
writing a cool amount of music for spectacles or theatres (might
it be alone or with the other band’s members).
18. Searching on Google, I’ve found few infos on your band, but I’ve noticed you’ve done a decent amount of concerts! I think you also use a drum machine during gigs. Why don’t you try to play with a real drummer since it could bring some visual impact! Maybe you use some videos or special effects instead of this?
I dont know
if the drum machine is a definitive choice, we simply use it since
our beginnings. We have anyway played with some drummers but whenever
we started to play some Kill the thrill it wasn’t sounding good
anymore. There weren’t anymore any deepness nor sound’s heaviness,
at the least the way we appreciate it, everythings was becoming
too much thin!! We’re using an MPC, it makes us able to work on
the rythmic thing, the percussions as well as on the samples, we
can record any imaginable sound and work it back infinitely.
This way of working is very flexible.
The visual aspect of the
thing doesn’t disturb us, because three peoples on the front of
the scene isn’t bad. The human of inhuman aspect of the drum machine
isn’t important for us. The ideal would be to find a drummer who’d
be able to play with the drum machine but we haven’t found him!!
The samples aren’t used as a decoration, we try to used it as fulltime instruments’ patterns that melt it with the vocals, the guitar and the bass. The whole gives a feelings of magma sound in which it’s sometime hard to understand who’s playing this part or this one… it sometimes lead us to somekind of “sound hallucinations”, this harmonious melting can make appear some new melodies that are different from what’s really played. This surprise always please us a lot.
We doesn’t use video on stage, but we like when someone follows our music with his light set. To be honest we haven’t got any particular light show, because we work on an alternating way with different light technicians according to their availability. We are totally trusting them as we think they’ve got the right sensibility to put in valour what we do on stage. Three different technicians ever followed us during some gigs and none of them works the same way, it gives a place for improvisation: at this moment or on a given track, one will drown you into a very cold blue while the other one will make you burn into a very strong red. When we play we also feel these variations and it brings varied sensations. I don’t think we’d like a very thought and organized light show, it’d fastly become boring.
19. Are you influenced by Depeche mode? If so what’s your opinion about their musical evolution?
I’m sorry, but apart from a few hits, I know almost nothing from their albums. But one can recognize them immediately.
20. At the beginning I discovered KILL THE THRILL on the BRUTAL GENERATION compilation that included mostly metal/ Extreme metal bands. Did the appearance on this compilation that didn’t belong to your style that much bring something to you? Did you get some positive feed backs?
I think our
appearance on this compilation is useless at all, because apart
from the fact the other bands were more metal than us, it was before
all a compilation dealing with the French bands of its time, the
bands of a scene in it whole with all its diversity.
It’s abit
like the Roadrunner’s “Serial killer” compilation on which we were
also included. But I don’t know if Brutale generation had an as
important impact as Serial killer for us.
21. On your CD, the titles are written in very small letters, the lyrics aren’t included as there’s no booklet (it must be wanted as your label has got the money to be able to preint big booklets) Do the lyrics have a small importance for you? Do you prefer the listener to imagine what he wants to? Or maybe there are no lyrics on your tracks? Lol
In fact we
prefer to leave the listener free to imagine whatever he wants to,
the vocals and the music express enough things so that peoples can
see where we are going to, even if the lyrics are of course very
important. But maybe is it important for us only?
In anyway we
have no message to preach… on the next album we’ll add the lyrics
of a text, but only one.
22. Do you interest yourself in paintings? Some painters have got some quite interesting hallucinating depressive visions. Dali had some charming visions, and the french painter Henricot has got some good obscure moods! The visionaries (Margotton, Thomas...) have got a way of painting the light the looks well. Of which kind of painting do you feel the closer? Which painters would you advice us?
Nicolas is certainly more interested in paintings than I. Speaking for myself, I feel closer of literature as the books passionate me a lot more than the paintings. But if I had to quote a painter he would be Kandinsky.
23. Have you got some parallel projetcs? Both musical and not musical projects?
The band makes us busy for almost 70% of our free time, we also own a recording studio Nicolas mainly takes care of, Fred and I also owns a musical project since a few time.
24. What are your future projects with KILL THE THRILL?
Our main goal is our next album that should be released until the end of the year.
