----------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
INTERVIEWS
GUESTBOOK
----------------------------------------------------------------
-
GRINDCORE FROM FRANCE -
1. Hi, who those who aren't familiar with MASSIVE CHARGE, can you tell us what it is and where it comes from?
Hello! Thanks for the interest in the band, it's really cool! MASSIVE CHARGE is a grindcore band, created in 2003, and from Lorain (France).
2. You recently played at the Red studio, in the north of France, for the "We're no worthy" fest. What are your impressions about this festival, this place, this area?
Yes, that's
right, and I must say this festival is really built for Grindcore.
The size of the room, its infrastructure, its location... Everything
is ideal. The organization is the best and gives it all to offer
the best experience, for the bands and for the crowd. It's really
a pleasure to play in such conditions, and the public was present!
I'm
happy for the organization that everything went well: We heard about
events the previous year, that made them do it in another place.
I heard peoples regret the previous place, but I wasn't there so
I can't compare... Anyway the Red studio is really great!
3. Your last album is entitled "For those we hate", I hope your boss or ball breaking neighbors didn't fall on the CD AhAh. It was now released since more than a year, are you always happy with the result?
Haha! This title isn't aimed to specific peoples, it's actually a generalization. So the reluctant neighbors and bosses can sleep peacefully! We are always happy with the result, even if, we always tend to focus on things saying to ourselves "I would have done this part differently...". But the feedbacks are still so good, even if much less numerous than the first months after the release.
4. I had listened to your first album "Silence" quite a lot after its release in 2007, and I find your style has changed a bit, even if it remains in the realm of grind. It's perhaps now not so much of "death grind"... Perhaps you don't feel as "metal" as you did, maybe you're more stressed than back then? Or that's because some musicians were replaced?
There are several factors to this. First, almost 20 years separate the first compositions from the current ones. We are no longer the same age, we are more mature, we have listened to more things, we have changed, our tastes have evolved. Overall, we are not the same people as before. The second factor is indeed that there has been a lot of turnover within the group. Since 2003, there were two different singers, four different bassists, and 3 more guitarists, and that's just as many influences on the composition, so inevitably, it leads to changes. And also, we have always been aware of the fact that our style had to evolve with the times. We didn't want to repeat ourselves, and prefer to offer something different (But not too much) with each album. Afterwards, we agree that the backbone of our music remains old school grindcore as Napalm Death does so well (it's an influence that we can hardly hide).
5. What does the album cover represent? If I understood correctly, the character in the middle freaks out under the pressure, bullshits, and the arm which gets through him would symbolize a not too benevolent form of authority? Who produced it?
It is a remake
of a Ronald Searle drawing which represents a person making a speech,
with an arm piercing through him, sticking out from behind a curtain.
This arm seems to be behind everything the protagonist says in front
of a bunch of microphones.
It can be interpreted in many ways,
but the common message to each interpretation remains the arm which
in fact symbolizes a form of authority which dictates what to do,
what to say, what to think. Mickey from Mythrid Art made it. He's
a long-time friend, we met him when he was singing in Recueil Morbide
(A band with which we played a lot when we started). We know his
usual artworks are not at all in the spirit of grindcore, but we
wanted to give him this challenge, and we are very happy with the
result. Then it is a cover that divides a lot, might it be for the
design, the colors or the artistic direction. In any way, it is
talked about!
6. After two self-produced albums, the latter was released by M.U.S.I.C records, which is not too much a grindcore specialized label, but rather metal in an eclectic manner. Why did you choose them? You were perhaps a little tired of managing the distribution by yourself? (it takes time lol)
We chose them for a very simple reason: They told us "Yes". At the time, we were looking for a label to finance the pressing and help us promote our album as widely as possible. Self-production does not only costs time, but also a lot of energy and a lot of money. We had some setbacks before recording the album, which required us to refinance a lot of things out of our own pockets. So we approached about 50 labels, for the pressing part and the promo part. I must have received a dozen responses, all negative. MUSIC RECORDS were the only ones willing to accompany us on the project, although they have a very varied catalog.
7. I watched
several live videos of your concerts on youtube, and your drummer
kicks well, he speeds as it should in the blasts and there's no
need for triggs...
Technical Question: Is he doing one foot or
two feet blasts? Does he train himself a lot? Does it require to
play regularly at least every weekend, or he can take a few "quiet"
weeks without losing too much?
So, thank you,
that's very nice, he's the guy answering your questions! I'm going
to correct you on one point: I'm triggered, but only on the feet.
For
the rest, I use my two feet for blastbeats because I would be unable
to do so with one foot at tempos that often reach 260 bpm. For the
double-pedal parts, I use the heel-toe technique, which makes it
much easier... The drums being a hobby, I never wanted to have periods
of relentless work. I play on a kit during rehearsal and that's
how it works for the most part. The rest of the time, I type on
my steering wheel, my desk, my knees… It wasn't really until I said
to myself I had to master the heel-toe, that I booked the rehearsal
space and didn't get out until I had found the technique. I succeeded
after 4 hours, and that was the only real work session I did.
8. It is quite common in the grind world that bands release a live recording, often on limited cassette, sometimes on a micro label from Asia or Eastern countries... Is this something that could hook you? Do you have live recordings with a not too ugly sound?
Yes, we must have that lying around somewhere, but I admit we didn't think about it so far. When I see how difficult it is to convince peoples to pre-order an album, I believe their interest in a live on tape would be very limited. We remain a small band. Then if a label contacts us for this kind of product, we will not say no, but I doubt would be at the initiative of this project.
9. Would MASSIVE CHARGE rather be an agricultural machine, like the big combine harvesters that mercilessly cut the wheat, an airplane engine that decimates what's nearby at the time of take-off, or a jackhammer that exterminates your ears as it peacefully breaks the concrete? (At worst you can choose another comparison, as long as it remains in the "big machines")
We would rather do our best to be a steamroller that crushes you without mercy.
10. What are the differences between grindcore and powerviolence in your opinion? Sometimes both are close, very close, apart from the fact some P.V. bands are more broken/ screaming, less "metal"? I ask you for the expert's opinion :) For you which are the most representative bands of power violence?
Shit, you don't
ask to the right person. I'm not that much into Powerviolence, but
I will ask to our singer, Jeremy, coz he knows the subject, and
he was drummer in a Powerviolence band.
So the gentleman told
me that, according to him, Powerviolence is closer to Hardcore,
while Grindcore is closer to punk. Both have d-beat and blast-beat
in common (It's his opinion, other guys will probably have different
opinions). For the bands, he quoted: INFEST (Obviously) and MAN
IS THE BASTARD for the older ones. And for the most recent it was:
SEA OF SHIT, WEEKEND NACHOS, SEX PRISONER, our friends from LMDA
and HAUT&COURT, and PESSIMISTS (A band in which he used to play).
11. What good things have you been listening to lately? Which records/ albums/ demos came up the most often in your playlists?
I have a playlist I update little by little as I discover things or some albums are released. To give a quick overview, these days there are: OMOPHAGIA, EDGE OF HAZE, DISILLUSION, DEVIN TOWNSEND, INGESTED, THE ANTICHRIST IMPERIUM, SICKRECY, FREEDOM OF FEAR, GOATWHORE, LOUIS COLE, BARREN, MASTIC SCUM, MAJOR PARKINSON, KNORKATOR, GUTSAW, PATHOLOGY, NORDJEVEL, CHOKE, DESTRAGE, STUPEFLIP… It really goes in all directions!!
12. What are your future projects? Anything to announce to the readers?
Well to celebrate the 12 months of the release, there should be a limited edition vinyl version of the last album, check this link: https://bit.ly/3NB7Cqa - The deal is simple, if we reach the number of 75 pre-sales, the label will release a limited series of 100, so we can almost say that this will be the only way to get a copy. Otherwise, our plans are quite simple: To keep playing everywhere, as much as possible, do a few tours, and release a new opus as soon as possible!
Web pages:
https://massivecharge.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/massivecharge
