Published : 07/22/2022

Hellfest 2022: An unforgettable experience for the band Disconnected!

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The Distrolution / Distrolution Merch team had the chance to participate in the Hellfest Festival from June 19 to 26, 2022. The program included concerts, meetings... and several interviews, which you can find each week in FR version on Distrolution Merch and in EN version on Distrolution! Discover without further delay our interview with Jelly and Flo from the band Disconnected!

Photo: Emmanuel Rousselle

To begin with, would it be possible for you to introduce yourselves individually, and then introduce your band?

Jelly: I'm Jelly, I've been the drummer of Disconnected since 2018 and, incidentally, a studio sound engineer.

Flo: And I'm Flo, I've been the rhythm guitarist of Disconnected since, I think, also 2018, but a few months earlier.

How was the band formed?

Flo: Well, initially, it was Adrian who created the band a while ago.

Jelly: Yeah, there's a moment!

Flo: He really spent time looking for the lineup.

Jelly: Yeah, the band has existed since 2013 or 2015, something like that. But it was inactive, actually. The band really came to life, really hatched in 2017 / 2018 with the release of the first album. So it's 2017 / 2018 when the band really emerged.

Flo: Well, firstly when he found Ivan, he really found the singer who fit perfectly. There was a breakthrough that really moved things forward!

Thank you for the introductions! Last February, you launched a call for donations on your social media. Who came up with the idea for this crowdfunding, and what have the donations been or will be used for?

Jelly: The idea came from Adrian and Ivan, the two leaders of the band. Why? Well, because we've been through two years of this damn pandemic, and for the last 6 months, we haven't done much, it's barely starting up again! We were working on the production of the second album and we simply needed help, needed money for production, promotion, music video releases, Spotify and Deezer playlists, etc. We were really in financial need, we needed help, that's why. It's essentially for the production and promotion of the album! And it was an unexpectedly big success!

Flo: Yeah!

Which is gratifying!

Jelly: That's for sure. We far exceeded the goals, even though it wasn't the first crowdfunding, right?

Flo: We did one at the beginning of the tour!

Jelly: We had done one for the tour with Tremonti. We did a second one 2 and a half, three years later. Unexpected, you know! Big success, we're super happy!

Speaking of album, you released your new album "We Are Disconnected" in April 2022. How long did you work on it?

Flo: Oh well, for a while, since it was supposed to come out much earlier, but there's always this Covid thing! (laughs)

Jelly: When did "Unstoppable" come out?

Flo: "Unstoppable" was released during the first...

Jelly: Yeah... 2019!

Flo: Yeah, that's right.

Jelly: In 2019, we released the single "Unstoppable" which was supposed to be on the second album, but ultimately isn't, because we changed producers in the meantime. We had difficulties, disagreements with the producer we had at that time. The album producer... the sound engineer, rather, since we produce the album ourselves! Which means that "Unstoppable" didn't end up on the album because we don't have the same sound, the same production. So in the end, if we look at it from start to finish, we made the album in two years, basically!

Flo: Yeah, that's right. Because Adrian started composing the album roughly after our tour.

Jelly: It dragged on for two years! We should never have taken two years, but with the pandemic, the change of sound engineer and all that, it took two years!

Flo: Yeah, and well, the idea wasn't to release it in the middle of a pandemic when we can't do anything with it, you see?

Jelly: There was that too!

Artwork: Chromatorium Music

How do you usually divide the roles within the band? Does everyone have a predefined role or is it really teamwork?

Flo: Well, it's really Adrian who composes, initially.

Jelly: Yeah! Well, up until now, that's how it is. Up until now, that's how it is, it's essentially Adrian who composes the music and Ivan who writes the lyrics. But again, this album was made in such a particular context, it's not necessarily Adrian and Ivan's will, I think. I think it happened like this because there was the pandemic and we couldn't see each other etc. But I think in the future if you (addressing Flo) propose riffs, there's no reason they wouldn't be included, you see?

Flo: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely!

Jelly: So I think it's really... We're more and more in a teamwork, but here, the pandemic, once again, meant that Adrian had to write all alone.

Yes, after that, it was a very special period.

Flo: Yeah, sure!

Jelly: But Adrian had, for example, ideas for drum patterns and when we arrived in the studio, I suggested some things. Well, when they liked it, when it worked, we kept it and if not, we modified it and stuff. It's still a team effort!

Flo: Yeah, that's it! He really did the compositions and we, it's more about arrangement, you know!

Jelly: That's it!

Do you have a favorite track on this album?

Flo: I'd say "Primal Rage", because it hits hard and I like that, you know! (Laughter)

Jelly: It's the most violent track.

Flo: Yeah, it's heavy and violent!

Jelly: For me, it would be "Life Will Always Find Its Way". First single, first track. I'm the one who mixed the album, so I have a perspective on the album that's a little different from the rest of the band. I think it's the best track, I think it's the best chorus, I think it's the best produced track... It's my favourite track for all those reasons! I really like the chorus, it's catchy, it's the intro to our concert, every time we play it, it's powerful, it's my favourite track!

I personally find that it's an album accessible to everyone, because it combines several musical styles. Whether you like rock, metal or others, you'll always find at least one track that you really like on this album. Was this intentional during the composition?

Jelly: Well, yes. It's Adrian who composes, but we generally all have the same tastes, otherwise, it wouldn't work. And by the way, you can hear it on this album, anyway. Which is quite different from the first one, even if we're still the same band, it's quite different from the first one.

Flo: It's that now, we know each other, you know!

Jelly: Now we know each other and even though Adrian wrote it, he still wrote much more in the spirit of what happened on tour, the albums we were listening to, what we liked together, etc. He wrote much more in that vein, which makes us much more rock and less metal. Even in the sound...

Flo: It's not, not metal, it's... natural, you know!

Jelly: It's not, not metal, it's more yeah, it's more natural, a bit more natural, a bit more rock in spirit. More melodic, more rock, more catchy... more of what we like! We also like brutal and technical stuff, but we also like musical and catchy stuff, so there you go! That's why after "Primal Rage", which is a rather violent track, and "Your Way to Kill" which is completely a ballad, there you go. Life, with big choruses...

We're at Hellfest, let's talk about this experience, which is quite incredible. What's it like to be here?

Flo: Totally!

Jelly: Well, that's nice!

Flo: Yeah, and it was crazy, you know!

Jelly: It was crazy, it feels good. It's the culmination of many months and many years of work! It's the culmination, the reward for everything we've done so far! It's something we've wanted to do since... We've been talking about it forever!

Flo: I think we've all hoped to play at Hellfest one day, you know.

Jelly: Yeah, yeah, and on the main stage too!

Flo: Yeah, that's it!

Jelly: We're going to do other main stages, we're going to do Rock Fest, we're going to do Wacken... Is it not a main stage at Wacken?

Flo: No, it's not the main stage.

Jelly: We're really happy to do this! But Hellfest...

Flo: It's Hellfest!

Jelly: It's ours, you know!

And how did your concert go?

Jelly: Well, really great!

Flo: Excellent! Honestly, it was huge! It wasn't usual, of course...

Jelly: It wasn't usual!

Flo: It was still really big!

Jelly: Yeah, we felt really small!

Flo: Well, you don't have the same feelings on stage, we were talking about it earlier, you only hear the sound but you don't hear the audience!

Jelly: You can't hear the audience, you can't hear...

Flo: And there's not much in there after all... (pointing to his chest)

Jelly: No, there's no sensation, because everything is so big!

Flo: In terms of sound, you know!

Jelly: Yeah, in terms of sound! We don't have any sensations, so it's quite... For me, on the first song, it was... it was very unsettling, because I had no feeling from the audience, I had no feeling of sound and it's very strange!

Flo: No, but it's still super cool, don't worry (laughs)!

Jelly: It was very cool, but yeah, it's the first time we've played such a big stage and it's not usual!

Video: Duke Tv

We can't imagine ourselves on the other side...

Flo: Yeah, because in front, there's a lot of sound! But it's true that it was funny, I was thinking to myself "I hear everything perfectly, but something's missing..."

Jelly: There's no feeling! But afterwards we watched the videos, the hundreds of stories of everyone who tagged us and we said: "Oh yeah, yes! It's good! It's cool!". In two years, the same at 1pm!

I wish that for you!

Jelly: Well, why not! In any case, we're working towards it!

You were telling me about upcoming concerts, Wacken etc. Of all the concerts you've done throughout your career, is there one that particularly stood out to you, apart from Hellfest?

Flo: (Laughter) I was going to say, easy question!

Jelly: Hellfest is obviously memorable, but from a personal perspective, the Zénith was an important date when we opened for Judas Priest, because it was the first big lineup I did, the first big lineup we did. But I'd say that the last date of the Tremonti tour was really emotionally intense!

Flo: Yes, that's it! That's exactly it! It's not the one where we played the best, but there was something there!

Jelly: It was very intense emotionally!

Flo: We had just spent a month and a half with the same guys. At the end of the concert, well, during our concert, they came to play a little prank on us... They came behind the stage, removed Jelly's cymbals, and ran off with them!

Jelly: They started to dismantle the drum kit, they were there on the stage, Tremonti was there...

Flo: Something really happened, you know!

Jelly: It was an incredibly emotional date!

Flo: And when Tremonti comes and takes away your cymbals! (Laughter)

Jelly: Oh it's great, it's great! For me! For you, I don't know which date is your favorite! (addressing Flo)

Flo: I want to say a bit of everything like you (Laughter). No, really, the Zénith, there was something a bit crazy about it, because again, it was our first big date like that, there were people everywhere, and it's not like Hellfest where it's as far as the eye can see, at the Zénith you feel like there are just people everywhere, you know! During the tour there's that one, and I also had a great time in Denmark!

Jelly: Oh yeah, I don't remember!

Flo: In Denmark, I really enjoyed it, yeah! But there wasn't the emotional side as you say. In Amsterdam, there was something about the overall, you see, about the general atmosphere, not just the concert!

It's already great to be able to visit several countries. Even if I know you don't really have time to sightsee...

Jelly: No!

Flo: We do a bit of traveling! (Laughs)

Jelly: We visit whenever we can but no, it's very complicated, we don't see much. It goes too fast! It goes too fast, we're tired, we have to unload the truck, we have to set up the stage, we have to reload the truck... In reality...

Flo: Yeah, and the dates are coming one after another, we have to be on time...

Jelly: The dates are coming one after another, yeah...

Flo: Actually, the moments you have are an hour in the afternoon when you've done your soundcheck. An hour, sometimes two, three... You just walk around the neighborhood, you know! (Laughter)

Jelly: I used that time to sleep! Free time, I used it to sleep most of the time! It's cool! It's true that in people's minds, a tour is cool and it is! But it's not a party all the time!

Flo: It's not easy, it's not easy! There's a big contrast between: every night, you do the concerts, you party until late and everything. And then, you go back to your tiny... to your little van, you have no shower, no toilet, you eat when you can, whatever you find... Well, I'm exaggerating a bit but...

Jelly: But we love it! Anyway, if a band doesn't like it, they won't succeed!

Flo: Ah, but that's for sure! It's impossible!

Jelly: But we love it! Finding ourselves in our little crappy van and showering at highway rest stops... We loved it! We laughed for a month and a half! And I think even at 45-50 years old, we'll still do it! I think...

Flo: Oh, if we have the opportunity, for sure!

Jelly: We loved it! We hope to be in a Dreamliner one day, but there you go! (Laughs)

To wrap up this interview, tell me about your future projects with Disconnected. What's in store for you in the coming months?

Flo: What's waiting for us...

Jelly: What's in store for us... Well...

Flo: Nothing's set yet but...

Jelly: No, nothing's set in stone, but there are lots of things in progress! Now that we've signed with bookers, tour managers... The next step will be to find a label. We have some leads! I was going to say nothing concrete, but actually, there are concrete things we can't talk about! The next step is a label and more and more concerts. The comeback! We're discussing a tour this winter, I think? A French tour?

Flo: Yeah!

Jelly: That's it! So the next step is label, French tour with Disconnected as headliner, so there again...

Flo: Yeah, combining big opening acts with actually starting to headline!

Jelly: It's going to be a first big, intense experience for the band! First headlining tour...

Flo: Yes, absolutely!

Jelly: It's going to be intense, it's going to be big, it's going to be full of stress, full of pressure...

It'll be alright!

Jelly: Of course, of course! We have the idea of doing about twenty dates in major cities. So we're going to try to do...

Flo: A little tour, you know!

Jelly: Yeah, that's it!

That was my last question, I'll let you have the final word for our readers! If you have a message to pass on, now's the time!

Jelly: The message is...

Flo: Always pretty much the same, you know... Keep coming! (Laughs)

Jelly: That the best way to support a band you love is to buy CDs, t-shirts, to come see them in concerts... It's the best way to support a band you love, to support the French scene, because it's difficult in France anyway... Well, it's difficult everywhere, but France is a particular context, because we don't have the culture, so there you go! Keep supporting bands, buy CDs, buy t-shirts, come to concerts. We're always happy to see people, that's the most important thing!