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The Distrolution / Distrolution Merch team had the chance to participate in the Hellfest Festival from June 19 to 26, 2022. On the program, concerts, meetings... and several interviews, which you can find every week in FR version on Distrolution Merch and in EN version on Distrolution! Discover without further delay our interview with the French band Red Mourning!
Photo: @fannooshka
Hello Red Mourning, thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. To start, can you introduce yourselves?
Aurélien: I'm Aurélien, drummer and singer.
Alexandre: Alexandre, guitarist, lap steel player, we don't know how to say it (laughs), and backing vocals!
Sébastien: Sébastien, bassist and backing vocals!
JC: JC, backing vocalist! No, I'm kidding. I'm the lead singer!
Aurélien: And harmonica player!
Alexandre: And harmonica player too, yeah!
How was Red Mourning formed?
Sébastien: Red Mourning is the result of an online meeting between musicians. We founded a band with various lineups and we found the right one around 2006 - 2007, something like that!
Aurélien: 2005!
Sébastien: With you? 2005?
Aurélien: Yeah!
Sébastien: And we released our first album in 2008. There. With a strong blues influence that came from JC, the addition of the harmonica and then several influences from each member of the group, which are quite present in the music. And then the compositions have also evolved depending on the lineup. Now, it's much more Aurélien who composes, before it was more the other guitarist. But Alex also composes quite a bit. So, we all put in a bit of effort.
How do you balance professional life, personal life, and managing a band? Not too complicated?
JC: I think in France, there are very few bands that can dedicate themselves 100% to their music. So we're part of the 99% of bands that have something else to live on. So we make music when we can. And because we love it, of course! But it's true, jokes aside, it's our passion. So we dedicate a lot of time, energy and money to it too. Then we try to balance all of this and we reconcile... We have jobs that allow us to have some free time. And depending on the person, we mix it more or less with our professional life too. It's not always easy, especially with this style of music.
Sébastien: Besides, it's not a chore. There are lots of people who have lots of hobbies, lots of leisure activities. For us, it's part of our... There's still an almost vital function, I think, in making music regularly and fulfilling ourselves through it, so... If we work 7 hours a day, or 8 hours, or 12 hours, whatever, there's always a bit of time left, still.
Aurélien: What's cool is that we keep, since it's not our bread and butter, we keep a bit of artistic freedom. If we want to do something totally offbeat that no one will like, as is the case... That's what we've been doing from the start (laughs)
Alexandre: Yeah, it's been going on for 15 years! (laughs)
Aurélien: We can afford it because behind, we're not going to say "Are we going to sell enough?". We have total freedom on this, we have no external pressure on what we should do... We really do what we want!
Alexandre: I came for the money... and I'm disappointed! (laughs)
Let's talk about your current events. Your next album "Flowers & Feathers" will be released in October 2022. How did your composition process go?
Aurélien: We developed quite a few songs. In fact, it accelerated quite a bit during the pandemic, because obviously, we had a bit more time to refine the songs etc., but we had already worked on the songs quite a bit in rehearsal with Alex. So different composition processes. There's one that we completely composed together in rehearsal, another where it's a composition by Alex that we worked on in rehearsal, and then others where they are my compositions, which we worked on together with Alex, to bring and make it a bit more lively etc. What we wanted was something organic, not something composed on a computer. So there. And we also went through the phase... We did an acoustic EP, and that influenced the writing of the last album quite a bit where there's a more important acoustic component, including three songs that are really, purely acoustic. We worked a lot remotely with Covid, where JC was moving forward on the vocals etc. We worked on the arrangements, we sent each other ideas and all... So there! I don't know if you want to add anything gentlemen? (addressing the other members of the group)
Alexandre: I don't have much to add. I was there, so I remember. It's consistent with what I experienced! (laughs)
JC: This man speaks the truth! (laughs)
Alexandre: I'm not saying that out of laziness... No... not at all... (laughs)
This album follows "Under Punishment's Tree", released in 2018. Comparing these two albums, how much has your music evolved in 4 years?
Aurélien: Yeah. We made an acoustic EP between the two that was released in... 2019!
The previous album... We still had quite a few compositions from our former guitarist, Romaric, who left the group in 2015. So his touch was still somewhat present. Now, it's really all new, you know. There are no more of his compositions. Now, it's either compositions by me, or me and Alex, with Seb and JC's touches, as always. So naturally, that has an influence on the writing. We've also tried new things, to avoid making the same songs. We've explored new instruments, with banjo, organ, lots of keyboards, etc. JC has a way of singing that has evolved a bit with the shift towards acoustic. It's a bit more focused on emotion, on interpretation, etc.
So, we always try to experiment with new things, so naturally, because of these elements, it evolves towards new stuff for us, things we've never done before and that we're offering. People will either like it or not, but at least we'll have offered it!
Sébastien: But even the previous album, we had composed the tracks with another guitarist, and indeed we were still a bit in this very blues-influenced movement, still influenced by the former guitarist. So here, it's not just the lineup changes, it's really about starting again on a somewhat sterile, virgin ground. It was cool!
While waiting for the release of the new album, you've unveiled a first track, titled "The Coming Wind". What are the topics addressed in this song and what inspired it?
JC: What inspired it was reading a book. I always say the same thing, I don't like to tell the story behind the tracks too much, because I like that everyone can interpret it a bit as they feel it, because that's what I like to do too when I listen to music. It's ultimately about what I project onto it. But to talk about it a little bit... it's about the future, choices in life and possible and impossible futures too. So you see what's coming. And that's it!
Why did you choose this title to tease the album? Is it a track that, in your opinion, represents well the overall spirit of your upcoming album?
JC: I think there are quite a few different atmospheres on this album, so it's not necessarily representative. However, we find it...
Aurélien: The song is atypical.
JC: Yeah, rather atypical. But we find it's a very successful track, one we really like. It's also the first track of the album.
Aurélien: And there was something to do visually as well!
JC: Yeah, that's it. There's a real story. Go ahead, explain.
Aurélien: In fact, we released a video clip, which came out on Monday. Directed by Angel FONSECA, who also works on Hellfest. And there was an aesthetic and visual aspect that could come out of it, which was quite interesting. And we're not disappointed with the clip.
Sébastien: We're happy with the video clip!
Aurélien: What did I say?
Sébastien and Alexandre: "We're not disappointed".
Sébastien: We can be not just negative (laughs)
Alexandre: It's a very visual clip, which is the nature of video, after all.
Aurélien: It was also not too much of a "too metal" song. There was a side... Well, the song is 5 minutes long, there's a big very atmospheric, very melodic section in the middle.
JC: It's a track without screaming, by the way!
Aurélien: There's no screaming! It's our first track without metal screaming. So that's it for all these elements. We wanted to highlight it and it really marks a break from our previous albums.
Sébastien: I think it's representative in itself of this album, because if we listen to it we think... For those who know Red Mourning a bit, they'll say... Actually, these are the responses we've had. It's "they've gone to look for something else".
As a music fan, I attach particular importance to a band's visual identity, especially to the covers of singles, albums... Which artist(s) is/are behind your covers?
Sébastien: Well, there were several actually. The first two were with the label.
JC: Yeah!
Sébastien: That's right. The fourth was a tattoo artist and also guitarist from Lyon. Then, well it's ugly because it's worn out, but the logo (pointing to his t-shirt) of Red Mourning, the head, it's actually an artist, a real artist, a graphic designer, named Auriane, who is very talented, who does a lot of things in black and white. She's passionate about black, particularly the works of Charles Burns, things like that. She had worked on this logo, we used it, this head, to make the cover of our acoustic EP. We colorized it a bit differently.
Alexandre: And all our t-shirts too.
Sébastien: And all our t-shirts too, because we thought it was super beautiful. And we thought, well, let's try to see what she can do for the latest album, because again, we wanted to change and she proposed this cover... which indeed mixed feathers and flowers. And it's really... It's really super beautiful, we're extremely happy with the result. Don't hesitate to check out what she does. She has an Insta page called @capitaine_corbeau, she does a lot of photos where she's the model, she does drawings... She's a really great artist. However, for the inside, we did photos with a friend of Alex's, named Fanny...
Alexandre: Storck, Fanny Storck, a long-time friend who is a sure value in terms of photography. She has her own style, she works well, quickly and efficiently. Well, that's really... Her page is... @fannooshka I think. She takes absolutely magnificent photos. I had 200% confidence in her, because once again, I worked for a very long time with her on photography and everything... She is... Top-notch!
Sébastien: Also, Aurélien is starting to dabble in quite a bit of video graphics stuff...
Alexandre: He just started Paint last week! (laughs)
Aurélien: (laughs) But we also have an interest in... Well, we like to collaborate with people who will offer us a universe, things etc. Not just asking someone to make us a classic metal cover. We want a slightly original universe, same for the video, Angel was very proactive. We proposed a concept to him, but he made it his own. He proposed his own clip, with his own vision. So we also like to collaborate artistically with other people, whether in photography or video... Well, everything! That's also what's cool, it goes beyond just recording music and that's it. There's all the visual aspect and everything that will happen around it that is really interesting, enriching on a creative level!
JC: The very first album covers, the first two albums, were by Fabrice Trovato, who's also the guy behind the puppets.
Alexandre: The Fernando Rock Show!
JC: The Fernando Rock Show. You know the puppets? He did that too! This guy is quite funny, he's the one who did the covers for the first two.
Sébastien: And he's been following us since the beginning. He's always been very cool with us!
JC: And you're right, often, one of the first contacts you have with a band is either at a festival like this, in concert, or through an image. It's not even so much the music often, so yeah, it's important.
Sébastien: We love the last one so much that it was even integrated into the video clip, at the end.
JC: The Coming Wind!
Aurélien: And precisely, it really highlights the fracture aspect, because all our covers, except the first one, until now, were in black tones, a bit dark etc. Here, the idea was to do something... An angel cover, already, with colors not necessarily metal. And likewise, flowers and feathers... It's not the most metal thing, but there's an aspect, you see. It really underlines the fracture aspect of this album.
You must be eager to see what people thought of the album and the new universe.
Aurélien: Well, already, the first feedback on the first clip, we're pretty happy.
Alexandre: The 5 people who liked on Facebook (laughs)
Sébastien: We each left 5 comments (laughs)
Let's talk about Hellfest. What's it like, playing on the Hellstage?
Sébastien: New experience. It's great to play here. We had already played in 2008 on a stage called the Discover Stage back then. It was a different atmosphere. Playing at Hellfest is always great. Just being here, invited, is incredible. As for the Hellstage, yeah, it's a different experience. It's a bit different comfort, a bit random. And then, in 50 degrees, it's something else entirely!
JC: Yeah!
Alexandre: It was tough, yeah, in that temperature...
Sébastien: We really had a great time and I think the audience was particularly motivated (laughs). Well, it was pretty cool!
Alexandre: There were good moshpits! By the way, big shout-out to my friends who were there and even acquaintances, people I hadn't seen in a long time.
JC: Full heatwave, it was crazy. 45°C, you're in the blazing sun, you know!
Is there a band that you absolutely don't want to miss on this year's lineup?
Alexandre: Sepultura tonight at 9:35 PM and Devin Townsend "By request" tomorrow. I'm a big fanboy! These are the two concerts I don't want to miss!
Sébastien: I'd like to see Korn and Ghost myself. Ghost could be really cool!
Aurélien: We also saw Baroness yesterday. Baroness and Deftones, two bands we wanted to see. And Gojira too!
Sébastien: We did miss Leprous and Mastodon, that's a shame. But we've seen Leprous I don't know how many times. And no, I don't know. What else is there on Sunday?
Alexandre: There's Devin Townsend!
Sébastien: Devin Townsend, yeah!
JC: Infecticide! Every day, 3:45 PM! (laughs)
That was my last question, thank you for your time and enjoy the festival!
The band: Thank you!
