Well, friends of the Aristocracy!Let's explain. I now present the controversial interview with the Swiss band Kalkas.This band has been making a Doom Post with atmospheric layers. They present their debut album entitled Envoûtante Sève.The band is a powertrio that makes a dualistic and romantic way of working saturated with an existential anguish. Remembering that the band's owner, bassist Maxine Sacchetto was responsible for the conversation in addition to Guitarist and Vocalist Pierre Guanzini. However, we can't forget about the drummer Robin Oulevay.Full album and interview in all your emotions.
A1: Talking about the composition work in Envoûtante Séve? Pierre: It’s a long work of composition, with some of my old musical and conceptual projects. In the first time, I wrote texts and stories, building the guideline of the album and its concept. After, the truly difficult task is to transform the words in music and notes. Each paragraph determines the ambiance, the course of the piece and the emotions of our music. The words guide the music. Finally, we work together to incorporate each instrument and create the final song. A2: What kind of dualistic approach band use in this album? Pierre: It’s mainly in the texts and the lyrics. We have developed a dualistic approach, with two sides: the dark side, with humanity’s industries, nature’s destruction for oil, gas, and wealth. Against these modern nightmares, there are few people and Nature. A gold side of humanity that fights the demons of capitalism, avidity, and egoism. Of course, it’s an unfair fight, like David against Goliath. Kalkas is the third side, a deep and mysterious entity who wants to save our Earth from Hell. But Kalkas are dangerous for humans, and will not hesitate to use force against them… A3: Some Literature or film inspire the band? Pierre: There are many literatures and artists that influence Kalkas' songwriting. The main ones are Lovecraft, Baudelaire, and the French band Alcest. The first one developed such a dense cosmogony and a dark atmosphere that it strongly inspires our writing process and the will to create an extensible universe, sometimes terrifying. The latter inspires us for the beauty of his verses and the depth of his ideas. His fine descriptions of human emotions, tinged with melancholy and fatalism, touch us a lot. Finally, Alcest is an inspiration in our desire to create intense and poetic songs. With these three inspirations we try to make the junction between literature and music. A4: It´s more easy or more practical a powertrio band? Maxime: Practical: less material and easy to find moments to play together. But nothing is never frozen, and we are always open to evolution. A5: How band arrive to Table Basse Records? Maxime: Table Basse Records is my project since 2017 to promote my own work and the one of my friends in a diy and independent way, with a metal and indie rock vibe. So, it is rather naturally that Kalkas arrived to the label. A6: How band doing a conceptual universe? Pierre: A conceptual universe is built over several years. It grows little by little, noting furtive ideas during travels and life experiences. Sometimes a painting by Courbet will create the emotions necessary to create a new text, then a new song, and finally a new part of the conceptual universe. The principal difficulty is to create a coherent universe and an exciting story ! I have first imagined an entity, which would be the champion of Nature against the ravages of society. He wanted to describe the emotions of different humans in front of this entity. From these ideas, and the desire to write a series of short stories to accompany the album, I created characters that gave the beginning of a scenario. Once the different chapters of the story are set, the writing of the lyrics can begin with the human’s emotions that emerge in us within these themes and structures. Finally, the universe of Kalkas can be materialized in music. A7: What´s bands influence ours? Maxime: Those who manage, in any way, to express what feels true. A few examples : Electric Wizard, God Is Astronaut, Monkey3, Alcest, Stoned Jesus, Mono and a few more. A8: Why the band have this name? Pierre: The name of the band comes from the Greek soothsayer Calchas, who predicted to Agamemnon that the Trojan War would last 10 years in Homer's Iliad. This is a direct reference to this character from Greek mythology, who knows the past, present and future like no other. We leave it up to the listeners and readers to imagine how this relates to the Kalkas’ story. The choice to change the letters "C" and “H” by "K" comes from an aesthetic will and a practical aspect for the pronunciation. A9: How is Kalkas different from your previous bands? Maxime: The project is certainly more mature in a certain sense, because it is conceptual, but it is also an extension for several members who already come from the Swiss rock and metal scene and who bring their past influences to this project. Perhaps with Kalkas we bring a lot more knowledge from the start than before, when we were younger. A10: Is there a sludge vein in band? Maxime: There is certainly a sludge vein in a few riffs, as some members are big fans of this kind of music. A11: What kind of subject don't deserve a Kalkas song? Pierre: Perhaps the Celtic ceramics of the fourth century ? Or the cooking recipe for caracs, a Swiss pastry ? More seriously, maybe the glorification of capitalism. But even in this case, we could write about it to denounce it ! Our universe will evolve and the subjects of our songs too. A12: Is man an animal that carries the corpse on its back all the time? Pierre: Man is a wolf to man, and to Nature. But man is also an animal, with a brain a little bit special. A13: This album is conceptual?yes or no and why ? Pierre: Yes, this album is conceptual. As a first vision of our universe, it is also the first part of a musical trilogy. It allowed us to highlight the first character: the guide who must allow men to fight against the destruction of Nature. The second conceptual aspect of our album is its musical construction: it is an evolution in time, no piece resembling another. Finally, there is the concept already explained above: the strong literary dimension of our project and the will to create a conceptual project with our music. A14: What´s the idea behind artwork´s album? Pierre: The main idea behind the artwork is to illustrate the guide who stands near the fire. He’s mysterious and wants to protect the wild nature. We wanted a dark picture, with just the fire and the guide’s silhouette. Dark forest behind reminds us the decor of this album. The title of our first song « Au milieu du feu, il est leur guide (English trad.: In the middle of the fire, he’s their guide) » is directly linked to the artwork. A15: Before music,what the band loves to doing? Maxime: Drinking a few beers, talking a bit, smoking. A band is first of all a group of friends. A16: What kind of romantic approach band use in this album? Pierre: The romantic approach is to be understood in its 19th century definition. An artistic movement that put forward the human emotions of the artist, his relationship with nature and the divine. The natural aspect was very important for romantic artists, highlighting the beauties of Nature and its disturbing dimension. Humanity was only ruins on which the vegetation took back its rights. We wanted to be inspired by this artistic perspective, as much in the texts as in the few sound additions: such as the crackling of the fire and the sound of footsteps at the end of the album. A17: Based on the songs of album and your own opinion,is it better to think the human being as agony than an animal for health? Pierre: We are not so categorical. Human plurality is a fact and it would be insulting to put all humans in the same category by essentializing them. However, we wanted to develop an idealistic and caricatural approach in our universe, with three sides in the fight - to highlight the most striking aspects of our time: fight against climate change, against the destruction of Nature, against the race for profit, greed, and egoism… It’s also a will to make the message easier to understand for our listeners and readers.
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