Line Up:
Adrien Duffour-Vocal
Yann Roy-Guitar
Antoine Duffour-Bass
Jêrôme Binder-Drums
Well,Friends of Aristocracy!
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will have in all its emotions, the interview 177 of the Aristocracy.This time, we spoke with a French band that is starting its career. However, it is a band that carefully and skilfully mixes its progressive side with the most modern and current in Metal. It is too early to say, but we can say which is a band that starts its life well. Well, for a debut work, this band shows that it wants to win. Let's get to the point.We will talk in the daytime part of Aristocracy with the French band Hypnagone. This band presents us their debut album entitled Qu'il Passe. We want to thank the Duffour brothers for their work on the album and of course, answer our questions.In addition to The Metallist, for introducing us to this band. Let's listen to one of their songs so that this unprecedented interview with the Brazilian press can take place.Answered by Antoine Duffour (bass, main composer) & Adrien Duffour (singer)
A1:Good morning guys. Let’s talk about the composition work in “Qu’il Passe”?
Antoine : Qu’il Passe was written between January 2017 and say November 2020. It started out really bass-centric but quickly detached from that to be more of a general band work in spirit. You can probably feel the evolution of the writing style between the first song ''Spannungsbogen'' and the last one ''The Step Inward''.
A2:Why do you say that your music is atypical?
Antoine: It's pretty much a mix of different influences, which maybe weren't supposed to go together at first. For example, mixing 70's prog and Meshuggah / Fear Factory chugs with minimalism (Steve Reich, Philip Glass) on top, and with some electronic, ambient, or even grunge sounds might look strange on paper, but the final result is satisfying to us as it corresponds to who we are and what we listen to.
A3:What should we expect when we listen to this album?
Adrien : Well, metal music and a lot of weird stuff. There's jazz influences, some ambient passages and even a saxophone on the song White Fields. So yeah, it's a whole journey, for sure. Buckle up [laughs].
A4:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Antoine:There were quite a few actually! For the movies, "Blade Runner" is obvious since it inspired a part of the synth work, besides, the movie and the album both deal with melancholy in a certain way. Also, Gaspar Noé's work in general for the harsh reality he shows, "Dark City" and "Gataca" for the themes ; we didn't know it at the time but it really inspired us. And more recently, "Berserk", the manga by Kentaro Miura, for the raw feelings and the haunting illustrations.
A5:Why does the band have this name?
Antoine : For us, the name ''Hypnagone'' is considered as an enigma and a play on words. It is a contraction of several words but which ones? We can't even make out what they are because we don't agree on what they mean, which means it probably doesn't matter [laughs]. The name of a band should reflect what the music is supposed to feel like, so we chose a name that can be very open and strange while having roots in "dreaminess". Hypnagogy, which is the basis of the name, is a state between dream and reality. This seemed very appropriate to us.
A6:How did the band know The Metallist PR?
Adrien:Well, I was browsing the web looking for a PR agency for our first album, and I came across Davide's website. I looked at some of his work and thought we should give it a try. I have to say I'm very happy with our collaboration. This is what we needed for this first release.
A7:Why did your songs need a new refinement?
Antoine:Quite simply, we weren't satisfied with the final result, so we decided it was better to drop everything and start from the beginning. For example, we changed our guitars, we changed our recording methods and we gave ourselves more time to try things and get the best takes.
A8:What message do the songs convey?
Antoine:Overall, the album is about facing the unknown, connecting with yourself and growing. It's about growth in life, the pressures and various obstacles along the way, all from an insider's perspective.
A9:Although the style of the band has nothing to do with it, the name of the album reminds me of a song by Brazilian singer Maysa. By chance, does the band know her?
Adrien :Absolutely not [laughs]. We have no idea who this is. But now,that you've pointed it out, we'll have to check out her music.
A10:What is Spannungsbogen?
Antoine:It's a strange word at first [laughs]! It's a German word that means "circle of tension", it represents the theme of the song, of never being able to escape from what crushes us, whether it's an emotion, an event or something else. It's a vicious circle that never lets go. It's also a "fremen" word in the Dune books, I'm not going to reveal its meaning here, but you can find it in the first volume if I remember correctly.
A11:What´s the idea behind the artwork?
Antoine:The goal was to have something that represents the sound and atmosphere of the music, what you could imagine if you were "inside" the songs. To achieve this we thought that an "impossible structure" was the most appropriate. It also contains some details about the themes of the album, as well as some easter eggs,you can find references to other albums that influenced us in the artwork for example. I've seen some people on the internet calling it "brutalism" but it's not! It's not concrete or simple enough, it's more "over industrial" than anything else.
A12:How is Hypnagone different from your previous bands?
Adrien:Well, over the years I've done a few things here and there, as well as solo projects, but this is my first "legit" band. Antoine has been involved in multiple projects, and is also part of Death Whore (a very heavy French band). Yann (guitar) and Jackou (drums) were both in Dust In Mind, another French band, before that. They did a lot of gigs and some tours. Musically, Hypnagone is nothing like these other bands. And of course, when it comes to relationships, different people mean different dynamics.
A13:Is this album conceptual?
Antoine:That was the case at first, but we quickly realized that it would impose a certain direction to the sound that we didn't want. So we thought it more like the first Metallica albums, all the songs are linked by a common theme. Having said that, I think you can still find traces of the concept in the songs, but if someone can piece together the history of these songs, I'll be very impressed.
A14:What personal themes inspire this album?
Adrien:The lyrics are open to interpretation, but as mentioned before, there are remnants of the story that Antoine talked about... So there is that, but it's mainly about loneliness, overcoming challenges, coming out of your shell and facing the world, through all the doubts and questioning.
A15:Can we say that your songs are based on events that happened in real life?
Antoine : Of course! Our music is rooted in our personal lives.