Noisey: How did they convince you to do that whole record in its entirety?
Neige: For every band that played the festival they asked them to do a special show—either a full record, acoustic, or with some special musicians. For us we didn’t really have the time to do a full acoustic thing so we decided to play this record. It sounded like a good idea and it was a good location to try these songs.
It’s been awhile since you’ve played those songs; how hard was it to prepare for this?
Neige: It’s been six years! We had to practice and rehearse a lot to find the guitar parts again, so it was a bit of work, but I think the show was good.
Winterhalter: The cave is amazing; when you’re on stage and you see all these people in a cave, it’s very strange actually.
Neige: And it actually fits with the theme of the album, because it’s actually about the abyss, and the ocean, and the depths of the ocean, and it was almost like being inside a cave in the ocean. It was cool. On the new record, the drums were recorded in a big mansion; we’re rehearsing there in the attic, and it’s huge—it’s like three hundred square meters, and we used natural reverb because it has a very deep sound.
How are you going to get that big sound when you play those songs live?
Winterhalter: [Laughs] We really don’t know. It’ll be kind of a challenge, but we’re confident!
This record is different conceptually, too—it still follows the Alcest tradition of channeling otherwordly spirits, but this time, it’s got a pronounced Japanese influence. Where did that come from?
Neige: It’s an album about the confrontation of the natural world and the human world. The concept of the album came after I watched Hayao Miyazaki’s anime film Princess Mononoke; in the film it’s exactly that idea, of the two different worlds that try to live together. They struggle, and I think we are really busy taking care of our little programs that we forget there is another world around us that is being neglected. Nature always inspires us, and also it has kind of an urban side because I’m living in the city; it’s like a mix of very mortal things and very spiritual things.
What made you want to go back to this heavier sound? You guys veered into more melodic prog over the last couple of records but this one sounds like it’ll be a bit darker, a bit closer to your roots. Why now?
Neige: I think we couldn’t have gone even softer then we went, because Shelter was the softest record we have done. We wanted to go back to something a bit more punchy, because at the time we felt this need, in a very natural way, because after such a mellow record, you want to make something a bit more punchy.
It’s going to be interesting seeing the reaction to this record, because when your first few records came out, nobody really sounded like you, and now at this point so many bands have ripped you off, or been inspired by you.
Neige: That’s true; when we started there were not many bands doing this thing, and now, for me the first band that I really liked in this genre was Deafheaven, because I think they made it really good—this black metal shoegaze thing— but lots of bands are not so good at it. There’s effects and things, but a good song is not based on guitar pedals—it’s all about how to build a song, and how to make catchy melodies and stuff.
Is that a title that makes sense to you? Blackgaze?
We had all kinds of names; it’s labels that people try to give to this music, but if they choose blackgaze, it’s okay. I guess they have to find a name for this genre. In the beginning, we were labeled as “gay,” because the melodies are very fragile and the imagery we have is very different from metal imagery; we stand behind this, though, it’s a part of our universe. In the beginning, when people tried to ask me what was the link between Alcest and black metal, I would say that we share the same taste for spirituality because I think black metal is a very spiritual music, but Alcest is on the bright side—it’s very uplifting, and black metal is darker, but actually we share the same taste for things that are beyond this world.
Are you spiritual people?
Neige: Me, yes, I think Winterhalter, too; we have a strong connection with nature.
How does that translate into the Japanese spirits that you’re talking about on this record?
Neige: First, I love Japanese culture; I’ve loved everything about Japan since I was a little kid, because in France, we’ve got a lot of Japanese animation and we grew up with that, so in a way, it left something with people in my generation, like a kind of connection. When we came to Japan to play, it was really something special; we did acoustic shows in temples. So this and the fact that I think that some of the Asian countries—especially Japan—they keep a very strong connection to spirituality, and it’s quite interesting to see how they mix their modern life with the traditional and the spiritual, as opposed to what we see in Christian countries. I don’t like that type of spirituality; I feel more of a connection to the Asian culture. For me, it’s more true and normal than Europe. I don’t think a lot of people in France have a strong connection with nature. But the album is not really about nature, it’s about this feeling that I’ve had and been trying to express in the lyrics where I feel like I don’t belong to this place—the feeling of being a stranger. There is a song called “Je Suis D’Ailleurs” which means “I’m from somewhere else,” and a lot of lyrics on there are about this, where I feel like I’m here but I don’t feel like home here, I have my home somewhere else.
Does creating this music make you feel like you’re getting closer to finding that home?
Neige: Yeah, sure, that’s the main goal. It’s what I’m doing since I’m fourteen. In the beginning, I was alone, then Winterhalter joined me, and that’s the whole concept of the band—this idea that this is not the only place for us. The point with nature and why we spoke about nature is that when you’re in nature, you kind of have to find a connection with this alien side; I’m sure a lot of people are very old souls and when you are in nature, it helps you connect with part of your soul that you don’t necessarily know or feel very close to in an urban context.
Winterhalter: It’s also about the fact that, okay, I’m talking about nature, but do I do the right things for nature? I’m just like everyone, so it’s also speaking about our weaknesses and how it’s hard to act.
Neige: It’s funny, because if I spend too much time in the city, I’m a little bit crazy and I want to be in nature, and if I spend too much time in nature I miss the city, so that is the duality, these two worlds that you try to live in together and it’s very hard. That’s the connection where Princess Mononoke came in. [Neither of the characters ] is the evil one, they both have flaws; it’s just trying to live together.
From: https://www.vice.com/en/article/alcest-kodama-interview-premiere/
