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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 programme 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 the French band Theraphosa!
Photo: Denis Goria
Hello Theraphosa. To start, would it be possible for you to introduce yourselves individually?
Matthieu: I'm Matthieu, I'm the bassist of the band and I do back vocals, and I also take care of writing the lyrics.
Vincent: I'm Vincent, I play guitar and do vocals, and I do the compositions for the band.
Martin: I'm Martin, the drummer, and I do arrangements on the compositions.
How did your band form?
Vincent: It was formed a very long time ago! Well... A very long time ago. What was it? It was in 2007! It formed a bit... Very naturally, actually! I wanted to form a band. This is my biological brother, I mean (pointing to Matthieu) and he's my brother too, but not biological (pointing to Martin). We were 4 years apart, well, we still are 4 years apart (laughs), and I had... I can't remember how old I was...
Matthieu: 17 years old and I was 13!
Vincent: That's it! And I already wanted to form a band for a while. Matthieu was starting to play bass, or I don't remember...
Matthieu: Vincent had been playing guitar for two years, he was looking for a band but couldn't find one, he couldn't find reliable people. So I went to see him and I said "Listen, do you want me to play bass?" He said "OK" and I started playing bass. We needed a drummer and I thought of Martin because, by chance, he told me he had played percussion when he was young. I thought "Well, that'll do" and Martin agreed!
Vincent: Actually, we started like that, very simply. And then, we started playing a little bit quietly, among ourselves, in the attic. We started to make our compositions. And it progressed to this point! We've evolved musically together, over all these years, and there you go!
Martin: And in the first year, we had our first music festival! That was our goal!
Vincent: Yeah, it was our first music festival!
Matthieu: It was a few months after the formation.
Vincent: We formed the band and right after, we played at a music festival. It was fun! That was already our goal!
Martin: Because we were really young at that time anyway!
Vincent: It was incredible!
Those are still good memories!
Vincent: Oh yeah, definitely! I remember it very well. The first one, I remember it very well!
Let's talk about your album "Transcendence", released in 2020. How long did you work on it?
Vincent: When you say work on it, do you mean recording, or everything?
The whole process!
Matthieu: It's quite difficult to situate the composition process, because Vincent composes constantly. He's constantly composing. He can very well sometimes take up pieces he composed years ago for the album. Generally, we start preparing an album, really reworking the pieces let's say, choosing them, learning them, writing the texts, choosing the theme and recording etc. Generally, it's a process of about 6 months, right?
Vincent: I trust you!
Matthieu: Between 6 months and a year, to be generous!
Vincent: The recording itself didn't take that long. It took us what, a month I think! "Transcendence" was a month in Paris. But before that, there was work done in advance over several months. But it's true that as he says (pointing to Matthieu), we select the tracks, we learn them, we write the lyrics and that's it!
Photo: Denis Goria
Is it a team effort, or does each person have a more or less predefined role?
Vincent: Now, there are really predefined roles.
Matthieu: Which wasn't the case at all on "Transcendence". It started to happen on "Transcendence". Vincent takes care of almost 100% of the composition. I now take care of 100% of the lyrics writing, but on "Transcendence", it was 50%. And Martin takes care of a lot of the arrangements, especially for his drum parts. And for the arrangements, we might all discuss it again, but usually, it's Vincent and Martin who take care of it.
Vincent: Yeah, we do it together.
Matthieu: It can happen that we compose (pointing to Martin), but it's really anecdotal!
For this album, you worked with Francis Caste. How did your collaboration go?
Vincent: Honestly, it was great!
Matthieu: It was really great!
Vincent: Francis, it matched on all levels, meaning both humanly and musically. So that was perfect! He was recommended to us by our publisher and he had seen well, in this regard, that he was the right person to work with us. Plus, we were super happy with the result. Really, it was perfect. Nothing to say!
I've been following your social media for a while and I noticed that you had started a teasing phase (time spent in the studio etc.), until you announced, a few days ago, that a new album was in preparation. Can we talk about this future release and the evolution of your music between Transcendence and this new album?
Vincent: Well, I'll talk about the music first, and Matthieu will talk more about the lyrics and the idea behind it, the philosophy behind it! Basically, the music will be a logical continuation of "Transcendence". It's going to be something quite similar, maybe a bit more aggressive at times. A bit more technical too, at certain moments, without going into extreme stuff. But otherwise, it really stays in line with what we did with "Transcendence". And then, regarding the theme and the lyrics, I think Matthieu will elaborate on that.
Matthieu: It's a logical continuation of "Transcendence", it's a deepening of what we've already addressed. In the "Transcendence" album, we had approached transcendence in a quite general way, and here, we're going to specify, we're going to delve deeper into things. The album is called "Inferno" and the basis for this album is Dante's Divine Comedy. The first part of this book is Hell, with the 9 circles. And so each track will represent one of the circles. There will be 10 tracks because we also have the vestibule.
Vincent: We did the introduction if you like... The entrance, you know!
Matthieu: That's it! The ante-hell, we call it the ante-hell in the book and we call it the vestibule.
Vincent: It's called the vestibule too, you know!
Matthieu: Right, and then we have the 9 circles that represent vices, so lust, gluttony, heresy, betrayal, etc. The goal is to develop these vices on a philosophical level. Because what's very interesting with Dante is that his work goes through hell, purgatory, and then paradise. It's a spiritual journey towards beatitude. So we're really in a very Catholic context since it was written between 1306 and 1321, so it's in a Catholic world. But transcendence can touch both believers and non-believers, it's a very broad theme. And the vices addressed in this work are timeless, in reality. We can approach them differently with the era we live in. And so we tried to approach these vices in relation to our time.
Vincent: And what's good is that we can approach them from both a believer's and a non-believer's point of view! It's something very universal.
Matthieu: We'll speak to both, to believers and non-believers alike.
Is this an album that you composed during the pandemic?
Vincent: No! Well... Yes and no! There are songs that were composed a few years ago, because this "Inferno" project, I've wanted to do it for years.
Matthieu: Vincent has wanted to do it for a very long time!
Vincent: So I've already started working on...
Martin: The idea!
Vincent: Yeah, the idea and the style of music that goes with it. It's an ambiance after all! And so I had already prepared some stuff. "This would be good for the Inferno project". And in the end, when we said "Let's do it, let's do this one!", well I took some of these tracks that I reworked and then there are others that were composed from scratch recently, that's it! So it's a process...
Matthieu: The lyrics are written very shortly before the album release... before the recording, rather! The lyrics weren't prepared in advance.
Is this an album that you once again recorded with Francis Caste, or in your own studio?
Vincent: Well, actually, this is the first time we're doing this. We're recording ourselves in our home studio. We've just finished the drum takes. However, we'll have it mixed... We won't mix it ourselves, we'll have someone else mix it and master it too. But here, we're in a recording process that we're doing ourselves. That's it! So that's what will be different. After that, we would have loved to work with Francis, really, nothing says we won't do other projects with Francis because it was great. But for this one, it's true that we wanted to try it this way!
Who came up with the idea for this home studio?
Matthieu: I'd say it's Vincent, really! Let's say we've always wanted to have a studio at home, for practical and economic reasons, but...
Vincent: Then after that, you also get the desire to learn a bit about how it works. It's true that by spending time in the studio and seeing the engineers do their job, placing microphones, mixing... Well, I'm there thinking: "I'd love to try that, I'd like to learn how it works". And so gradually you learn, you teach yourself, and at some point you tell yourself "Now, I think I can do it". So there you go!
Martin: And the difference with a studio is that in a studio, it's in a limited time. Whereas when you're at home, well it's really... You can take your time.
Vincent: You have time to do trials!
Martin: You do what you want, in reality, so it's still a different working method.
I saw that you had also started creating acoustic panels!
Vincent: Yeah, oh the madness! (laughs)
Martin: Yeah! (laughs)
Vincent: We do everything, all by ourselves. Well, we do a lot of things by ourselves. It's a form of pride, in a way. I'm very happy to say "we did this ourselves", because each time, you learn things actually. Because before making the acoustic panels, I went through documentation, for weeks! What thickness is needed, the size...
Martin: The glue! (laughs)
Vincent: The glue! How do we do it? The nails, what do we use? It's crazy!
I feel like there's an anecdote with the glue! (laughs)
Matthieu: It's that we stuck acoustic panels to the ceiling, and the glue, it doesn't stick! So we stayed like this (hands pressed against the ceiling) for 10-15 minutes! (general laughter)
Vincent: At the end, it was chaos! (laughs)
Martin: Every time we woke up the next day, there were things that had fallen down!
Vincent: We were going crazy, this story drove us nuts!
We can still say that you have a bit of a DIY spirit in your soul!
Vincent: Yeah!
Matthieu: Especially Vincent! Especially Vincent!
Vincent: Martin is willing, he always helps me!
Matthieu: Martin helped the most! I was there from time to time, but Vincent...
Vincent (talking about Martin): He sees that I have a saw and he says to me "Hey, come on, let's cut!" (laughs) It amuses him too! It's also true that financially it's a money pit, if you start wanting to... Because we had looked into building a studio by the book a long time ago, the price was just out of our reach! So we said "Well, we'll do it ourselves, as best we can, trying to be as professional as possible". We managed pretty well, in the end. What made us want to do it ourselves is that, first, we were interested in doing it ourselves, the satisfaction as you said of doing it yourself, and also, well, the cost. We don't have an unlimited budget, we do what we can! We prioritise, even if it means putting money... I thought "Well, maybe we'll buy microphones to have good quality for the drums, to record the drums, and then we'll make the acoustic panels ourselves". There you go! That's how everything gets done actually!
Source: https://www.facebook.com/theraphosamusic
We save money, but there's inevitably a big investment of time!
Vincent: Yeah! But it's good, because the whole family is involved. I mean, if I need a tool, I call Grandpa! And that's funny! It's good, in a way it's cool, because everyone is involved. It maintains... It allows us to be in contact with everyone, to always see everyone... That's cool!
Let's talk about it since we're at Hellfest. What's it like to be at such an iconic festival?
Vincent: Honestly, well it's great! Already for us, it's a bit of an honour anyway, because well... being here, it's... As you say, it's iconic! This festival, it's still... Now it's good, it's globally recognised. It's true that when we arrived, we were impressed by the logistics, the organisation! It's incredible! It's true that being able to be here, talking about our album, it's a huge opportunity. And there's also a huge honour! So we're really very happy! It does something to you, too. It doesn't leave you indifferent! (laughs) There's a little pride. It's in France! Honestly, it's impressive.
Are you going to have time to see some concerts?
Martin: Yes, we've already seen some!
Vincent: We've seen a few, yes. Quite a few already! After that, we tell ourselves that we're mainly here to do the interviews and do what we have to do, what we came for in the first place, that's it! But it's true that we try to see as many concerts as possible when we have time to do so.
When you discovered the line-up, was there a particular band that you really didn't want to miss?
Vincent: Me, yes! Ghost!
Everyone gives me the same answer! (laughs)
Vincent: I'm a Ghost fan! I saw them recently in Paris, not long ago, they came, but I had to see them again! Whenever they come, I see them! So Ghost was my number 1. And tonight, Gojira! That, I have to see Gojira too! There you go! There are other bands that interest me, but mainly yes, if I had to choose just one, it's Ghost!
Martin: I had never seen Ghost, Vincent often talked about them, because he's quite a fan of this band. And I had never seen them in concert. I went to see and it's true that it's very impressive! It's a real show, you know! It's not a concert, it's a show! So yeah, it was really great to watch. And after that, behind the scenes, it's true that I'd like to see, well like Vincent, Gojira!
Vincent: Gojira, yeah!
Matthieu: No, not me... I'm not really into concerts, actually, so...
Vincent: He's different! (laughs)
There must be a concert you're going to see... Not even?
Matthieu: Well, I saw a few. I had watched a bit of Rotting Christ with Vincent, Opeth, a band, I didn't know the name, I don't know the band, so I'll go see, because what they were doing was nice. It was the first day, around... What time did we arrive Martin, the band we saw? The guy was in a sweatshirt, short hair, in a sweatshirt!
Vincent: At the main stage!
Martin: Ah, by hand! Well... I can't remember!
Vincent: Yeah... But it was cool!!
Matthieu: After that it was nice! But otherwise no, there's no...
Vincent: But we don't know what it was! (laughs)
Martin: It was Wednesday, in the afternoon. Uh, Friday, in the afternoon!
Matthieu: Actually, I listen to metal, but it's not the style of music I listen to the most! What I'd really like to see live is more Gregorian chants, things like that! I like that!
Speaking of concerts, when can we see you on stage again? Do you have any upcoming dates planned?
Vincent: That's a good question!
Matthieu: No, for now, no dates... We hope that the release of the album will bring us some! Oh yes, that's right! We have a festival!
Martin: Festival in Clermont-Ferrand!
Matthieu: Yeah!
Vincent: Is it in Clermont?
Matthieu: No, are you sure? Isn't it rather in Savoy or Switzerland?
Vincent: We don't really know where it is. It's the New Blood Festival, I think. Next year!
Martin: Which settled yesterday!
Matthieu: And we're well aware of what's going on! (laughs)
Vincent: You'll forgive us...
If it was yesterday, you're excused!
Vincent: Yeah, apart from that which is planned, for now we don't really have any dates scheduled. But we hope to have as many as possible as soon as possible.
Martin: We had things planned before Covid, but as a result we hope that it's just postponed and not cancelled. So, we're still waiting to know about confirmations and all that!
Vincent: That's right!
Martin: But we don't know any more than that!
That was my last question, thank you for taking the time to answer! I'll let you have the final word for our readers, if you want to promote the future album, now's the time!
Vincent: First of all, thank you for the interview, it's a pleasure! And for those who will read this, we invite them to follow our news a bit, because Inferno is going to be really great! It's something we've wanted to do for a while, and I think it's going to be...
Martin: It's our project, you know!
Vincent: Yeah, it's really a project that was close to our hearts and I think it's going to be nice! So honestly, if they like that kind of thing, musical representations, I mean representing, how can I say...
Matthieu: Concepts, let's say!
Vincent: Concepts in music, there's a bit of a cinematic aspect to it actually. So if they like that, honestly, I invite them to follow us! There you go!
